Decisions

It might seem trivial to ya'll, but I'm excited because I've decided to move my blog from blogspot to wordpress. I like the way wordpress works and the options it offers. the url for it will be (For lack of a better url, I couldn't think of a good one and the explanation of why I choose it might bring an oppurtunity to witness to someone) is http://www.thorntree.wordpress.com/

:-) Hope this doesn't inconveinience(sp????) any of you. Shouldn't cause much troublwe, just change my url in your blog links and type in a new (and catchier) URL.

Just thought I'd share this with you

Just thought I'd share this with you because I found it online and I like it a lot.

Ten Reasons To Not Ask Jesus Into Your Heart

By: Todd Friel
The music weeps, the preacher pleads, "Give your heart to Jesus. You have a God shaped hole in your heart and only Jesus can fill it." Dozens, hundreds or thousands of people who want to get their spiritual life on track make their way to the altar. They ask Jesus into their heart.
Cut to three months later. Nobody has seen our new convert in church. The follow up committee calls him and encourages him to attend a Bible study, but to no avail. We label him a backslider and get ready for the next outreach event.

Our beloved child lies in her snuggly warm bed and says, "Yes, Daddy. I want to ask Jesus into my heart." You lead her in "the prayer" and hope that it sticks. You spend the next ten years questioning if she really, really meant it. Puberty hits and the answer reveals itself. She backslides. We spend the next ten years praying that she will come to her senses.
Telling someone to ask Jesus into their hearts has a very typical result, backsliding. the Bible says that a person who is soundly saved puts his hand to the plow and does not look back because he is fit for service. In other words, a true convert cannot backslide. If a person backslides, he never slid forward in the first place. "If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation." (II Cor.5) No backsliding there.

Brace yourself for this one: with very few if any exceptions, anyone who asked Jesus into their hearts to be saved…is not. If you asked Jesus into your heart because you were told that is what you have to do to become a Christian, you were mis-informed.
If you have ever told someone to ask Jesus into their heart (like I have), you produced a false convert. Here is why.

1. It is not in the Bible. There is not a single verse that even hints we should say a prayer inviting Jesus into our hearts. Some use Rev. 3:20. To tell us that Jesus is standing at the door of our hearts begging to come in.
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock." There are two reasons that interpretation is wrong.
The context tells us that the door Jesus is knocking on is the door of the church, not the human heart. Jesus is not knocking to enter someone's heart but to have fellowship with His church.Even if the context didn't tell us this, we would be forcing a meaning into the text (eisegesis). How do we know it is our heart he is knocking at? Why not our car door? How do we know he isn't knocking on our foot? To suggest that he is knocking on the door of our heart is superimposing a meaning on the text that simply does not exist.
The Bible does not instruct us to ask Jesus into our heart. This alone should resolve the issue, nevertheless, here are nine more reasons.

2. Asking Jesus into your heart is a saying that makes no sense. What does it mean to ask Jesus into your heart? If I say the right incantation will He somehow enter my heart? Is it literal? Does He reside in the upper or lower ventricle? Is this a metaphysical experience? Is it figurative? If it is, what exactly does it mean? While I am certain that most adults cannot articulate its meaning, I am certain that no child can explain it. Pastor Dennis Rokser remindsus that little children think literally and can easily be confused (or frightened) at the prospect of asking Jesus into their heart.

3. In order to be saved, a man must repent (Acts 2:38). Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of repentance.

4. In order to be saved, a man must trust in Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31).Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of faith.

5. The person who wrongly believes they are saved will have a false sense of security. Millions of people who sincerely, but wrongly, asked Jesus into their hearts think they are saved but struggle to feel secure. They live in doubt and fear because they do not have the Holy Spirit giving them assurance of salvation.

6. The person who asks Jesus into his heart will likely end up inoculated, bitter and backslidden. Because he did not get saved by reciting a formulaic prayer, he will grow disillusioned with Jesus, the Bible, church and fellow believers. His latter end will be worse than the first.

7. It presents God as a beggar just hoping you will let Him into your busy life. This presentation of God robs Him of His sovereignty.

8. The cause of Christ is ridiculed. Visit an atheist web-site and read the pagans who scoff, "How dare those Christians tell us how to live when they get divorced more than we do? Who are they to say homosexuals shouldn't adopt kids when tens of thousands of orphans don't get adopted by Christians?" Born again believers adopt kids and don't get divorced.
People who ask Jesus into their hearts do. Jesus gets mocked when false converts give Him a bad name.

9. The cause of evangelism is hindered. While it is certainly easier to get church members by telling them to ask Jesus into their hearts, try pleading with someone to make today the day of their salvation. Get ready for a painful response. "Why should I become a Christian when I have seen so called Christians act worse than a pagan?" People who ask Jesus into their hearts give pagans an excuse for not repenting.

10. Here is the scary one. People who ask Jesus into their hearts are not saved and they will perish on the Day of Judgment. How tragic that millions of people think they are right with God when they are not. How many people who will cry out, "Lord, Lord" on judgment day will be "Christians" who asked Jesus into their hearts?

So, what must one do to be saved? Repent and trust. (Heb.6:1) The Bible makes it clear that all men must repent and place their trust in Jesus Christ. Every man does have a "God shaped hole in their hearts," but that hole is not contentment, fulfillment and peace. Every man's heart problem is righteousness. Instead of preaching that Jesus fulfills, we must preach that God judges and Jesus satisfies God's judgment…if a man will repent and place his trust in Him.
If you are reading this and you asked Jesus into your heart, chances are good you had a spiritual buzz for a while, but now you struggle to read your Bible, tithe, attend church and pray. Perhaps you were told you would have contentment, purpose and a better life if you just ask Jesus into your heart. I am sorry, that was a lie.

I like this verse

Today I was feeling down and bummed.
I was praying and reading my Bible, but I found no peace. I was praying for trust and faith, but I had no peace. I was doing my Doctrine of God Bible Study that I got from Aaron, and one of the verses I had to look up was Isaiah 40:28-31.

28Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become weary or tired
His understanding is inscrutable.

29He gives strength to the weary,
And to him who lacks might He increases power.

30Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,

31Yet those who wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.

Oh my. Hahaha, did you read verse 30? That hit me pretty hard. Of course, it took a while to fully kick in. I was talking to Tiff and being unreasonable and she was calling me a baby. And she said, Do you want to be a man of God. And the Holy Spirit reminded me of that verse. I asked for about 10 minutes and I prayed for awhile.
I just have to trust in Him and take solace in His promises. He promises to be there for us and to always love us and be faithful if we are His. I am His and He will always be with me and inside me. It just depends on how much I trust Him. I'll get tired and weary, but if I wait and trust in God, He'll lift me up. This is a promise for us. Our walk will not be slow and weary if we wait on God.
By the way, I highly encourage doing the Doctrine of God Bible Study by Paul Washer
you can download the PDF here
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=131080700
:-) I like it.

I find it funny

One of my unsaved friends (though not for lack of seeds, I've witnessed to her several times and always try to get her to listen, bu tshe is very hardened against the gospel) is diabetic. She recently posted a Pubic Note on Facebook asking everyone to please be "hoping/believing/wishing that the cure will be legal by this time next year." I find it very funny, yet incredibly saddening that she will not just say pray. It's like, ok everyone just think really hard about this happening and it will. Reminds me of Tinkerbell...

Please pray for her.
Clair Flynn.

I thought he was going to get stabbed

Watch this, it happend about two years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVco8t-R8KU


So, apparently Ray Comfort and the camera man who shot this were walking down by the pier in this city a few days ago, and the camera says, Remember those guys Kirk witnessed to a few years ago, the ones we thought were going to but him? I think that's one over there.So they go over and ray comfort asks him, Um sir, are you in a gang?And the guy says, No sir. I'm a Christian.And Ray Comfort says, Umm Sir, about two or three years ago, did you have a talk with a fellow named Kirk Cameron about Jesus here on this peir? And he says, Yes sir, we did. I'm a Christian now, and I feel terrible about what happened that day. I was drunk and I was a fool, and God has saved me now, and I'm living for the Lord. And the other guy Kirk talked to, he's gotten saved too. He's no longer a robber, he's no longer getting drunk, he's married, and he's teaching Sunday School.The power of God. To take a completely corrupt mass, and remake it into something beautiul.:-)How wonderful to have these brothers.

:-)

I love my brothers and sisters in Christ.

They cheer me up.
They make me think right.
They snap me out of silly thinks.
They help me when I need it.
They stay up late to give me advice.

They do it because they love me.
They do it because God loves them.

:-) Our family is the greatest family.
Our family is God's family.

Thank you guys.

What does this mean?

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."



What does that mean? Not any interpretation, just read it. Seriously, what does it mean?

What about:

He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.


What's that mean?

How about this?

"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."



I talked with a man who says he is a Christian, but ultimately believed the Bible couldn't be trusted. There were two kids on the bus ride to Austin talking about God, and they ask the same old question, "Will a Buddhist go to Hell, will a muslim, will a pagan...etc." So I speak up and say, "The main problem isn't that they're not Christian, but that they're sinners, and God must judge them." I quoted The top verse and then the "Christian" sitting behind me started debating with me about how we can't trust that that's what that verse means because of age, translation, etc.

Poor man, I pray he's really saved and just misled for a time, but I don't know. I haven't had a chance to talk to him about this yet, but I plan to, God willing.

Ow

I'm having really really really bad heartburn tonight...I'm literally burping acid. Disgusting. But oh well. This week's been pretty boring and slow. Except for today. I'm so glad God gave me today. First off this morning I was praying about my lesson for FCA and I heard God press upon my heart to change it to a walkthrough of some of the tests in 1st John. So I did. But I had little to no preparation. So I was praying a lot, asking for guidance and help. I hope it went well, I was shaking like a leave up there though, and it was a bit choppy and awkward, but it doesn't matter about the vessel, only the Word. I printed off some sheets detailing more in depth how to have assurance you are saved. I included some good websites on there. I only printed off 10 because I didn't anticipate that many people would be interested, but they were all gone after my lesson! I was so excited. And then God gave me the oppurtunity to hand out some tracts to people because they saw them in my backpack and wanted some! God is so good. And then all afternoon has been pretty much nothing much. Just enjoying being home. Tomorrow we have a game at Austin, then the next day we have a marching competition at Jacksonville AL. Projected time home= 3-4 AM. Then Church, then the reunion of the group? Maybe? Ms. Brenda if you read this before then tell me if we're having it. Assume everyone's in. Then I get to go preach...hopefully as a dying man to dying men and women...I heard that phrase today on....*gasp* TBN!!!! I watched like 3 minutes of it, and Kirk Cameron was interviewing someone, and I know what doctrine Kirk Cameron holds to so I thought it was pretty safe to watch. And the guy said that he had a sign on his door that says, "Preach like a dying man, to dying men and women. Preach as if it's your last chance to do so." And hopefully I will. I just need God for this. Pray for me for that please.

Marco?

Marco?

I'm a mix of emotions

I'm happy because I got to hang out with Aaron and Shawna today.
We watched two sermons and then a critique of the Word of Faith movement.
The last one made me cry...
To think that those people are so deluded and off-base...I just want to take them and sit down and show them what the Bible says...even if they kill me.
Then I got home and I've been cleaning and talking to people on facebook. Talked a lot about God with people.
I enjoyed it.
I'm so tired of high school and fake people there and elsewhere, I just want to be able to spend time with the people I know love me.

Outline of my sermon on the 26th

This is a outline of the sermon I'm giving on the 26th. I was going to give it on the 19th, but we don't have evening service. I'd love it if ya'll would read through it and critique it, not on grammatical schtuff, but let me know if I'm misinterpreting any scripture or my theology is way off-base or something like that. Thank you.

Becoming Christ-Like
Main Verse: Romans 8:28-30 “For we know God works all things together for the good of those who love God, to those who are called, according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He might be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He also predestined, He also called; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”

1. What is the good to which all things work for believers?
· It can not possibly mean worldly good. Use Paul as example. Paul was beaten, shipwrecked, arrested, starved, and faced much persecution.
· If this verse meant that God works everything to the worldly good of those who love Him, Paul obviously didn’t love God enough.
· There must be something higher then. If worldly good is not what God wants for us, there must be something higher we are to work to as Christians.
2. What is God’s purpose?
· To understand what higher thing we are to work for, we have to know what God’s purpose is for working everything to our good.
· Luckily for us, Paul explicitly states what that purpose is in the next verse. He says, to those who are called, according to His purpose. The next sentence is an explanation of what that purpose is.
· Read verses. That’s a pretty deep statement, but let me read it again just leaving out one part. “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined; and these whom He also predestined, He also called; and these whom He justified, He also glorified”
· That’s not a reason, it’s a statement and it flows very nicely. But when you insert the part we left out, it breaks the flow up. It sticks out, adding emphasis to it and not only that, but to become is even emphasized.
· So we can take it apart and ask, “What is God’s purpose in making all things work together for believers’ good? So that they might be become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He might be the firstborn among many brethren”.
· So every event in your life as a believer is God Himself shaping and molding you into the image of Jesus. We see that it says that God works all things, not just bad things, not just good things, not just church things, not just work things, but EVERY EVENT IN OUR LIVES to conforming us to the image of Christ.
3. What does it mean to be conformed to the image of Christ?
· That is the highest calling, to become conformed to the image of Christ. Work, Family, Friends, Ministry, Evangelism, and everything else is and should be secondary to conforming your life to the image of Christ.
· Everything in our lives as believers is worthless and pathetic even without a driving focus on becoming more like Christ. Think about it. Anyone with some knowledge of Scripture can get up here and preach. Anyone with good people skills can be involved in ministry. Anyone can read the Bible. But without the driving focus of becoming more like Him and closer to Him it is worthless.
· It is gravel in your gut. It may taste like honey on your lips, but it is gravel in your gut and will not fill you because we as believers are called to higher things. We are called according to God’s purpose that was predestined before the world began that we would be conformed to the image of God’s Son.
· Moses. Largest ministry. Needed to know God. Any man that can be content with usefulness is a very shallow man.
4. How do I conform myself to the image of Christ?
· I don’t want to get up here and tell you that you need to be more like Christ and say alright, bye. But I do want to tell you this. If you are a true believer, then God will not let your walk become stagnant for long. There may be times when your walk slows or stops, but God will come to you and make you grow in your walk and become more and more like Christ. Because if you are truly of God, God will work all things in your life so you become more like Christ.
· If you never grow in holiness and never grow closer to God, you are not saved because God will not let you stay the same if you are of God.
· Ezekiel 36:24-27 "For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” So we see that if you are truly of God you have been given a new heart, a new spirit. You see that God Himself will cleanse you and make you holier and holier and more like Christ. This is isn’t even open to interpretation. This is God Himself telling us what He is going to do to us.
· One of the ways God works in me is through studying His Word. In His Word God is revealed to us. It is His way of telling us who He is. It is how He speaks to us. And the more you study them, the closer you’ll be to Him.
· Because the more you know about me, the more you may hate me, but the more you know about God, the more you will love Him.
· And always be praying to become more like Christ. Always be praying for more righteousness, more compassion, more faith, more like Him, more like Him, more like Him.
· But if you are truly of God, you will become more like Christ. You will become closer to God through every event in your life. Always be focused on that. Always trying to become more like Christ.
5. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.
· And what is Christ like? What did He do that I should emulate? We can sum it all up in one statement that Christ said summed up the Law of the Prophets.
· Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.
· How long can we go through our life without realizing this? We’re always so distracted by so many things, not only family, friends, work, but things like ministry, study, and other things. Our minds are just so full with things all the time. I can literally go days and weeks without remembering that my main passion and calling should be to Love the Lord my God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. God says this is so important that you should write it on the doorposts of your house and on your gates and on your hand and on your head.
· How different would our lives be, if we only were reminded of this maybe 3 times a day?
· So this is it then, we have one great purpose and one great calling of God. To be conformed to the image of Christ and to Love the Lord with your entirety.

I feel

awkward.
School should be interesting though.

Just wondering what you think

What is the Gospel? Explain it to me.

I just thought of this

I saw the date and thought, I have been saved for 4 months and 3 days. :-) And boy, those 4 months and 3 days have honestly been the best of my life. So much in my walk with God has changed and so much about me has changed...I can't wait to see where God will have me 10 years from now.

Revival

I feel like we're on the verge of a great revival or movement of God across America. The cultural church has become so rampant in America, but I really believe that God is raising up so many people that aren't afraid to speak the truth. People who will go out into the streets and preach to the people unapologetically and authoritatively. I feel like we're about to witness a reverting back to Biblical principles and truths by churches. I just have this strong feeling that Yes, things are about to change, that Yes, the truth is coming out, and Yes, the world is going to be changed because of it. I hope and pray for this. I pray that God move in each of us to see the need not only to go to church Sunday and worship Him there, but to carry God to the furthermost places of our lives. To be a shining beacon of Christ's love to people. To be pillars of support to all believers. I just pray God raises us up to meet the challenge of facing the world and battling with it. Not in physical struggles, but in struggles against ourselves and our fear of speaking God's truths because of our fear of the world. I want to go. Anyone else want to?

I enjoy it

When I have my heart so set on something, and so set against something else, but God keeps pushing the thing I don't want on me, and then all of a sudden, it clicks. That feeling of, "Ohh! I get it!" See, in my last post I talked about how set against going somewhere else before seminary I was, and how I thought it wasn't trusting God to get a degree. I basically thought that if God wants me to do it, He'll provide. But after talking with several people about it and hearing what they have to say, I realized this, that maybe God's way of providing for me is to make me get this degree before seminary. I had it in my head that God would do some miraculous thing if I needed money, even though I knew that that's not how God works. So now I have no problem with going to Calhoun and getting some degree. The only question I have is what degree to get. I've looked at a lot of them, and they don't interest me much, but I'll keep praying about it and just trying to hear Him. Thank you.

Don't Trust God Too Much!

So, I feel like I'm being called to be a pastor. God's made it obvious to me that that is what I'm to be. I've heard the call and I pray God's making me ready and making me prepared to be open to Him so I can be a Godly pastor and man. But I have a bit of a problem. My parents are basically telling me to not trust God too much. They say that I can not go into seminary until I have a degree and a job for something else so I can be financially stable. That's their same stance on me doing a mission trip. When they say that something justs...screams inside me. I just want to shake them and beg them to see that God will take care of me, that money doesn't matter. That God will provide for me what I need. I mean, what do ya'll think? I wouldn't have as much as a problem with it if my mother had told me that she's prayed about it and she really felt that God was laying this on her heart that I should go get this degree, then see, but she just straight up tells me that I can not go to seminary until I have this done...:-/ I think I'll talk to her about it and my opinion.

Prayer Request

Tommorrow I'm giving a lesson to the youth group on Matthew 7:13-24. I based it around Paul Washer's shocking message sermon. Please pray that God give me the boldness and lovingness to be as tough as I need to be for these people.
If you haven't heard the message, I greatly encourage you to listen to it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuabITeO4l8

I don't get to go

So, I've been wanting to go to the Deeper conference for awhile, but I've been unable to for a long time. Recently my parents relented and agreed that if I wanted to go, I could go. I was so excited and so pumped, but then I realized that Oct. 18 is a marching competition. Not only that, but it's our major one. So I go in after school and ask Big Dave if I can talk to him for a bit. I explain my predicament how much I really want to go, and how I've been praying and how just recently this oppurtunity opened up. He unfortunately told me I couldn't go and I had to leave. The next day, he called me into his office after school and said he was sorry if he seemed cold yesterday, but his decision stood. Then he started asking me about who was preaching there. So we had a little talk about the people and a tiny itsy public-school-acceptable bit of their doctrine. Then I recommended he listen to some of them. I know God placed me there for a reason, and I hope and pray he listens to some of these amazing preachers and God move in him to whatever end He wants. I don't even mind that I don't get to go because I was able to have a quasi-religious conversation with Mr. Raney. Hopefully God will open that up more because I really don't know that much about his spiritual status.

4 things

Four things about me that you may or may not have known, in no particular order. The directions are at the end.
Four Jobs that I have had:
1. Tender's Cook
2. Tender's Cleaner
3. Babysitter
4. Student
Four Movies I've watched More Than Once:
1. Jurassic Park
2. Lion King
3. The Jungle Book
4. Carnivors
Four Places I Have Lived:
1. Huntsville
2. New Market
3. A different place in Huntsville
4.
Four Shows that I watch:
1. Heroes
2. Lost
3. Way of the Master
4. Nothing
People Who E-mail Me Regularly:
1. Facebook
2. Youtube
3. Spam
4. Spam
Four of My Favorite Foods:
1. Pizza
2. French Fries
3. Cheezeburger
4. Dark Chocolate
Four Places I Would Rather be Right Now: (not in any order)
1. Church
2. Heaven
3. With loved ones
4. Sleeping
Four Friends I Think Will Respond:
1. Nicole
2. Shawnayomama
3. I don't know
4. I don't know
Things I Am Looking Forward To This Year:
1. Christmas
2. Candlelight
3. Chrysalis in January
4. Continuing to grow in Christ
RETURN DIRECTIONS:Now, here's what you're supposed to do... And please do not spoil the fun. Hit forward, delete my answers and type in your answers.Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the personwho sent it to you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little known facts about those who know you. Remember to send it back to the person who sent it to you.