talking to myself...

Hey guys! just finished studying... so late... i cant sleep so instead of lying in bed, i thought i would type out my thoughts.
This isnt my devo, i plan on doing a proper one but more of a discussion/ rant.

I was thinking to myself, while trying to sleep, about the "drawing the line" concept. Not only in the "Sins" category but as a leader. Do we, as leaders, have more responsibility as leaders of the church? the answer is obvious but to what extent? How big are the repercussions of our actions in the long run?
I think as leaders we need to "lead" or set examples 24/7. Mainly because we can get good at being "good" but also to keep that "good" mentality strong. It also ties in with our saying "always worship". If we truly always worship then we are setting examples to everyone around us.
But on the flip side, like Rohan said we are the "face" of our ministry. Should we be extra careful in what we do outside of church?
For instance, if i party every friday after praise practice, or go to church with a hang over that would be an obvious negative thing that i do. But what a bout the "little" things. Like swearing, stealing, and to quote Sam "bringing hell on earth" to someone? What if someone from our church saw us? what if someone didnt? Im sure if God was visibly standing beside us we wouldnt say some things we say or do somethings we do. But we believe in him and that he is omnipresent no? If Rohan caught me doing something stupid, im sure i would think twice before doing that again, yet sometimes i forget God watches us.

Jacob said to me once "we might be apart of this earth, but our spirit is not". But its hard isnt it? to consistently be one with God in a world where God isnt the one.
Thats just my thoughts laid out. I should really sleep.... its 2 am

Thanks for those who took the time to read my post! I hope you can share your thoughts on this or anything else!

E-Sek OUT!

Isacc, you are a trooper being so devoted to your studies lol

Well, I woke up at 5 am, I think the android Neo-Hitler is winning world war 3, and my left nostril is already conquered and he is moving his forces to my right nostril...There better be some rebellion by today!!!...Yes I am using war references for my cold.

Well I was watching funny youtube videos and I thought to myself "does God have a sense of humor?. So I did some studies, and I find this, and I thought I would share it with you guys. In Genesis 1:27 God created man in his image. Humans can express and perceive humor, thus God must have a sense of "humor". Of course it's different from us. He doesn't get laughs from other people's expense like this

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=6P4wUG7Zllo&feature=channel
or
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=VBXxmISAMA8&feature=related

It is said that God laughs at those who oppose him. We might be like Huh? but I guess it God's own humor
I think the term "funny", is really biased. Someone might get cheap laughs at someone's own expense. Someone might laugh at something that is crude or gross. Guys are so guilty, BOOM!! nutshot everybody laughs except the guy who got sacked. I always imagine what kind of laugh God has. LoL, sorry guy just really wanted to this topic becasue it really is a topic that picks at your curiosity.

So God created us and we have humor thus proving God has humor!!!
Not the nut-sacking kind...

I hope that you guys have a fun time reading this, because I had a fun time writing it.

Hahaha, Arren, I hope you feel better! That was quite a description.

I really like the "drawing the line" discussions that have been happening in the past couple days. It's so important that we're constantly conscious of it, and I'm all the more appreciative of our "Always Worship" slogan. To add my two cents, I think a lot of people have mentioned how it's extra important because we're all leaders to some capacity, in our church, and we need to show consistency in our actions. But even just as Christians...I think simply bc it's a common world religion, people take the title lightly, especially when you have friends that say, "Yeah, I'm technically Christian, twice a year", but in all reality by calling ourselves Christians, we're publicly declaring ourselves world ambassadors for Christ. That's huge. And when you think about how the difference of our sinning outside the church can make or break the difference of a non-believer's faith or curiousity in the religion, it's a very big deal. If I was a non-believer and saw a Christian friend swearing and doing drugs, etc. just like the rest of us, I would question why they needed religion at all when there was nothing that set them apart. Our everyday actions are representatives of God, so how are we representing our Father on a daily basis?

2 Corinthians 1
v.5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows...And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

They're good verses to get one through rough times. It reminded me once more, that any suffering that we might endure on Earth, Jesus has been through it all and much more. I think when trials are thrown one's way, it's quick for man to pin the blame on God and wonder why He'd 'betray you', etc. But we have to remember that God is our loving Father, and naturally hates to see us in pain. It's in these times that He asks us to remember that you know, "Here's my son Jesus, who knows exactly what you're going through", He asks that we seek comfort in the same Jesus that shared our same pains, and He asks that we learn to wholly rely on Him. Stop relying on the world to feel better, cut to the chase, and go to the only one that can really do anything about it, first - GOD. Something for me to remember.

Have a great Wed-Nes-Day, guys!

- H

hannah makes a good point about the "ambassador of God" and how our actions can change a non-believer for the better or for the worse.

hey guyss
haha allan thats the most epic description of a nose ive ever heard in my life
but thats okay im sick too and im not gonna lie, its pretty gross. haha
ive definetly lost my voice and it keeps cracking so i sound like a 12 year old boy going through puberty..
lets hope i get it back for friday!

kk I chose a verse in Corinthians 3: 1-3
well more like. many verses but im just gonna type the whole thing out cuase i like it
"Are we beginning to praise ourselves again? Are we like others, who need to bring you letters of recommendation, or who ask you to write such letters on their behlaf? Surely not! The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you. Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This "letter" is written not with pena nd ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts."
This verse sorta really reminded me of how important our lives and our actions are when it comes to living the Spirit of God. Sometimes we might get distracted from this and focus on 'recommendation letters', which I guess in our lvies and take the form of a lot of things... like approval from others, how good-looking we are, our marks, etc. Just pretty much anything that requires like.. exterior approval I guess.And because the exterior world is physical and we being humans see the physical first, we might think that we're living a good life if we receive this sort of 'exterior' approval. But this verse reminds us that those kinds of things are a form of self-praise. But instead, the real letters of recommendation is ourselves. OUr lives and in our hearts, and this is what everone can see when it comes to seeing the good work in us. Through this, people can see the Spirit of God - and through us, it really comes alive. Our actions, our lives are a living testament of Christ and our ministry of Christians. I love thie verse, and I think it really relates to the discussion that we've been having. It just really puts us back into perspective where the real goodness lies, and how important our lives are in making the spirit really come alive and glorifying God's kingdom. And I think i really started realizing this recently, when I realized that quite a few people from church go to my school. And when I see them around in the halls, it sort of reminds me that life at school and church shouldn't be two completly different things. How I shoudl act at school should be how I act at church and vice versa... So hahah I love seeing Eric, Julie, Melody, Sarah and Mina around at school cause it sort of knocks me back into this idea.


Good luck with the rest of your exams!
im done chemistry FOREVER. like, actually. I totally wanan start a bonfire and burn my chem book. haha anyone wanna join?

Start a bonfire? well that would be the act of worship that Indo-European civilization would do. Agni: God of Fire. Link between gods and humans. Worshiped by Aryans.
Im studying world religions now....

Hey guys,
Sorry about yesterday’s devotions here it is with todays... I hope that everybody is having a great week thus far! It is the midpoint people!
What I read yesterday: Romans 1
What I learned: well I must say this chapter was quite in the introduction to this letter. It is also quite heavy and so I am just going to focus on that which I focused on. The major part of this chapter I really struggled with came in the latter part of the book where Paul writes ‘because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones...’ and it goes on from there, but it all starts out with Paul writing this... ‘The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse’. This stuck out to me thinking, it is true, God has made Himself known, I mean all that is within this universe screams out of God’s presence, and yet at times I live without the thought that God is there. Why is that? Could it be because as God gives us over to the things that we want to do, that we slowly start to forget about God, and slowly think about ourselves more and more? Could it be that our sinful nature becomes ‘normal’ in our eyes because we sin so much and not realize how much this is detestable to God? Well just a thought... my other thoughts are that God does not put us in a situation which is too hard for us to handle, and possible God allows us to fall into this grey area in order that we see how meaningless and futile the world is, and thus we start crawling back to God. The good news in this passage that seems to be so grim is the fact that God is always allowing us to come back to Him no matter how deep we get ourselves into, and the other good news is that no matter how deep we get into our sin, God can always dig us out.
What I am going to do: well, I’m kindof wondering if there are any sins that I have fallen into and I don’t even know about. The main ones that I can think come from what John Ortberg had mentioned in regards to helping the poor, the sick, the orphan, and the widow, and I’m thinking that I have, but I’m also wondering if there are others. Is there anything else that I need to watch out for. Well one of them has been what I say. I find that what I say is not always the most positive and encouraging things in the world. I think I actually have gone in so deep, that I think what I say is normal, and thus got to get out of that one. I guess I got to continue to ask God for His revelations in my own sins, and continue to pray through them.

TODAY!
What I read: Job 26
What I learned: one of the biggest comments Job makes in this chapter that stuck out to me is when he makes mention of God’s power. ‘And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?’ I love how Job phrases the character of God. When we look at God, we can only understand him to the point of a whisper, imagine what God would be like to us if we could understand him like the sound of thunder! It just goes to show me that my understanding of God is so petty and little compared to who God really is. I find that just when I think I know who God is, God throws me a wrench and says ‘there is still a lot more to find out’. I find the more that I study the character of God, the more that I realize, I don’t know anything, AND the learning will never end! It is limitless to which we can come and understand God’s character, and this is the God that we get to worship! This gets me all worked up....
What I am going to do: well I am never going to stop learning and never going to stop trying to figure out the character of God, because I find the more that I will learn about God, the more that I will love Him more, the more that I will want to see Him, the more that I will want to be in His presence. It is like back in times of Socrates and Aristotle when people used to follow them around to hear their knowledge and their wisdom, but I got it better, because I get to hear the highest wisdom, and the highest knowledge! Exciting no?

I also read: Romans 2
What I learned: man, today was a mind blowing day, I read on God’s character, and then I read in Romans, what seems to continue what I read yesterday in regards to God giving us over, with us fully knowing that we sin. In this chapter he speaks on judgment and the law. But the thrust of the whole chapter is making this comment: ‘if you tell someone to do something, you should do the same. If you believe it, do it. If you read it and understand it, do it’ Paul starts the chapter out by saying if you are judging, ask yourself if you are doing what you are judging the other person for, because if you are stealing and you are telling the other person not to steal, then take a good look at yourself first. He also makes mention by asking the people if they are reading the law and know the law is right, then why is it that they do not choose to follow the law and what is found good in the law. His last comments at the end kind of sum up the first two chapters a little bit, well to what I see. Paul states ‘a man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward an physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code.’ It is true, we are not a Christian, unless we are Christian inside the heart, I mean we can go around telling the whole world that we are Christians, but if we don’t act like it, we are just being liars. It is like that song ‘from the inside out’ that our actions, what we say, our lives will be a reflection of what is inside our hearts coming outside.
What I am going to do: well, I guess it is heart check time. I got to really see what is inside my heart, I guess it theme for me this week. I got really see what is at the root of those things, maybe even things I don’t even know of, and see how my heart has been mangled, and do a clean up of the heart. I was actually thinking I haven’t taken a trip to the geedowan for some time, maybe this is God’s way of telling me I need some good clean-up time in my heart.

Isaac good points.
OF course it's hard, but you can' expect much just on willpower. I cannot stress this enough, God is what we need to overcome any of our struggles. It's one thing to be different when God is always watching, but if God is genuinely within our hearts why should we have to act different? If he was not only watching us, but working through us in everyway, wouldn't we become "Christianly" all the time? The only reason why we fail to realize that is because we make room for the "pleasures of sin" and its natural. The fact that we are humans makes it impossible for us alone to be ALWAYS HOLY. but we can never stop trying with God. "ALways Worship"

Romans 15: 4 - 5
I searched up on the Bible hoping to find stuff about encouragements. To note about what i said earlier up there, these to verses should follow through on the slogan "ALways Worship". The verses basically meant that through Encouragement and Endurance, we can acheive with God. I see encouragement as a bigger subject now. I realized that people tend to endure things when they receive encouragements. Example: If i was playing basketball for the first time in my life and Isaac comes up to me and says i think you can go far or you learn quickly. Wouldn't it be natural for me to desire to get better at basketball?
So i think if we kept encouraging each other, it'll really benefit our team in terms of unity, also along the lines of "Always worship". TO ENcourage and to ENdure with God. I hope you guys got something from that. And when i mean encourage, i want us to be a family. People sometimes misundewrstand that encouragements are given in a certain way. Example: Nice things to say, a note, pat on the back. However, i think if we really are like a family i can see us encouraging each other even through jokes, laughing at each other, even things as small as text messages because it means we acknowledge each other and that we're ALL part of this team. Going back to my other devo, i want us to be positive and always smile from the inside and out.
Excited for Friday!

Hey guys how are u all doing my friends, hope everything is going out well for you guys, anyways i just wanted to comment on hannahs thoughts. She makes a really good point when we call our selves christians were basically declaring ouselves world ambassadors of Christ. I totaly agree with that. That just because were christians it doesnt mean were the best and that we can do whatever we want. We should always be carefull with our actions and what we say. So that was a really good point Hannah, good job.

Ok, so this is what i read for todays devotion. 1 John 4:18-21 It says, We love because he first loved us. If anyone says "I love God" yet hates his brothers, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, who he has seen, cannot love God, who he has not seen. And he has given us a commad , whoever loves God must also love his brother. I found this verse very important because God is giving us a message. He is telling us that we should always love one another just like in the ten commandments, it says, Love God and also love your neighbours. It says, if we cannot love someone who we can see, and love God who we cannot see, God says you are a liar. God says us to love our brother and sister because the Lord has loved us first, so we should be thankful and thank him by also loving others. It is always important to love God and others because how can we go into heaven if we cannot love eachother. So God has commanded us to love other inorder to love God.
When i read through this verse the word forgivness came in my head. If we fought with others and we cannot forgive them, God will not be pleased. The lords wants us to porgive others no matter what, because the lord has always forgiven us. Like when he sent Jesus to come down to earth to sacrifice himself on the cross for our sins. If we cannot forgive then the lord will not forgive us. If we cannot forgive others, how can we love that person. Because that will lead to hatred with that person. And that is the oppisite of love. Having forgive others means you love that person. So my message for todays passage is, love others because the Lord loves us so much.

Amen........

take care everyone...

Hi, sorry for the late devo. I took what was going to be a short nap.

Ezekiel 11
v.19 "I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh."
So basically I'm a huge dork and write my favorite verses down on a post-it note. I was flipping through my Bible, read this verse, and decided to read the whole chapter. Ezekiel 11 talked about those Israelites who were believing in idols and refusing to look at God. This verse shows what God does to save a non-believer. One aspect of this verse with which I had trouble was the "undivided heart". All of us have been saved, but I don't think that we truly can say that our hearts are undivided. We strive to make God all that is in our hearts, but sins inevitably take up little or lots of room. What God is getting at, I think, is that it is possible to have an undivided heart if we keep working at it.

Also, from this verse, I realized that the most precious lesson learned from Christianity is love. In fact, because of Jesus' death, we see the extent of love that God has for us- almost... sacrificial love. From daily doing devotions, I'm sure all of us are a little more aware of how we are to others, through our actions and words. I think it's out of admiration for God that we want to be more like Him.



Now, I wanted to take the time to join in on the "drawing the line" discussion. I might not make much sense, but if you do read this, hear me out. As many of you have pointed out, it is so difficult to always worship 24/7 because we live in this world that is filled with sin and temptation. Of course, God wants us to live for Him always and never succumb to those temptations, but, I don't think God necessarily counts our sins in His fingers and waits for the day when we will face our consequences. Instead, I think God looks at our hearts and our willingness to live for Him. He probably understands the fact that there is so much temptation around us and that it is difficult for us to ALWAYS worship. But if our hearts are at the right place and we try our best to remind ourselves that this life is for God, even when we sin, God will still love and accept us. He brought Jesus into the world so that He could give us, His imperfect children, grace. Don't you think that He saw our potential then to believe that it is possible to live solely for God?

All in all, I think it's all about choice after careful reflection. Once we take the time to reflect, like during these discussions, I think we will see that God sincerely believes in each of our faith to step up from the world and commit to Him. He doesn't promise us that it is easy to be a Christian, but opens our eyes to the people around us who are in this altogether. When we are struggling to keep an undivided heart, we have each other to lean on and ask for encouragement. I'm a firm believer that true friendships are rare. However, if you're a Christian, it's easy to be friends with other Christians because we all share the understanding of unconditional love. I'm sure that we can all say that we consider each other to be our "true friends" who will be there through thick and thin. Most importantly, it's crucial to remember that God is there to help us. When we struggle, God is there to listen to us.

With a little leap of faith, love from friends, and support from God, I think we have more than enough to incessantly strive to live for God.

haha darn...I was reading Eragon :S and I lost track of time...hahaha

Anyways for the discussion, I agree when we should be leaders 24/7 and always worship, but like Denise said, its really hard, after all no one is sinless. This kind of relates with a previous Luke that we read before, it was like everyone sins, but woe to the person that brings sin to other people. Something along those lines, but the leaders should be very cautious about sinning publicly, because first we are bringing sin into other peoples lives, and second they are very influencial, for example, the SACKING game. When Roh starts it, its like a chain reaction, likewise our actions will be seen by the ministry and the leaders will reflect our ministry. Side note, when I was reading Eragon, the main character, Eragon was given a HUGE responsibility, since he played a very important role in the peoples lives they would ask him for advice on everything. Since he had so much power he could not answer thoughtlessly and had to think through his advice very well, because the people would go on his word. The leaders have a big influence on our ministry, we should remember how influencial our actions can be, good and bad.

So I read one verse Ephesians 4:29

v29"Dont use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them"

I chose this verse because personally I have a very foul mouth. It used to be when I was extremely mad or something like that, but now its more habit then anything. One of the main reasons it grew on me is because who I chose to hang out with, since my science class since non of my close friends were there I decided to hang out the other crowd, like the ones that swear and etc* because I saw them everyday theyre habits grew on me. Just wanted to share. From this verse I realized how important our words are. We can either bring heaven or hell on earth, like Sayah said. Our words can rub of on others, like it did to me, and it could bring heaven to other people, and they may pass it on as well.

I just wanted to comment on sean devotion, sean brings out a good point, because it is important what we say. We should not give out false tesimtony because that is considered as a sin basically. And as sean said, we should watch our actions and words because then people might learn from it, and we dont want that. Especially when we are spreading the word of God to others, we should use the right words and thats why we would do devotions so we can learn more and share the word of God to others. So that was a really good point sean..

To comment on Denise's devtion, she also brings out a good point when she metioned about us being saved but it doesnt mean we are devided. this is a good point because, just because were saved it doesnt mean we get to go back with our lives and do whatever we want. This would be a good time to thank Jesus for what he has done. And so Jesus will be happy if we do the same, but in a different way.

gj guys

hmm not really sure about how this pick ur own devos work, but coupla people seem to do just random verses all around, so i think ill do that as well..


umm i read john 2 sorta random but o well..

here it talks about 2 main stories that happened with Jesus. One was when he changes water in to wine at the party and the other is when Jesus clears the temple. I mean its pretty cool that Jesus can turn water in to wine and it states that this was the first miraculous sign that jesus performed. So now we know that Jesus can bring the dead alive and change water in to wine, i think he is most certainly capable of anything that he wishes. We've probably heard this a gazillion times, but anything is possible through God. Umm for Jesus clears the temple, it's evident and crucial that we go to church for the right reasons, and in this story they went to church for money. I mean sure we go to church for a wide verity of reasons, like hanging out with friends, killing time, parents forcing us, but i think if we don't go to church for God, i think it is almost next to meaningless. We know what the right reasons are and we must all the time follow thru with it.