I’ll be honest, I’ve grown ALOT in alot of areas of my life during my first of college. Mainly, I’ve grown out my “control everything and if it’s not going according to plan, then worry like crazy about it” phase. I was a nervous wreck last year, which is weird considering I was living an extremely comfortable life. I go off to college (which is supposed to be uncomfortable) not even really wanting to go and I end up enjoying everything about it. I somehow walked into an awesome group of friends, the chillest roommate, amazing chapel services, great classes, etc. Point being, I walked into this somewhat blindly. I really only picked Southeastern cause it’s not a massive school and it’s in Florida. I mean yeah it has my major, but I only picked that major because it’s the only online degree I was somewhat interested in (I was gonna do online classes when Eliano was supposed to be touring). Now, there’s no major I’d rather have. Theology is super interesting to me and I wanna know as much as I can so I can effectively bring the Gospel to as many people as possible. Again, the point is is that God hooked me up big time. I guess I kinda took a leap of faith and God provided.

Right now, if I take all of my donations and empty all of the money out of my bank account I am still roughly $1,500 short of going on my mission trip to Amsterdam. Our money is due in 2 weeks. This has me extremely worried. Like I said, I’ve grown up alot. I’ve gotten to the point where I do very little worrying. There have been things happen to me this year that aren’t really a big deal, but would have worried me sick at this point last year. Side note, that doesn’t make me awesome. It just shows that whole heartedly trusting in God is for the most part, worry-free. However, and I say this alot, I don’t think God calls us to be comfortable. I have become comfortable with my life, so it has been easy for me to trust God. I think as a Christian, I should be continually pushing boundaries in my faith. You cannot push boundaries without taking risks. In my mind, it is not a risk if I can complete the task on my own. I can do alot of things, but I cannot come up with $1,500 on my own in 2 weeks. If I sell all of my drum things (which is unlikely), I will still be $500 short. I have faith in God, but I realize that God has different timing than me. If I cannot raise the money, I will be upset but my faith won’t diminish. It’d grow actually. I have a desire to bring Jesus to the people in Amsterdam, but I have a stronger desire to fulfill God’s will. Whether that be me spending 3 weeks in Amsterdam this summer or me spending those 3 weeks in Sarasota, I have no clue. It is important to remember that your faith should not be based on how God provides for you. God exists, and you should worship him for that. I am worried, but I have no doubt that God’s will will prevail. To be honest, that’s all I really want anyways. It’s what’s best for me in the end. 

Pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on you. 

Ever since I sorta let this whole “I used to look at porn too much” thing out of the bag, I feel as though I need to reveal and fix other things from my past as well. Specifically, there are a number of people in my past that I can think of who I wronged and never apologized to, and now I’ve lost touch with them. They don’t have the benefit of knowing that I’ve changed, grown up, and matured. In their mind, I’m still the insecure, prideful, rude, and worried person I was. I mean I’ve still got a ton of work to do, but I feel as though I’ve changed quite a bit. There are also a few people in my life today who I have never apologized to for how I treated them in the past. As I was laying in my bed sorta praying about this last night, the most random people would pop into my head. There’s one kid that I was a complete jerk to in 8th grade who I really need to apologize to, I completely forgot he existed until last night. I think I played a big part in him leaving the church. I don’t think it was completely my fault, but I definitely played a part in it. I hate that. I was mean to him for the dumbest reason too. I really want to apologize to some people, others I’d just rather not. I need to do this though. There’s a guy who has been the source of alot of my jokes for a good year or two now. I don’t have hard feelings towards him, but he doesn’t know that. There are people in my family who I need to apologize to as well. Basically, there have been alot of relationships I’ve handled poorly and I think it’s time I own up to that. I was thinking as to how I would do this. Like I said, I’ve lost contact with a number of them. I was thinking of hand writing a letter personally to all of them, would that be either weird or impersonal? To be honest, I feel as though I portray my words better when I can sit and write them down and really think about what I wanna say. That’s why I think sending them letters would maybe be more effective. I just don’t wanna seem like I’m hiding behind my letters and I’m just afraid these people will think I’m weird for bringing up stuff from years ago. They probably don’t even really care, I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about this for a few days now. I just feel like I need to do some cleaning in my life, and this is the next step to do that. I’m also not sure who I like NEED to send a letter to, I just wish I knew who was still hurt by things I’ve done. I guess I’ll pray about it and send letters to who God puts on my heart. 

I’m watching how I met your mother. This show reminds me so much of my friends back home, it’s crazy. It’s like watching us on tv, just minus all the sex.

My friend gave me a book to read over Spring Break. This dude just messes with people via email. There’s a website I go to sometimes where a different guy does the same thing. I can literally sit there and read these things for hours just cracking up. Anyways, I was at Guitar Center just wasting time with friends yesterday. As I was leaving the bathroom I walked by the bulletin board and started to read the ads. I then decided I should try my hand at this little trolling thing, so I saved some of their emails to my phone. When I got home I also checked some ads on craigslist and emailed some of those people too. I look for the strangest ads cause I feel like I’ll get the funniest reaction. I came across this ad this woman had posted looking for “entertainment” for her husband’s surprise birthday party. Turns out, she was looking for like 4-5 female strippers to come and entertain her husband and his friends. While I was for sure just looking for a good laugh out of this venture, this ad really hit me hard. It gave me a mix of feelings. I was angry but just sad at the same time. Mainly, I just began to question as to what was going on here. Why was a WIFE ordering strippers for her HUSBAND? That just gives me such an awful feeling. I’ve been trying to figure out which word to use to describe how I feel, but nothing really fits appropriately. Angry, Sad, Sorry, Gross, Defiled, Wrong, Compassionate, Caring, and Eerie. If you could put all of those into one word, that would describe how I feel about this woman looking for strippers for her husband’s birthday. Angsasorgrosdefiwrocompcareer. That is the man of her dreams (or so she thought) and she is completely “okay” with sitting back and watching 4 random women shamelessly flaunt themselves for his “entertainment”. She was even willing to pay for it! What the hell has this husband done to make her feel as though this is necessary? That angers me so much. Can you imagine how she felt watching these women strip for her husband? That probably tore her up. The man she decided to marry is solely responsible for that. The man with whom she has become one is no longer satisfied with her. The man with whom her heart is tied to forever (regardless of divorce) is paying more attention to 4 whores than he is to her. I think it kind of goes without saying that he is no longer sexually attracted to her either. These are the kind of guys I pray that my sister never even acknowledges. Actually, I pray that no girl would acknowledge this dude. He’s obviously shown he doesn’t deserve it. Say I’m being harsh, I don’t really care. This dude is pathetic.

Here’s where my heart check comes into play here. I don’t think I’m really that much better than this guy. Now don’t get wrong, I will NEVER do something like this when I am married. If I do, find me and hurt me. Badly. Also to my future wife, if I do this; print this out, give it to me, and then leave me. It’d be better for you if you did that. haha. I’m not married now, nor do I plan on it any time soon. I’m not ready and I won’t be for awhile, but in the last year of my life I’ve sorta been making alot of changes in my life to better prepare myself. Porn is a killer and it had me by the throat. I wouldn’t say I was addicted, but it was kickin’ my butt. See, I don’t really see much of a difference between looking at porn and having strippers over for your party. Both completely destroy your relationship with your wife and God. That really hit me towards the end of the summer and I was just ridden with guilt. I’m already hurting my wife and I haven’t even met her yet. I am a virgin but refuse to wear a purity ring because of it. When I was younger I always thought it’d be cool to wear a purity ring my whole life and switch it out with my wedding ring, I can’t do that anymore. How can I claim purity to my future wife when a woman I won’t ever meet has it? That pisses me off. It’s gonna kill me when I tell my future wife about this. I’m gonna be so embarrassed. haha. Don’t even get me started on the barrier it put between God and I. This summer was not good to me, I was so empty. I would say that I barely had a relationship with God. I didn’t care. I was just playing music and doing my own thing. The band breaking up was exactly what I didn’t want, but exactly what I needed. Total wake up call. Nothing to boost my ego anymore. Not sure what I wanted to do. Empty. Spending alot of time alone. It got me thinking. Here’s what I wanna say to you real quick: Your loneliest times are God’s biggest cries for your attention. He got my attention and I couldn’t be happier that he did. Porn is out of my life, pride is dying, insecurities are dead, worry is dead, faith is growing, love is growing, and I’m growing. I’m not perfect, but I am living in the hands of perfection. I’ve always wondered when I would let this cat out of the bag. I didn’t even intend to when I started writing this. I was gonna bash this dude, but I couldn’t. I was gonna talk about how husbands need to step their game up, but I couldn’t. I was gonna make myself sound awesome, but I couldn’t. I wanted to be 100% pure for my wife, but I couldn’t. I wanted to live by my rules, but I couldn’t. I wanted to honor God, but I couldn’t. I have been forgiven of much, and couldn’t be more undeserving.

⁹ To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

   ¹³ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

   ¹⁴ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

I read this the other day and prayed that God would show me what this means in my life. I know now. 

 ¹Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, ²where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.³The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”⁴Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.”⁵The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. ⁶And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. ⁷If you worship me, it will all be yours.”⁸Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”⁹The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. ¹⁰For it is written:“‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; ¹¹they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’¹²Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’¹³When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

Luke 4:1-13

Ya ever have that one guy/girl who always talks to you and won’t leave you alone? You see them at like school or something, and you’re like “crap, there she is. Maybe if I like stare in the opposite direction, she won’t notice me.” Sure enough, she notices you and approaches you, then you say some cuss words in your head that really make no logical sense and act all nice (but not too nice) and try and get out of the situation as quickly as possible. Regardless, you’re in a situation you don’t want to be in. When they leave, you relax and devise a new idea to avoid them but it never really works. Please tell me someone else in the world goes through this same experience sometimes. I mean, I’m no Brad Pitt but there’s been a few times (like once) when a certain someone wouldn’t leave me be. See I don’t wanna be a tool, so I try to be courteous. That doesn’t always get the point across though. Have you ever thought what would happen if you just straight up told them off? I’m not suggesting you do this, that’d be mean, but if I was like, “GO AWAY GERTRUDE, you’re tacky and I hate you.” odds are Gertrude (I picked that name cause nobody is named Gertrude) would leave me alone and never approach me with such confidence again. She might approach me again, sure, but she knows how it is and that I don’t welcome her around me.

I feel like this is how we deal with sin and temptation most of the time. Instead of getting hostile towards it, we continually try to avoid it and just hope it’ll stop coming around. Temptation will always be present in your life. No matter how hard you try to avoid it, it will always come back to you. It’s not going anywhere, so avoiding it will just make you tired and susceptible. Notice how Satan comes to Jesus while he’s fasting alone for 40 days, Satan knows when you’re vulnerable, okay? I’m not suggesting you put yourself in tempting situations, the Bible says to flee from temptation, but there has be a time when you quit playing nice with Satan. He is not playing nice with you, so why in the world should you be nice to him? Flirting with temptation will kill you (James 1:15). You do not flirt with temptation, you stare it in the face and kick its ass….actually, you’d have to turn it around to kick its ass, but you get the point. I just love how Jesus freaking dominates Satan in this passage. He doesn’t even give Satan’s offers the time of day, he just tells him off time and time again. That’s my biggest problem, I give Satan too much time to make my temptations sound appealing. I mean, they are appealing but not in the long run. At all. Instead of hoping he’ll just leave on his own, I need to make him leave. Call me crazy, but I think demons interact with us on a daily basis and we should do whatever it takes to eliminate them. Get a new group of friends, leave the movie, leave the party, get off your computer, and for your own sake, get your eyes off of the girl dressed like a freaking prostitute. Sinning sexually just hurts you (1 Corinthians 6:18), not to mention the damage it’ll do to your relationship with your future spouse. This applies to girls too by the way. If you want a man of God then you better be a woman of God. You might think your boyfriend is godly or whatever cause you met him at church, I mean that’s a good start, but if he supports your prostitute attire and is pushing to go further physically, then he isn’t a man of God. Actually, if he were really a man of God then he probably wouldn’t be dating you in the first place. I’m not saying this applies to all girls, but if you are using your body as bait then you are only pushing away actual Christian dudes. Throw away your stupid Cosmo magazines, there’s nothing good in them (yes, I’ve read them). Humorous, yes. Good advice, no. Just do what it takes to dress modestly. I’m not sure if there’s like a temptation to dress provocatively, but it’s a sin. So do what you need to eliminate that. Also, real quick, if you’re a girl and you consciously make an effort to dress modestly, thank you. For real, you rule. I wish you nothing but the best.

Another thing I love about Jesus here is that he is so well prepared. He doesn’t get scared and stumble on his words; he knows his stuff and he knows what to do. If you want to dominate temptation, then you need to be willing to prepare yourself. Know scripture and know what it actually says, not what you want it to say. Satan even uses scripture to tempt Jesus. Satan knows his stuff too, he would actually probably be pretty good at conquering temptation, which is all the more reason why you need to know your stuff even better. You don’t bring a knife to a gun fight, so you shouldn’t rely on your own desires in a battle of temptation. Your desires are sinful, if they weren’t then Satan wouldn’t tempt you. No matter how often you read your bible, pray, go to church, listen to worship music, etc. Your desire is to sin and you cannot rely on your good deeds to save you from those desires. Prepare yourself by grounding yourself in the Bible, not church attendance. If you feed temptation it will grow and if you starve it, it will shrink. Prepare yourself to do what you need to do to starve your temptation. If you are not willing to prepare yourself, then don’t complain when others cause you to sin. Girls should not dress provocatively, but don’t get mad at them cause you can’t control yourself. Directing blame off of yourself is just another form of avoiding your flaws. You should get mad at the fact that Satan has convinced them it’s okay to dress like that. There’s only two people you can blame for your temptations anyways: Yourself and Satan. Plant your roots in the Bible so you can silence both of those. If you are not with God, then you are against him, and if you’re against him then you’re with Satan. There is no middle ground. I’m not saying that all non Christians are devil worshippers, but if you aren’t a Christian then you’re spending eternity with Satan, right? What I’m trying to say is that you were on Satan’s team until Jesus saved you. You did nothing to be saved, so quit acting like you can save yourself from temptation. If you don’t think you need help, then you have vastly overestimated yourself. Pride leads to the fall, so suck it up and seek help in Jesus. Jesus did not save you so you could live scared, he saved you so you could dominate. Do what you need to do to dominate Satan. 

P.s. I was thinking about The Temptations like whole time I was writing this. Man, they rule. 

“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.” Luke 14:34-35

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Matthew 5:13

I go to Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida (box #251 if you wanna send me stuff) and one of their mottos is “Be Salt”. I guess that’s a pretty decent motto, I mean coming up with a motto must be hard. I’ve noticed all of the bros these days love to say YOLO (you only live once). It’s hilarious, they’ll post facebook status’ like “Hittin up tha gym. YOLO”. You’re a bro, you go to the gym 9 times a week, that’s not risky enough to say “you only live once” afterwards. Someone like me should be allowed to say that if they’re going to the gym, I mean it’s probably only happened like once in my life anyways. While we’re on the subject, Christian girls have their own acronym too! PTL = Praise The Lord. “Had a dream about my future husband last night! Time for some coffee and the word. mmmm coffee coffee coffee! PTL”. I feel like nothing else needs to be said after that…..I even made my own acronym at school. LBD. Figure out what it means. Urban dictionary won’t be able to help you on this one. Anyways, none of this relates really at all, so I’ll get back on subject.

My school uses this as one of their slogans and it’s a pretty common expression amongst Christians. I’m gonna tackle 2 approaches to these verses. First, the straightforward approach. We, as Christians, are the salt of the Earth and what that means is that we are to give the world flavor. Basically, we need to be interesting and different. If we aren’t doing that, then we’ve really lost our purpose and we might as well be thrown out. I feel like Christians misinterpret or misapply this verse. We think that to be interesting we must have a cool church building, a stylish pastor and worship team, tons of WAY too happy people, and cutting edge technology. I’m sorry but a pastor that focuses on his/her clothes/image only shows that they have mixed up their priorities, and worship music can only be so “cool”. If you are trying to write “cool” worship music, then you’ve missed the point. Actually, if you’re trying to create a “cool” church, then you’ve missed the point as well. We spend so much time trying to figure out what attracts people to Jesus/the Church. I’m all for having awesome events and having a good time at church. In my dad’s sermon last night, he said that the #1 reason people don’t go to church is because it’s boring. Church should be a GREAT time. If I get the opportunity to become a youth pastor, I wanna have like the most badass events. Not like youth movie night where we watch the “Left Behind” series. I haven’t exactly figured out what these events will entail, but know that potlucks will be of the norm. Specifically BBQ potlucks. Food is fellowship, my friends. Anyways, we put so much emphasis on being attractive that we miss the point of being salt. Yes, being salt does not mean being cool. Actually, I believe that being salt has nothing to do with being cool. Have you ever thought that being salt just means honestly representing Jesus? Build the biggest and most technologically advanced building you can, if you are not truly presenting the Gospel, then people will eventually leave. Churches are not drive thrus, so we need to quit running them like they are. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think having a cool building is bad. I just think that focusing on making an awesome building and not focusing on presenting Jesus is where we go wrong. I believe that instead of trying to be unique and different, if we were to just live a life of integrity and honesty according to the Bible, then we wouldn’t have to try to be different. It would be natural for us but SO weird for the world because integrity is unimportant nowadays. When I was younger, maybe 8 or 9, my dad took me and my 2 siblings to a Tampa Bay Bucs game. We waited in a super long line to get our food and when we finally did, they accidentally gave my brother an extra burger. Any normal person (like me), would have been stoked and left quickly. My dad on the other hand, decided to wait in that long line again just to pay off the extra burger. Are you kidding me? Who in the world does that? I think that’s a prime example of being salt. Not a cool worship band. A cool worship band is only cool for 30 minutes a week. A life of honesty actually changes lives, I mean both of my parents lead lives of honesty and it has changed me greatly. Honest actions prove to be salty, a perfected image does not. 

In the Luke version of this passage he says if we lose our saltiness, then we are “fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile”. This means that one who is salty is fit for both the soil and the manure pile. I found this part to be interesting. If we are not salty, then we can’t be in the soil, nor can we be in the manure pile. I get the soil idea, that’s cool. I’d be all like important and stuff. I mean without soil, nothing can grow, right? I’d play an important role, I’d be a big deal and stuff; however, I don’t think anyone wants to be useful for the manure pile. That just sucks. You’re literally a turd. I think that’s a problem that we face alot though. We want to be useful to God but only if it’s on our terms and it makes us look good. Manure is not awesome, but soil is. I mean, when I think of awesome I don’t really think of soil either, but in this case soil wins. So when given the option, we of course take the cooler more noticeable position. Actually, most people only take the lesser position if it is assigned to them. That’s the problem. Our desire to be soil takes away from our desire to follow God. Pastors, are you okay with someone besides you preaching in your church? Worship leaders, do you feel threatened when a more talented person is leading worship in your church? If the idea of someone looking better than you annoys you, then you probably shouldn’t be in your position anyways. Have you ever thought that you could maybe learn from a more talented person than you, and thus grow yourself? It’s hard to be humble without being humbled, and it’s hard to grow without manure. Manure helps soil grow. If you don’t have manure, then soil doesn’t grow and if you don’t have soil, then manure is just a load of turds. Both of these things are pointless without the other. Here’s the thing, we are all soil and we are all manure. I am soil and you are manure to me, and you are soil and I am manure to you. We help each other grow and we help each other where it matters most, our roots. If your roots are not firmly established in God and you are not surrounded by salty people then you will lack manure. If you lack manure then your soil will die and you will be unsalty. Thus serving no purpose. I think what Jesus is saying here is that a life of saltiness was not meant to be done on your own. Find manure for your soil and be manure for others soil. 

Is it bad that like alot all of my “religious” posts on here are written while I jam to either Tyler, The Creator or Stray From The Path? 

Lately, I’ve been trying to look at Scripture in an atypical way. I feel like a lot of Christians settle for the ankle deep meaning of Bible passages and that’s why they get bored with the Bible. That’s why I got bored of reading the Bible, specifically the Gospels. I grew up in church, so I’ve heard all the stories. I’m sure you have too if you grew up in church. As I started this study of Luke, I thought there had to be more to Jesus’ words than we think. Jesus is too smart for the meaning of his words to be figured out by 8 year olds. I believe that the Bible can be straight forward, but I feel like we settle for these first thought meanings way too often. If “Jesus” can be figured out by your first thought, then you haven’t figured out Jesus. If you think you’re that smart, then you need to take a step off your pedestal. I’m not saying I have Jesus figured out, I never will, but I think it’s time we actually take Jesus deeper than face value. He’s the wisest dude to walk the planet, there’s gotta be something more to his words. With that being said, let’s look at this passage found in Luke 12.

“Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”

I’ve always had this problem with open and shut Bible reading. I’ll read a passage (like this one) and be like “cool, I got it” and then move on. I feel like that’s a deceiving spirit and exactly what Satan wants from me. I’m reading my Bible everyday, so that means I can cross it off of my “things to do to be a good Christian” checklist, but I’m not really getting what it’s saying nor am I really trying to. It just shows that I can view reading the Bible as a task or just to make me feel good about myself. Exactly what I preach against. Cool, man. Like I said before, I’m trying to break this habit. I’m not trying to over analyze, I’m just trying to figure out Jesus. I feel that if I’m continually trying to figure out Jesus, then the parts of my life that are also in confusion will sort of fix themselves. I’m gonna go off on a rant here that is somewhat related and somewhat unrelated. I’ll tie it into this “get to actually know Jesus” message here, and then finally I’ll say some stuff about this verse. I’ve just been noticing this and I feel led to say something. 

Christians love Christian dating/marriage books. Every time I’m in a Christian book store, they’re EVERYWHERE. All of these books on how to have a good marriage, how to stay pure before marriage, how to have a good sex life, how to be a loving husband, how to be a good wife, etc. I’ve noticed these like “Christian” chick flick books, I guess it helps girls understand what it’s like to love your husband in today’s world. And kids my age love songs of solomon, I think some of his analogies are weird, but that’s okay. “Your hair is like a flock of goats”. Maybe I should tell a girl that sometime. Anyways, I think that these dating books and song of solomon are good things, but if you want to have a successful marriage then get to do know Jesus and freaking do what he does. That’s why Paul tells us (husbands) to love your wife like CHRIST loved the church. Quit turning to marriage books or novels and turn to Jesus. If Jesus is not number 1, then your marriage or dating relationship will fail. He designed it that way. Reading a dating book is an easy fix, not permanent, but easy. Doing what Jesus does is an impossible but eternal fix. I said it earlier, go deep with Jesus and the rest of your problems will start to align. I’m not trying to preach a prosperity gospel here. Yeah, maybe your financial issues won’t go away, but God will provide. I just think this illustrates how Christians turn to so many other things but God to fix their problems. I can’t say it enough, GET TO KNOW JESUS. Not the surface level Jesus that American Churches are preaching, but the personal friend and savior Jesus that he created himself to be. Forget what others say about your relationships and figure out what Jesus says about them. Also, if you turn to God to like help you figure out women so you can be like a chick magnet, he’ll see right through you. He’s God, stop trying. Just have pure motives in all areas of life. Okay, now that I got that out of me, let’s talk about that scripture up there ^.  

When I first read this, the meaning of it seemed rather straight forward. Jesus is telling us to settle things with our enemies before it gets out of hand. If we don’t do this, then we’ll be in prison until the debt is paid. Interesting. This whole passage was just weird to me. Like, all Jesus does is tell us what will happen if we don’t do this. He doesn’t tell us why, he just tells us the punishment. And he obviously makes a debt reference by throwing money into the equation. What really caught my attention was that he starts off by telling us to judge what is right for ourselves. I just think that’s weird cause so far he’s been teaching them on what is right. He still has so much more to teach but all of the sudden he tells them to figure it out themselves. As I pondered these things I was noticing, something hit me. While Jesus does tell us to reconcile with our accuser, have you ever thought that the accuser he’s talking about is God? And that this passage is telling us to reconcile with God through Jesus before we die and are judged? If we don’t do this we’ll be thrown into hell until our debt is paid, which will take an eternity. literally. I know it’s weird to think of God as your enemy, but without he Jesus, God is your biggest enemy. If Jesus had never been our sacrifice, then we would be enemies with God. We are all guilty of a multitude of sins and we deserve to be in prison until our debt is completely paid. However, we have Jesus. Because of Jesus, we have a chance to reconcile our relationship with God before we die. The choice is ours, which is why Jesus tells us to judge for ourselves what is right. Nobody can make that decision for you, you have to figure out what is the right path for yourself. Your parents might be on the path, your friends might be on the path, but the only question that matters is, are you on the path? Stop living off of other people’s salvation and find your own. Salvation cannot be shared. There is no “boddy system” (heavyweights, anybody?). If you are living off of you parents salvation, then you don’t know Jesus and you will go to hell. I’m sorry, but it’s true. I don’t want to say that at all, but I need to. Not everyone gets into heaven. I may cross a line here, but please please realize my motives and what I’m trying to say. Not every kid that dies unexpectedly or by accident goes to heaven. It is a harsh reality. I’m not trying to disrespect their families or anything, I cannot imagine losing anyone in my family. I’m not saying I want to run to these families and say “Hey! Your kid is burning in hell!” I would never do that. But there has to be a point when we realize the truth and situations like people dying unexpectedly should motivate us to share that truth so the next one that does die will be going to Jesus, not paying off an eternal debt in hell. Here’s where this surface level stuff ties in. This is my opinion, so it could be wrong. I don’t think that the surface level “gospel” that American Churches are teaching is really saving people. When I read what Jesus taught and I hear what these churches are teaching, it doesn’t match up. Since Jesus knows more, I’m gonna go with him on this one. The problem is that the churches that do preach what Jesus preaches get deemed as “too radical” or “too extreme” or “not happy enough”. If you think that Jesus’ preachings are too radical for you, then why do you claim to be a Christian? People love to bash those guys that stand on street corners with signs that say “Repent! Or you’ll burn in hell!” They make me laugh too. I don’t think that’s an effective way to reach people for Jesus, but here’s a thought I had. I would rather have individuals preaching fire and brimstone on street corners than “wolves” dressed up as pastors preaching a false prosperity gospel to an entire church. At least there is truth in those preaching a repent or go to hell message, there is no truth in prosperity gospel. American Christians do not know enough to see a wolf is sheep’s clothing, and they do not know enough to differentiate between Jesus’ Gospel and their own Gospel. I’m sorry but following your version of the Gospel won’t save you. I think that a comfortable “Christian” life leads to an uncomfortable eternity. I’ve said this tons of times on this blog and I’ll say it again, Jesus does not call you to be comfortable and stagnant, he calls you to be active and pushing barriers in your life. I would just like to see more people taking initiative in their faith and go deeper than their first thought. What makes you think you’ll be saved if you aren’t really getting to know Jesus? It doesn’t matter if you post Jesus stuff all over your facebook, God sees right through your motives. It doesn’t matter how often you read your bible, God sees right through your motives there too. Finally, it doesn’t matter if you pray every once in a while in hopes of saving you from hell, God sees through that too. If you wholeheartedly seek God and his truth, you will find him. If you don’t find him, then walk away. 

Surface level is not Jesus’ level.