please forgive james

14 responses so far ↓

• Lucas // December 15, 2008 at 12:03 pm

  I keep coming back to the “Do you believe” question a lot lately. Although I may have never been closer to God than I am now (which is not saying much), I keep catching my world-view excludes the potency of the Holy Spirit.
  After reading Wimber’s Power books, I felt totally inadequate, because I had a weak answer to the “do you do?” question.
  But, I do believe that believers, although not Enochs or Elijahs, are specially anointed by the Spirit in ways that they do not understand. They literally, STAND OUT, in a crowd.
  The Ephesians passage is in part a regurgitation of the Ten Commandments, which I find fascinating. As an ambassador, perhaps, all we have to do is BE (good to our neighbors, etc). “Put on your new nature”: Being HIS is perhaps the simplest mandate. I found that the message of John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart was equally simple, which rang true to my spirit, as “His yoke is easy, and his burden is light.” We already are good ambassadors, if we just be His.

• Melissa Leaman // December 15, 2008 at 12:28 pm

  I find I struggle with the Will You Risk? This is not to say that I have some amazing grasp on the other questions, because I certainly don’t. I do care…my heart is very motivated by specific wrongs in the world. I can’t solve every problem. For that matter, I may not be able to solve one problem, but I can work towards a solution and I care enough to do that.
  I do believe. Sometimes its hard. Sometimes I find the repentance cycle far too difficult and I let myself fall into the sin cycle. But I truly believe that God does make all the difference.
  I do do. (please no snickering ). I find international poverty is a heavy issue for me. So I have several sponsor children, I’m planning an event for next spring for 30 hour famine, and I help with the food bank. And I thought I was doing fairly well.
  But Will I Risk? I don’t know. I’m not right now. The problem isn’t so much in whether or not I’m willing to go to a third world country and see the poverty up close. I can walk through downtown Boise and see poverty first hand. But all my desires and goals to help, don’t expect much risk or sacrifice on my part. I still get to have my Starbucks. I still get to buy new clothes, books, eat my junk food that is so much more expensive.
  So I have to challenge myself. Will I risk giving up my comforts to gain a greater reward? A reward I may never see. Even greater is the challenge to me to be open and vulnerable about why I am not yet able to take that step. Will I risk acknowledging financial difficulty? Will I risk being measured and found wanting. Will I risk?
  So…I’ll try. I’ll take the step out of my comfort zone. I’m trusting that the Holy Spirit will smash it behind me, so I can never go back.

• Kim // December 15, 2008 at 3:20 pm

  Alright, I cave. I’ll join the discussion board. Although up til now it’s been awfully fun reading everyone’s posts.

  The questions Tri presented to us on Sunday kinda poked at me… Or maybe that was God sitting next to me, saying “Daughter, listen up… I want you to really think about this…” Either way, it got my attention.

  The first question was both a struggle for me and an easy answer at the same time. Do I care? Yes…. but my heart is much stronger for some things than others. I pray about people overseas going hungry, but beyond that I find little motivation to do anything, nor do I really truly feel led to do that either. After all, my husband and I barely can afford a meal for our family, let alone someone else…. But, on the other hand, my heart is burdened for victims of porn addictions and their spouses. Alot of the time people only talk about the damage it causes to the addicted…. the suffering and incredible pain their spouses are going through very often is overlooked. Other people I know see this need, but don’t have the heart I do. Maybe that’s how God designed us though… each with our own talents and each with our own cares/concerns to take responsibility of.

  The next question was do I believe? ABSOLUTELY. You may have guessed it but the reason I care so much about the spouses I mentioned above is because I used to be one. Therefore, I have truly seen God work a miracle in my husband…. and over time, I’ve seen and felt him working one in my own heart. I had become the person Tri spoke of on Sunday… the one who was so hurt it led them to become angry and bitter and ultimately living in sin. My anger was so deep, it rippled into everything! Even our two year old daughter was scared to come to be some days!! So, yes, I know He’s real when he can heal my husband of that, completely changing him, and then heal and change me! Who knew I’d care so much about any of that, when it brought me so much pain and heartache? Saying that does not say I’m sin-free… no one is, but it is saying I’m more willing to look at myself through His eyes and repent what I need to.

  The next question is do you do? I would like to think we have. God told us to sell our house, move into an apartment, focus on paying off debt and save money for something greater. So… we did. Even before we moved, he asked us to consider leading a small group. And guess what? He opened that door for us… we’re starting one in January. So, yes, I’d like to think I’m doing what He wants us.

  Will I risk? Wow. That’s the one that struck me like a needle, making me cringe and look away. Some people close in my life don’t know my whole story yet. Ironic huh? I’m willing to post it on here, with believers and “family” from my church, but can’t tell some people close to me. What am I afraid of? How they’ll see my husband, how they’ll see me, how they’ll forever judge us (immediately assuming the worse when we’ve hit a rocky road, etc….). And others, who do not know the Lord, will honestly see nothing wrong with that past and judge us that way, too. Some of them live in that lifestyle. And, some of them have always seen us “ignoring reality”. I could hear one of them inparticular saying “oh deal with it… there’s nothing wrong with looking at someone else”. They’d probably label me a stiff or goody-too-shoes, and my husband a liar (cuz thye wouldn’t believe he’s turned away) or a weak man (because he’s doing something only to honor his wife). I try not to judge them, I love them for who they are, but we make conscience decisions to not join in certain events because of what it is. (Drinking parties on New Years, Halloween parties because of how some people routinely dress…etc). We just don’t want to be around that. We’d love to be around them, but not that. I admit in some ways it can be judging, but it’s also protecting us and our daughter. On the other side of the coin is a whole different aspect. Where even thinking about porn and cheating is the ultimate push to divorce and is absolutely unforgiveable. Unforuntatley, the people we’re afraid of telling are both ends of the extremes. We will either be judged for thinking that lifestyle is wrong or be judged for forgiving and learning to how love again after that lifestyle…. So…. that’s obviously a huge risk to me! Sigh…..

  Lastly, Will I go? I believe the Lord is already preparing both of us for something greater down the road which will require relocation, and trust me, I’d pack up and move today if he so told us. It would be hard, sure, especially leaving family and friends, but God knows our heart is sooo excited for what’s He’s shown us… I’m sure that’ll only multiply tenfold when that time comes.

• Mike // December 15, 2008 at 4:33 pm

  As I consider my role as an ambassador it’s not a matter of which qualities from Sundays message I embody because they are all tangible aspects of who I am. The real question for me is do I strive to represent him well.

  As I truthfully examine my life, history shows I still have a long, long way to go before I hit the level of Christs likeness I desire.

  I am positive of the 5 questions I struggle with the most, the last one , “will I go,” is the biggest struggle. I have a tendency to be overwhelmed at my depth of compassion and ironically don’t go because I’m not sure how to express it.

  Intellectually I know and believe but at times react to the ” antagonistic front” instead of speaking with my father for his solutions , and respond out of who I am in him knowing what the joy and love of Jesus can do in a life.

  I have no trouble responding as a doer. As Mike Freeman says we prefer to say “send me” before first saying ” here am I”.

  I like to think I am the kind of adventurous man who wold risk it all for the Kingdom, but risk isn’t always defined by things. When I don’t respond as an open vulnerable man, I am not going in truth. Then the amazing good news of who I am is watered down.

  For me to be a more effective ambassador I certainly need to be willing to risk speaking the truth I feel and overwhelmingly know.

  These are all problems I love to have. I don’t consider myself timewasted. I just know I represent Christ in areas like volunteering, but I know I can be better at expressing my joy and compassion.

• cheri // December 15, 2008 at 10:59 pm

  do I care? how can I not? i care a ton ~
  do i believe? yes I have to much evidence not to believe
  do I do? anywhere, anytime he shows me and I do it right at that moment
  will you risk? anything and anybody my family knows who is first in my life and they are all second and willing and supportive
  will you go? Here am I…. send me! Here am I… send me!

  1. i think i struggle over those areas very little but I am young
  2.an ambassador is one who should exemplify what he represents without falsehood, an ambassador should be without moral or ethical stains so that he may be esteemed as one worthy of holding the position.
  3.I accurately represent christ by loving the fallen,broken who have yet to know him. I share my past freely and the power of my present that he has given me.

• Marcus // December 16, 2008 at 6:20 am

  On Sunday Tri talked about the cycle of sin and about two things our fallen nature doesn’t want to deal with -CONFESSION and REPENTANCE. Many times Satan tempts us to do something small and then accuses us with a really loud voice. Early in my life of Faith I was doing some church fundraising and I used some of the money for a meal. the enemy accused me and made me that I was the most evil, lowly criminal in history (NoI am not, but he is).
  I both confessed to the group and repented in my heart. Thankfully the youth pastor who was in charge of the fundraiser forgve me and also shared the following wisdom. First I had done more good in my short life than the enemy has done in the entire length of human history. Second I had done what Satan was incapble of doing – sincerely confess and repent. As fallen humans we are in a midway position.-we cause God pain when we separate from Him and sin, but when we confess and repent we restore His faith in us and we also cause the enemy pain. The choice and responsibility is upto us.
  I can also say we have to confess first – it is much harder to admit our wrong to our peers face to face than to an invisible God.

• Marcus // December 16, 2008 at 6:54 am

  Eph 4:30 “Do not bring God sorrow by the way you live.”
  I think I have cared, believed, risked, done and gone, I have tried to, but not enough. The more I care, the more I realize I could have cared so much more and that all these five points are eternal, unending, absolute, just as God is. His grief is endless, mine stops after a point. He never stops caring, He has absolute faith in the complete salvation of all humanity, He has risked everything, including His own son, done everything He could and gone to the most miserable of places that we cannot even imagine. How can i say i care.
  I could always have done more. Even in my own family have i really lived up to Ephesians 4:30? No. If i cannot have peace in my own mind and body, and make my home a house of heavenly harmony how can i inspire others, or be an agent of change? This is my struggle. I share the heart of Paul in Romans 7:24-25
  Wretched creature that i am, who is there to rescue me from this state of death? Who but god, thanks be to Him through jesus Christ our Lord!
  I believe world peace cannot be dictated by legislation, created by technology or the UN: world peace an only come through peaceful families and they come from peaceful individuals centered on God’s true love. That is what i strive for and struggle with every day.

• Erin // December 16, 2008 at 9:41 am

  I think until now I have been afraid to post, thinking that I had nothing to add or my thoughts weren’t provoking enough to share. But today I’m working on “Doing”.

  I think the area that I am currently struggling with the most is “Do you care?” Mine isn’t a case of not caring but a case of I care so much that some times I am paralyzed by it. When I see people who are broken by life, children that are sick or elderly that are forgotten I become so emotional that some times I think it affects my ability to “Do”. Even after I helping in some way I obsess about whether it was enough and what more I could have done. I pray continually to be able to have the same heart and desire to do the work I see needs to be done, but to be able to hand it over to God and know that I’ve done all that I could at that time and to be able to move forward to “Do” more.

  I try everyday to be a good ambassador. I work in a setting that sometimes seems to be the cradle of sin. Between patients struggling with broken bodies, minds and hearts; to employees with attitudes of hate and resentment towards each other it’s hard to “Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.” But that is what I try to do each day. And I pray that at least one time every day my words or actions made a positive change in some one else’s day.

• Kathy // December 16, 2008 at 11:23 am

  As a grandmother who sat with her 7 year old grandson last week as he tried to show me how to text on my phone, I must admit that this blogging is a stretch for me…so here goes! This morning, I have been thinking about the ministry of reconciliation that has been given to us. I am one of those who grew up in church, who followed the rules but who also didn’t have much grace for those who didn’t obey. The last few years have brought a lot of reconciliation in my life to God’s viewpoint in relating to those around me who weren’t “obeying” as I thought they should…not always a pleasant process.

  We use the term “reconcile” to refer to balancing our check book! When the statement comes, we should line it up with what is in the checkbook and if something is out of alignment we fix it and reconcile the problem. If we don’t reconcile every month, pretty soon it is a huge job to get it back in alignment.

  When we accept Jesus as our Savior we are reconciled to God. It is an amazing covenant relationship, just like a marriage. He loves us with an everlasting, eternal love. Those of us who have walked with the Lord know that the alignment process continues throughout our lives. Not Him aligning with us but us aligning with Him.

  This morning, the Lord reminded me, in His own gentle way, that an area of my life where I was struggling was because I was out of alignment with His desire for me and we needed to reconcile…I needed to come into alignment…not so he could love me again, that is not the issue. I need to be reconciled to His will, so that He can work through me to touch others that they too might be reconciled to Him.

  I could beat myself up and live condemned because I have gotten out of alignment and waste a whole lot of time and energy. Or I can accept His grace and forgiveness, settle into His arms and begin the dance again, keeping in step with Him. If I really do care for the world around me, if I really do want to go and if I really do want the Lord to use me to reconcile others to Him, then I will gladly come into alignment with Him.

  Last month, we missed a debit card use in our checkbook…we reconciled and moved on…reminding ourselves to keep our checkbook in order. It was a simple step because my husband is diligent to reconcile it every month. We have learned this lesson over the years, if our finances are out of alignment it limits our ability to help others.

  What an amazing gift we have been given in Christ! The ability to daily bring our lives into reconciliation with Him, so we are out of debt spiritually and able to freely share the message of reconciliation with the world around us.

• Lisa // December 16, 2008 at 7:14 pm

  #1 Do I care? I do, but I must be sensitive to being led by His Spirit. That way I don’t miss the opportunities sitting next to me.
  #2 Do I believe? Oh yea! He so graciously allows me to play in some amazing ways.
  #3 Do I do? I act when He specifically points me in a direction. I try to seek Him in the situation before my own bright ideas.
  #4 Will I risk? I have on more than one occasion and unfortunately have missed the boat in some. Its my journey with Him. And the bottom line is I never fail a test, He so graciously allows me to repeat the test over and over until what His will is is accomplished.
  #5 Will I go? Yes. Last Sunday I just happened to have a empty seat next to me and encouraged someone I have known for years but would not say we were friends to sit with me. We would always just smile and hug each other when we saw one another but that was the depth of it till the next time at Church. I picked up my jacket and then asked her to sit next to me. After service I asked about her husband and learned that they were separated. It truly broke my heart and tears just flowed. I knew from the message that God was granting me the Privledge to enter into someones broken heart with Him and out of this I now have a friend. There was a bonding I experienced that was so amazing and I did not seek it. I just, when prompted, picked up my jacket and asked her to please sit next to me. It was way too easy! And everything that flowed I knew was what Jesus wanted said. He came to her and asked where her accusers were and there were none. She spoke of sin and admitted what she was doing was wrong. I told her that Jesus knows where she is at and wants her to know that. He is not condemning her no matter what. But I believe He is spending some time talking to her one on one. I trust His Holy Spirit in her. She is just heart broken and acting out of that pain and I knew that He wanted to address her pain at that moment. It truly was a beautiful thing to witness.

• Marcus // December 16, 2008 at 8:22 pm

  Ambassador comes from the Latin word ambactus which means a servant. An ambassador is sent by a state on a foreign mission as that state’s representative in a foreign country. As an ambassador for Christ the foreign country I live in is the world and I am a representative of the Kingdom of God. There are many things I could say, but perhaps none as eloquently as the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi.
  Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
  Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
  where there is injury, pardon;
  where there is doubt, faith;
  where there is despair, hope;
  where there is darkness, light;
  where there is sadness, joy;
  O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
  to be understood as to understand;
  to be loved as to love.
  For it is in giving that we receive;
  it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
  and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

  what more can I say?

• Beverly Chick // December 16, 2008 at 11:55 pm

  I posted a comment a while ago about someone at work who was going through a very difficult time in her life and it seemed the Lord had put me in this position to encourage her and be an ambassador for Christ to her. Well, it turns out that this person was raised in a traditional protestant background–Baptist. She seems to believe in Christ and in salvation through faith and not works and yet I was shocked to learn that she was a Christian because of the self-destructive things and sinful things she is involved in. She clearly is not living like she believes in Christ at all. I find it very puzzling that she would even be talking to me about Christ basic biblical principles while still being involved in a lifestyle that is clearly not based on biblical principals and involves some serious and dangerous sin issues.

  In my previous comment on this blog site I said something like, “I don’t want to come on too strong and judge her because that would repel her.” But I realize now that what she really needs is to see that the consequences of her sin and her destructive lifestyle is only giving an open door to Satan.

  My husband pointed out to me that maybe she only thinks she is a Christian and that she really does not understand the true concept of being born again and accepting Christ. I sometimes assume that just because someone came from a certain church, like a Baptist church, that they are a true born again Christian, when what I should be doing is asking them, “Have you ever accepted Christ into your life and do you have a personal relationship with him?” I did not ask that question–I was assuming it was true.

  Part of me wants to just tell her, “Hey, wake up! You can’t continue to sow these seeds and expect anything other than weeds to grow. What you are doing is wrong and it will only lead to more destruction!” She may be a “broken person” but she is also causing her own broken state!

  It’s great to love someone to Christ and I’m all for it, but isn’t a part of loving them telling them, (when the time is right) that they have to give up the sinful lifestyle that is the very cause of their pain? I would be more specific, but I don’t want to betray a confidence. An example of what I mean by “sinful lifestyle” is living a lifestyle of drug addiction but saying you are following Christ and then not seeking help for your addiction.

  What do you say to people like this? I am puzzled as to what approach to take with her. It is very hard to watch someone make horrible life choices based on sin and not say something to them about it, but at this point, I get the feeling that she just doesn’t want to hear it and I haven’t really been able to address this subject with her. Only the Holy Spirit can convict her of her sin and show her there is a better way.

  If anyone has had a similar experience with someone they are trying to help, I would appreciate hearing from you.

• Brenna // December 17, 2008 at 1:41 pm

  Do you care? Some of the time. There are things that I care very deeply about, and others that I feel emotionally disconnected from. The latter are usually things that I don’t wholly believe are actually happening – I see the facts, I see both the secular and ‘Christian’ world responding to those things, oftentimes I hear testimonies as well, but a part of me refuses to accept that people are actually going through whatever it is. For example, the slavery issue. I care deeply about the people caught in slavery, but I never quite fully believe that it is going on – or at the very least, that it is as bad as the facts say; so I don’t really act on that caring.

  Do you believe? Before this morning, I would have said yes without the slightest hesitation. But this morning I was reading Esther, and as per usual I felt that triumphant feeling caused by Haman’s being hung, and the Jews being saved. And then God chose to nudge me. If I really believe that Christ came to die for every man and woman in the world, why do I feel happy that Haman died without finding God’s forgiveness? Shouldn’t I feel saddened by the fact that he didn’t find it? As if this wasn’t enough for me to think about, God kept nudging. If I really believe that Christ came to die for every man and woman, and loves them fiercely; if I really believe that nothing is greater than Christ and His love, then why do I look at this person and secretly think they have no hope?

  Do you do? I do a little, but not enough to make a significant difference – at least not in my opinion. I’m not really doing anything spectacular; I’m here in Boise, Idaho, being a mom to a toddler and a wife who is doing her best to help her husband meet all the bill requirements each month. I’m not in Africa or the Philippines or where ever doing mission work; I’m not giving lots of money to those in need, or supporting missionaries; I’m not out ministering to people every day: I’m not sponsoring a child. It’s hard for me to remember that I’m not doing nothing. I am working with my husband to get us to a place where we can begin to give actively with our money. I am obeying the call on my life to be a loving mother and wife. I am going through Celebrate Recovery to get freedom from my issues (emotional slavery, pride, resentment, fear, etc.) so I can be a more effective tool in God’s hands. I am spending a good portion of my day providing care for a little girl who recently lost her mother.

  Will you risk? As of right now, other than the risk of being completely open with those I’m going through Celebrate Recovery with, I am not risking very much, if anything. This is one of the issues I am working on – my fear, specifically of failure and the unknown.

  Will you go? So long as my son is taken care of, I will. I don’t mean that in a ‘if God helps me, I’ll help God’ kind of way. He gave me the responsibility of caring for my son, and I will not abandon that task in an attempt to be an ambassador for Him to others. But as a mother of a toddler, I can touch the lives of women in similar motherhood and so through me they can be introduced to Christ. I do not have to abandon my son to childcare, or to a babysitter, to reach those women. As for other ministry opportunities that I feel God calling me toward (such as the youth group), I will first make sure my son is taken care of through babysitting or provided childcare, and then participate full-heartedly in what He is doing in, through, and around me.

  1) Which of the five questions above is the area where you struggle the most?
  I struggle the most with ‘Will you risk?’, because of my fear of failure and the unknown. This is something that I am working on.

  2) What does it mean to you to be an ambassador?
  An ambassador does his/her best to promote a good image of what he/she represents, whether that be a country, a people, or God. Unfortunately, there have been several bad ambassadors here in America, and of course those are the ones who the secular world looks to and says, ’see, we were right – they are close-minded frauds.’ My job as an ambassador is not to try to convince people of Christ’s goodness, but to show them with my life; to be ready with an answer for when the question is asked; to love the way Christ has loved us all; to be readily open and honest about myself and my shortcomings, and how God has redeemed me; and to model the behaviors God desires, as set down in the Bible – both for my benefit, and for them to see someone actually walking the walk.

  3) In what ways do you accurately represent Christ? What areas are more difficult for you?
  I think that I accurately represent Christ with my compassion for the hurting and broken, though I still have a long ways to go (i.e., I am not compassionate for Haman yet); and with my desire to help others. Perhaps there are more areas, but I will have to think on the question longer.
  Humility – that is, true humility – I am very much lacking. I also struggle with the loving the person and hating the sin – that is to say, I struggle with communicating that, where as Jesus never seemed to have trouble. I have extreme difficulty loving those who are hurting or wanting to hurt myself or those I love. There are other areas, too, but again, I have to think about it longer.

• Kim (male, Asian) // December 22, 2008 at 1:01 am

  So, I decided to tune in after all the hype has died down a bit. I was not really intrigued by the whole mystery of ‘James’, more a bit exasperated at what I thought as games played in a temple of God, but I guess we must use what will work and if the anticipation of ‘The Next Episode’ is what it takes to draw people in, I guess that’s what we have to do.

  Somewhere in the Bible I remember reading a passage that stated something like, “Always be ready to give an answer for the hope that you have.” And then another one that goes something like, “They shall know you by your love for one another,” speaking of world knowing the followers of Jesus Christ.

  What is it that we are doing? Using sitcom tactics to build interest in God? There are different ways to look at this, and I thought I’d throw this one out into the cyber-void.

  So, the questions that are being answered here correlate somewhat to this whole “James” idea, eh?

  J.A.M.E.S. – Judgemental, Antagonistic, Mean-Spirited, Exclusive, Self-Righteous.
  1. Care – nope.
  2. Believe – Can, yes, will, no
  3. Do – not really
  4. Risk – no
  5. Go – no

  Why? Do I care about people? Not really. I used to think I did, used to think that others mattered, but when I really stepped back and took a look at myself, the person that mattered the most to me was me.

  Here’s where I went in my thought train. Take a ride with me and see if you find yourself getting off at the same station I did.

  When I wake up in the morning I dress myself. I think about the things that I need to do that day. I wish I had a better life and that my current circumstances were different. I want to struggle less and feel better about myself. I talk to myself about myself.

  Less than ten percent of any given day do I actually turn my mind to concern itself with someone other than myself. That’s what I do.

  What I don’t do is this:
  I don’t call my friends all the time to see how they’re doing. I don’t call my wife up just to see how her day is going. I don’t visit my parents to say hi and tell them I love them. I don’t write a letter to an old friend with whom I’ve lost touch.

  Those are the people that have impacted my life and whom I love and who love me.

  I also don’t do these things:

  I don’t think about starving people in other countries. I don’t donate any part of my income to purchase neccessities for people in my own city. I don’t bring any of God’s love to those incarcerated or ill. I don’t volunteer my time to help anyone out pretty much any given day of the week.

  So, do I care? No. I’d like to think that I do, and I’d like to think that others cared about me, but when it really comes down to it, we only really care about ourselves and we constantly provide ourselves with excuses to continue only caring about ourselves.

  Caring about something with a concern that matters is seen, not heard. I can care about my friend, but if I don’t do anything about showing love to that friend then I just don’t care enough to do anything; I care about doing something else more than helping out that friend, and that something else is usually helping myself to something.

  Believing – Believing in what? Beleiving that Jesus Christ can take the responsibility off my shoulders to care for those who need the care? I beleive he can. Will he? Probably not. Not directly. Why? Because Jesus likes using people. But people don’t like being used. Because people who are being used are not helping themselves, they’re helping someone else get what they want. And Jesus wants us to care for each other.

  Do – Do I show love to others? Yes I do, sometimes, but that sometimes is not a major portion of my actions. The greator portion of what I do is centered on doing things for myself.

  Risk – What is the risk that we take when we show love to one another? Well, we risk expending energy on someone that may not generate a self-benefitting return. Why put money in a bank that gives that hard-earned money to starving kids in some undetermined third-world country when you can place it in a high-interest savings account or a money-market? And isn’t that okay too because it’s providing for your family, right?

  Go – I go, you go, but where we go means diddly squat unless the above four questions were answered the way a good little Christian should be answering them. And we don’t care. We don’t love. We don’t believe.

  Who shall save me from this body of Death? Thanks be to God, Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

  We must put to death our very selves each day and rise up anew, resurrected in Christ, and wage war against that with which we are born, the gnawing, overwhelming desire to appease the selfish evil within that distracts us from what we know to be truth: That this world is but a dream and we as ambassadors of God live not lives designed to bring glory to ourselves in the chronicles of Man, but to hasten the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven in worship to He who has made us and judged us and found us unworthy of paradise, yet paid in full our debt owed for our choice made to serve our selves only.

  I am a sinner and the worst of sinners in the reality around my head in which I live. I am encased in my own cynical mind which constantly punches holes in every theory or doctrine or idea that enters its thorny walls.

  This has gone on for too long already, so I end it here after this: Thank you Jesus for your love so great that you bore my shame and my disgrace and took it all upon your shoulders that I might stand before your Father on that last day and say proudly that I deserve to be in paradise. And when the Father asks me from where I receive my authority to speak such words, I will point to Jesus Christ and tell God, “I’m with Him.”

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