Fear Nothing

For those of you who don't know, I was once struck by lighting. And just to relieve the suspense: Yes, I survived. It wasn't a particularly dangerous situation, but enlightening nonetheless (Sorry. Couldn't resist). I was seventeen years old, and I was driving to Steph's house. Far off in the distance, I saw flashy charges lighting up the clear, daytime sky. I thought, "Wow. Hope that doesn't hit m..."

BANG!

Everything went bluish white and my car shut off. Luckily I was pulling to a stop anyway. My electronics turned off, but then they turned back on a few seconds later. My response was, "Hey. I was just hit by lightening." So I was a little uneasy, but not freaked out.

Though it didn't harm me, I still would rather that not happen again.

Tonight as I was driving home from Steph's house, I once again saw the lightening off in the distance. I was scared. I admit it. So kind of joking with God I said "God, if you spare me from this storm, I'll become a monk." Any history buffs? If you're not a history buff, that wouldn't make any sense. Sorry. I digress.

After "laughing it off," I prayed, "No really... will you keep me safe, Lord? I really don't want to be hit by lightening again seeing how I'm not stopping the car anytime soon. I don't want to lose control."

His response was humiliating:

"You want me to save you from this storm while you listen to that crap on the radio?"

I was instantly convicted. I turned the dial to WJTL, and was instantly uplifted. Positive song after positive song came on and I enjoyed them all. I started to forget about the storm. After some stupid girly pop song came on I began to contemplate the storm. I don't need to ask God to save me from the storm. He has told every lightening bolt where it should go. He is not fighting against the storm for me. He is directing it. I have nothing to fear. I then entered a worship that I had not felt in a long time.

Friends, storms in this life are not something to be saved from. They are authored by God. When we see lightening destroying the ground around us, remember it's God who is aiming it. We must trust Him to give us joy through it all, and remember that he is in control.

I wasn't allowed to watch Power Rangers.

It's bound to happen. Whenever you talk to people your own age, you reminisce about the past. For people my age, that's childhood. Because our childhood happened mostly in the 90's, we talk about Nickelodeon, the generator of all fun. Then of course we talk about the shows that we used to watch as a kid. The problem is, I can never reminisce about the TV shows, because I wasn't allowed to watch them. Just so you understand, here's how a typical conversation would go:

Friend: Do you remember X Men? I used to love that show!
Me: I wasn't allowed to watch X Men. I reenacted the violence one time at a wedding.
Friend: Really? How about Power Rangers?
Me: Nope. The monsters were too scary.
Friend: Garfield?
Me: Too sarcastic.
Friend: Rocco's Modern Life?
Me: Too gross.
Friend: Pokemon?
Me: Too addictive.
Friend: Ren and Stimpy?
Me: Are you kidding?
Friend: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?
Me: Too disrespectful.
Friend: BARNEY?
Me: Dinosaurs died in the flood (I'm just kidding about that one.)

As you can see, my parents barely allowed anything on the TV. Back then, it was annoying. But looking back on it now, I am thankful. Besides the fact that it taught me to not rely on television for all recreation, I learned discernment. I know what kinds of things I want to be running through my brain. So I thank my parents for their strictness. It was a blessing from God.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." --Paul, to the Philippians.

Until divorce do us part

Tonight on Hannity, I watched an interview Mr. Sean had with a CEO of a dating website. The controversy was that this website was for married people. Confused? It was a website for married people to hookup and have affairs to "fill the gaps that their marriages had." Disgusted, Hannity tried to pry into why he created the website (marketing infidelity). The man then gave a terrible argument that left it unclear whether or not he thought infidelity is wrong.

After the interview, I turned to my dad and said, "In about thirty years, they're going to play this footage to show how much of a 'bigot' Hannity is for being against infidelity."

It is a terrible thought, but it is true. When we talk about the sanctity of marriage, we are not simply talking about the importance of the relationship being heterosexual. We understand that the two have become one flesh, and they are to forsake all others. Christians agree with that, but for how much longer? We definitely see a liberal view on divorce growing in the church. Try looking for that in the church about fifty years ago.

Jesus Christ said that except for adultery, there is no reason for divorce. If you are married, you are married for life. There is absolutely no reason you can get a divorce if you are a Christian unless your spouse has cheated on you. But today, we see many Christians getting divorces because they had a falling out, they did not get along, or they "were just not in love anymore."

How much longer will it be until we find Christians justifying adultery? If they have already justified divorce, cheating is next. Sound terrible? Sure is. But like all trends, it is a slippery slope. We allow divorce (not to mention premarital sex), so adultery is just next on the list. I do not want to even think about what comes next.

Diet Sin

Most of you know that I work in a deli. And I hope that most of you understand that deli meat doesn't come straight from Athena's olive tree. That crap's terrible for you. Everything we sell is loaded with either fat, salt, or preservatives (oftentimes, all three). One of the funniest things that I experience at my job is when customers want to know the fat content on a certain meat. They ask to see the nutrition facts on the back to see if the sodium content is too high.

I've learned that all these people have been through terrible life circumstances like heart attacks or strokes. Their doctors have told them that they need to change their diets, or they will die.

Event though they can run away from death by simply choosing a healthier diet, they choose to simply find "healthy" ways to eat what they ate before. Let me tell you. It doesn't work.

After considering how ridiculous these people are, I've realized that there are Christians that are the same way with sin. Even though they were saved, they don't want to completely give up their old lifestyles. They claim, "all things in moderation," and feel that if they simply sin less, they are in the clear. That is not what the word "repent" means. Repent means to turn 180 degrees away from your past life and towards Christ.

So if you are a Christian and you are just taking diet sin or sinlite, maybe you should realize that Christ died that we would be slaves to righteousness.

Romans 6:18 "and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness."

p.s. The NewChurch advertisement to the right is heresy. I do NOT endorse it.