Why I Believe In God

A friend asked me this week, "Why do you believe in God?" Here are some of the most honest answers I have to that sweet question:

-          Because people whose lives I watched that believed in God were unlike others I met. Because when I didn’t believe, the people I knew that really believed in God (not just God, but JESUS as God) thought, talked, and acted differently than others. They loved more, laughed more, and cared for each other and for me better. And they didn’t do it to only seem “good,” they did it because they actually wanted to. They were able to find meaning in life without pursuing things that leave you feeling empty afterwards. I couldn’t grasp it. They seemed like more “complete” and “whole” humans. I always thought that they knew something that I didn’t, but I couldn’t quite figure it out. They always told me it was all to do with God, Jesus specifically – but I didn’t believe it for myself at the time. These people didn’t give up on me or stop being my friend over things that tore other friendships apart. They always loved me (Nikki, my brother, Justine). Although they were the ones showing me love, my mind and heart eventually gave credit to the source that they claimed for being the loving people they were. I stopped assuming the goodness that I experienced from their lives came from them and began to seek the direct source.

-          Because believing in myself wasn’t working. The main “way to live” philosophy I was taught through parenting and culture was the “believe in yourself and you can do anything” concept. But what about me, I would ask, was there to believe in? I loved hanging with friends, getting drunk, hooking up with guys à what about me and my life did I have to believe in, did I want to believe in? I knew that whatever my little self was coming up with to believe in and live by was just not it and I wanted to go outside of myself to know what was really good! (I Praise God now) that I was smart enough to know that I wasn’t the key to my own life or others J.

-          Because believing in a good God was the most logical thing I’d ever heard. During a season of utter emptiness and loss of meaning in my life through my own vain attempts for happiness and fun, I strived to find meaning by asking questions about things that really seemed to have meaning – like God, how the world was created, what was really the purpose of humans? It seems strange to think of such big concepts when we’re practically dying inside, but thinking about and pondering on such meaningful things was really the only thing that kept my spirit fed and full at the time. Learning about the meaning of life was the only thing I wanted to know more about, it was the only thing that kept me curious and kept me satisfied all at once. I started asking questions like, “Does God exist?” “If God does exist, what is God like?” and “If God exists, is this way or that, how does that apply to my life?” The answers started pouring in – and they all made so much sense, in a really logical way. As humans, and what I found in myself, is that – most of the things we believe, we believe rather inconsistently – as in, I might think this way for this or that reason (most of which weren’t very good reasons anyway), speak another way, and neither the way I thought or spoke computed to the way I acted. My whole self and how I functioned was entirely inconsistent. Inconsistency isn’t logical. So I logically began to explore the God I was discovering EXISTED! And He was GOOD! So I explored that! I believed in God, because I explored ideas about God à and the God of the bible made the most sense!

-          Because I couldn’t help it. After not knowing God for so long and starting to realize who He really was/is – I tried to fight admitting that I believed in Him and trusted Him for awhile. I thought believing in God was a huge jump to make, like it wasn’t actually possible for me to do it anyway. I thought if it were to ever happen, I would wake up one day and just officially “believe.” But what I realized as I studied more, asked more questions, and was surrounded by people who believed in God who loved me well, was that…I had believed in God for awhile and trusted Him too! I just had never realized it really. So I “officially” one day told God that I trusted in Him, although He already knew this – but apart from confessing this trust, took “ownership” of it in a way, and made a promise back to Him one day that no matter what, I would keep trusting in Him and would follow Him with my life. I had no other option. Once you see and understand who God is, how true, how good, how gracious…there is no way you could not believe again or ever want to not believe. Sure, you go through days when it seems more real than others, but with even the small assurance of seeing the difference of who I am and my motivations for daily life…I could never turn back.

Strife: BEWARE

I am officially a Joyce Meyer fan after getting the opportunity to go to one of her conferences this weekend. WOW - she speaks pretty practically, yet almost everything she says is truthful and deep. I wrote down a lot of 1-liners and wanted to just put them here so that I won't forget them one day. And the message being on "Strife"? Pure destiny. I needed to hear it. Thank You Lord.

STRIFE 

The opposite of peace, perhaps you could say, is strife. It is dangerous and should be treated like poison. Strife is the unpeace in relationships, the bitterness, the angry undercurrents, and the thing that causes us to afford criticism to others. It is neither anointed nor does it allow for the Word to work. Strife can originate from a multitude of things, but perhaps most prevalent is pride. Humble yourself. Do not open the door for the devil or go to bed mad, for it is literally dangerous (Ephesians 4:25-27).

1) There is power in agreement.

“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them."

Matthew 18:19-20

Agreement can only be maintained with grace and forgiveness.

2) Live in a peaceful place.

If you don't dwell in a place of peace, it's going to affect the work you have to do (Matthew 10:11-14).

3) Prayer is not effective while in the midst of strife.

"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing."

1 Timothy 2:8

4) To not seek peace...is evil.

For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must SEEK peace and PURSUE it."

1 Peter 3:10-11

5) How can we receive correction without condemnation?

• God only corrects those He loves (Revelation 3:19-20)
• We should be grateful for the correction of Christ
• "If God is correcting me in this (His child who is of no business to the devil), then I am going to take it joyfully, grow and keep on going."
• When God shows you something wrong with you - AGREE with Him! Ask HIM to change you, to not leave your side until you can do it. 

6) Do not be OFFENDED.

• Offense derives from the Hebrew word that describes the part of a trap that the bait hangs on to tempt the animal into the trap.
• Satan wants us to be offended...and where we are offended, love cannot flow.
• Faith and prayer do not work without love.

7) It's okay to admit that you are a wretch.

"What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

Paul in Romans 7:24-25

8) Peace starts with you and God.

• You have to have peace with God.
• You have to have peace with yourself.
• THEN you can have peace with people.

If you can't get along with yourself, you can't get along with others.

9) People are created for freedom. 

So say to them out loud and in your heart, "I love you the way you are and I commit to not trying to change you. Pride is the problem in this area. My interests are not more important than the interests of others. What I have to say is not more important than what another has to say." (Romans 12:3)

When it comes to loving and treating others well, we don't start by controlling our behavior, we start by controlling our thoughts.

10) Nine things that will help you have peace in your relationships:

• Be courteous and respectful of others opinions even if you don't agree with them.
• Listen with an open mind. Consider that they might be right.
• Don't be touchy and sensitive.
• Be willing to pray about what people say.
• Keep looking for a place to agree instead of looking for things to grumble about.
• Look for good things in people.
• Be very careful with body language and the tone with which you say things.
• Pray and pick your timing. Ask God to anoint it.
• Don't put your friends & loved ones under pressure making them feel like they need to prove their love to you everyday. BELIEVE they love you.
• QUIT being selfish.

 11) My own personal notes to remember:

• When offended by someone who has hurt you, instead of asking, "Lord, how can I get rid of this pain?" ask, "How can I address this pain?" Don't be afraid to address it with the Lord. He IS your healer.
• Pray for a shield of faith that you would never be personally offended by someone. And that also, if it exists, with the protection of the shield, you can actually begin to see the deep pain within the person who has offended (Ephesians 6:16).
• Remember that God affords us strength and that even in our weakness, He is strong.
• Battle the hopelessness of strife with thankfulness.

Remember this about yourself and remember it in regards to others.

Hope Defined

HOPE:  

It's a thing. It's an action. We can possess it and be possessed by it. We can be without it and in search of it. It's contagious and it's good. We can hope in true things and in false things. We can have hope in things and for things. We can have unfulfilled hope and hope deferred.

The moral of the story? As people, we hope. All I know it that this thing called HOPE is important. It shows up in scripture 180 times in the NIV translation. I wanted to know more about "hope," so I did a word study on it from the Bible. I hope it makes sense :)

Possession: 

• Hope is something we can possess or not possess, be with or be without (1). You can do something wrong, screw up in the past, and still have hope (2). There are times when you no longer have hope, times when you actively hope, and times when you don't have hope yet, but will have in the future (3). If you forget God, your hope is destined to perish (4). Not only can you possess hope, but hope can possess you (5). You can possess hope as an individual as well as mutually possess the same hope as someone other than yourself (6). Having hope is closely tied to praise and prayer (7,8). 

Hope In: 

• We can hope in good things and in bad things. When I think of hoping in something, I like to even think of myself physically walking into that something - going inside of it to do the hoping I will do.

• Things that are good for us to hope in: God, the Word (9), His unfailing love (10), His teachings (11), the resurrection of the dead and eternal life (12, 13), His promises including Jesus (14, 15), the glory of God (16), and the salvation of others (17).

• Things that are bad for us to hope in: That which is stolen (18), the failure of others (19), created things including other humans and money (20-22), and the law given through Moses (23).

Stages: 

• Hope has a process to it, just like anything. It helps me to think of hope in stages, such as:  

• Cause for hope --> actively hoping --> hope's fulfillment. 

• It's important that hope be fulfilled, or else our hearts grow sick (24). God is the one who fulfills hope and keeps us flourishing (25).

Source: 

• Well, that's all easy enough, but from where does that cause for hope originally come? There's many answers to that question. The first source of hope is always God (26-28). He calls us to it and sets it in front of us (29, 30). Any cause for it comes from Him first, for example: doing what is right (31), endurance and encouragement (32), joy and peace (33), love (34), and wisdom (35). And because God is the source of hope and gives it, He can also take it away and does when it does not glorify Him (36, 37).

Action: 

• Hope is a verb. We do it. We hope. We can choose to hope by purposefully thinking of things that will evoke it in us (38).

Thing: 

• Hope is a noun. It's not just something we do, but can actually be something. This is my favorite part about hope, because to think of it as a thing physically outside of myself helps me to realize it's something I need and don't always have. If you were to describe hope, how would you do it? If you were to place your hope somewhere, which you possess, where would you put it?

• We can put hope places (39-41) and put it on things (42). We can raise and lower hope (43, 44) and literally give it up (45). We can firmly hold onto hope (46, 47) and set it on top of grace (48).

• Hope can be an anchor (49), a door (50), and an outfit (51). Hope can be our lens, something we actually look out of (52-54), and by doing so, our hope becomes closely connected to our patience.

Hope is quite a contagious thing (55) !

Along With Hope Comes:

• Suffering (56-58), rest (59, 60), boldness (61), never disappointment (62), purity (63), confidence (64), security (65), never shame (66), guidance and learning from truth (67), inheritance (68), protection (69), discipline (70), strength (71), belief (72), patience (73) and endurance (74).

Find it in the Word 1. Ruth 1.12 2. Ezra 10.2 3. Proverbs 23.18 4. Job 8.13 5. Jeremiah 23.16 6. 2 Corinthians 10.15 7. Psalm 71.14 8. 1 Timothy 5.5 9. Psalm 119.74 10. Psalm 33.18 11. Isaiah 42.4 12. Acts 23.6 13. Titus 1.2 14. Acts 26.7 15. Romans 15.12 16. Colossians 1.27 17. 2 Timothy 2.25 18. Psalm 62.10 19. Luke 20.20 20. Psalm 33.17 21. Proverbs 11.7 22. Acts 16.19 23. John 5.45 24. Proverbs 13.12 25. Job 6.8 26. Jeremiah 29.11 27. Psalm 119.49 28. Psalm 62.5 29. Ephesians 1.18 30. Hebrews 6.18 31. Job 4.6 32. Romans 15.4 33. Romans 15.13 34. 1 Corinthians 13.7 35. Proverbs 24.14 36. Job 19.10 37. Jeremiah 13.16 38. Lamentations 3.21 39. Matthew 12.21 40. Psalm 33.22 41. Psalm 42.5 42. 2 Corinthians 1.10 43. Ephesians 1.12 44. 2 Kings 4.28 45. Acts 27.20 46. Hebrews 3.6 47. Hebrews 10.23 48. 1 Peter 1.13 49. Hebrews 6.19 50. Hosea 2.15 51. 1 Peter 3.5 52. Micah 7.7 53. Job 6.19 54. Psalm 39.7 55. Romans 15.13 56. Job 13.15 57. Acts 26.6 58. Acts 28.20 59. Acts 2.26 60. Psalm 62.5 61. 2 Corinthians 3.12 62. Isaiah 49.23 63. 1 John 3.3 64. Job 4.6 65. Job 11.18 66. Psalm 25.3 67. Psalm 25.5 68. Psalm 37.9 69. Psalm 119.114 70. Proverbs 19.18 71. Isaiah 40.31 72. Romans 4.18 73. Romans 8.25 74. 1 Thessalonians 1.3

Homosexuality Sermon

I watched an amazing sermon today on homosexuality that is followed by a Q & A period from the audience. I found it extremely interesting, gracefully related, as well as strikingly honest. No matter which side you are on, the speaker, Matt Chandler, asks that everyone would just listen and ask any questions they have afterward. If you have questions you'd like to ask him directly, you can email him here. If you'd like to send a note to the Living Hope Ministries, who helped with the Q&A session, you can email them here.

Here is the sermon as well as some of my notes (I took down a lot of one-liners), although this is not nearly a comprehensive summary of the actual message, just something to help remind me in the future.

Sermon :: "Homosexuality" 

By :: Pastor Matt Chandler

The Village in Flower Mound, TX

5/21/10

NOTES:

Part 1

Hiding from God is always an ironic game.

What was the first thing Adam & Eve did when they committed treason against God, realizing they were naked and feeling ashamed? They hid from God.

God is merciful & gracious 99% of the time and every now and then extends justice. And when He does, we say, "How dare You!"

"If you'll really pay attention to the scriptures, God's lining us up with how He created the universe to function for our joy." It's not about begrudging submission to vow - it's about a joyous heart.

As God pursues us, so is man's pursuit of woman a creation to reveal such.

Paul was not making a cultural argument, he was making a creation argument (Romans 1).

"What this text says [Bible] is that mankind not only thinks he's smarter than God and prefers God's stuff to God, but it also steals from God what is rightfully God's."

Part 2

6 Arguments for Why Homosexuality Is Not a Sinful Lifestyle Choice

1) If you're not hurting anyone else, there's nothing wrong with it. (Matthew 22:36-40) If you love God then you also love people. But how do you love God? By obeying Him.

2) If I'm a sinner, who am I to call out sin in another? The question isn't "Do I sin" or "Who are we to call out sinners," but "am I actively walking in repentance?" Accountability.

3) Argument of silence; Because Jesus doesn't speak directly to this subject, it's not wrong. (Matthew 15:18-20) Teaching by Jesus against pornanea, encompassing all different types of sexual immorality.

4) Because it's in nature, it's natural. If you continue to roll out this argument, the fact that spider mothers eat the spider fathers after giving birth would also be acceptable and natural for humans; hippo fathers trying to kill their sons so that they won't lose control of the herd would also be normal and acceptable behavior for humans if the "it's in nature" argument is to be consistently held. Natural Selection support biblical view. It says in theory the best/strongest genes will carry on the species, which would mean that if homosexuality is a genetic/physiological trait, that it would be an abnormality at best, or else the species would go extinct. It defies the law of Natural Selection.

5) Homosexuality in the Bible is not the same type of homosexuality we see today. Today's view: "The bible says it's gruesome, related to slave sex, but now it's monogamous, loving, and reciprocal." History's view: "Loving, monogamous, reciprocal homosexual relationships were shown in writings and on pottery thousands of years ago." To say the bible addresses something different than what we have today isn't true, because it has always been the same. Just because you have an orientational urge, does not make it correct.

SIDE NOTE: Idiots have defined masculinity as something so specific and tough that sensitive men who are artistic, tender-hearted men, have found no place to go.

6) Argument of Modern Scholarship: the Bible doesn't really mean what it says. For example, Paul didn't literally mean what Paul said, he really meant to say "this." Modern scholars will pull out "fairy Jesus" texts only and forget about judgment and wrath for rebellion. Modern scholarship is really just going into the Bible with a previously formed opinion and finding scriptures to support that position, rather than looking at what the Bible says truthfully.

What's Our Response

Love :: Patience :: Welcoming

Our message is the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, not of orientation. Our hope is transformed hearts that lead to transformed lives; it doesn't work the other way around.

"If you are someone who is in Christ and struggle with same sex attraction, how do we handle that?" It's not the nature & character of God, if you are His, to put you in situations you can't handle with His mercy and grace to you.

2 Great Lessons from the Puritans

Vivification :: filling your life with things that stir up your affections for Christ.

Mortification :: making war with & putting to death your sin.

Community and the Holy Spirit will help you with these (Romans 8). Knowing that so and so and such and such are praying for you builds in you confidence and courage for protection in Christ.

"Men and women are not projects. If you don't LOVE them, just shut the hell up."

Q & A from the Audience

Q: "How do you share the gospel with someone who is homosexual?"

A: The same way you share the gospel with anyone, orientation doesn't matter.

A: Ask, "What is God going after?" God is after your joy in Him, not your begrudging submission.

A: "Let the Holy Spirit dig around."

The Mender

The way I feel about You, my Lord,

That You would even think so much of me,

As to set me upon Your platform,

A starting place to jump into the depths of Your waters.

Your waves and breakers sweep over me,

And by morning Your lovingkindess directs,

By evening, Your song guides.

You are the Root,

With Your foundations mysteriously alive,

And solidified in the depths of the earth.

My God, You formed me there,

You watched with great pain as I grew without You,

The creation You wove distorting and dying.

You watched as others stole from me,

And mightily orchestrated the time of my rescue;

When You would rejoice in song loudly over me,

Quieting my soul, and allowing my eyes to wander,

Over my very own page in Your book of life.

I snuff out my torch now, so that my paths are dark,

For Your light is the only true Wayfinder.

I am not scared within my soul,

Because You have told me You will never leave.

Even now, Your eyes move to and fro throughout the earth,

So that You may strongly support those whose heart is completely Yours.

I will keep moving, though my feet seem inadequate for the day,

For I know that the strength of my God is perfect.

Moving forward, I listen for His call,

And search out knowledge of Him like hidden treasure.

My face is radiant with mercy, sparking as I look for His Spirit,

Never will it be put to shame.

"Come To Me"

I've had this song in me for the past couple months just yearning to get out and was finally able to express and record it tonight! I realized also...that the first two verses popped into my mind very quickly after praying one day. After trying and trying, I could not think of anything else to add for months! This past Sunday, a rainy day in Phoenix, Arizona, was the first time since then that I really remembered that this was a song my Lord was creating in me...not my own. I prayed for Him to complete it in me and what did He do? Finished it that night. Here it is: hope you like it. 

"Come To Me"

To Listen: www.myspace.com/liselovesu

Verse 1:

I am dark, You are light,
Come and shine into the caves,
In my heart, in my mind,
You will find when You are there,
Deep within, moving sure,
I know You are here

Hands of strength, holding up,
The despairs of all the world,
To my lips, and I sip,
From a cup that's filled with,
Blood, tears and love, so
I can be free

Chorus:

Free
He is near, calling
Come now,
I'm setting you free,
You are...

Verse 2:

You are the Holy Spirit,
In me,
You're the Son, You're the One,
Who makes me believe,
You're the Father,
That we all need

Stir in us, what You will,
Let our hearts be overturned,
Til' they churn, with Your will,
Let them burn like fire does,
In the night,
And the static explodes

Chorus:

Oooh
He is near, calling
Come now,
I'm setting you free,
You are...

Bridge:

Come to Me all you,
Who are weak and burdened.
I'm setting you free,
I'm setting you free

Come to Me all you,
Who need a savior.
I'm the One,
Who breaks the chains

Come to Me and be cleansed
Oh, you are free
Come to Me
Come to Me

Verse 3:

Look to me, for your love,
I will provide for your soul,
In it's depths, and I know,
All your wants and all your needs,
Look to me, look to me,
Every single time.

Look to me, for your peace,
I will make your face a light,
In the waves, of this sea,
Radiant you'll be to Me,
Look to me, look to me,
I long for you

Chorus:

You...
I am here, calling
Come now,
I'm setting you free,
You are free

Talking Bollocks

The last couple weeks, although the normal struggles of life still exist and are out and about, the peculiarities of their annoyance have not been present. I realized last night that my overarching sense of peace and joy recently, even while the storms rage on about me, is an answer to a prayer. 

The prayer was this: that despite the ever-present things going on around me, I would be so exquisitely wrapped up in His love, they would naturally work out in my mind and heart without my constant attention and catering to them. When His outpouring love fills you, you consequentially outpour His love yourself into everything you do. Or in other words, the prayer was to focus on only what GOD will have me focus on and trust that He’ll work out the rest without my help.

After recently having multiple long conversations where the dialogue went through a series of unfruitful question-asking, answer-striving, and verbal processing, I became convicted that it was not glorifying to verbal process things when it is obvious that the spirit of wisdom is not present. How can we know the spirit of wisdom is not present in our conversations? 

  

"Talking Bollocks"

Well, as a simple answer (perhaps too simple), the conversation will lead into a whole lot of specifics about an issue, but will never quite reach a place of discussion about the core misconceptions of God - who He is and/or what He's doing in those situations right now. This misconception of Him is where the root of all the peculiar struggles lie all the while, sitting and hoping for us never to reach them. Or in other words: wisdom, given by the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 11:2,  1 Cor 12:8) is not present in a conversation when specific issues become the focus and not the root of the problem. Specifics leave too much room for our own power and control when they are not entrusted to God.

Here’s an example Christ set regarding the woman caught in adultery in John 8:

When the woman was brought to Jesus by the Pharisees for His judgment, just being caught committing adultery, how did He handle it? Did Jesus ask, “well who was she caught having sex with?” And did He ask, “how long has this been going on?” Did Jesus even ask anything in particular about the situation? No. Because the peculiarities were only mere manifestations of the root problem; that she was living in sin - Jesus did say that. That’s what we’ve really got to get to, isn’t it - the root sin of the issue - our basic misconception of God and/or our rebellion if we do know?

"He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." 
- John 15:2

It may be strange to think of these unfruitful branches as being even our own compulsion to engage in dialogue without wisdom, but because the power of life and death are in our words (Proverbs 18:21), it is no small request I make of the Lord to prune this compulsion from my heart and to be able to discern when wisdom is upon me.

To hear what wisdom has to say in the bible, read her words in Proverbs 8. Happy talking. May the glory of God be upon all our lips.