True repentance

I was going to leave this as a comment but it was too long.
Repentance is being reconciled to God and it is the starting point of a truly regenerated person. As I went back and found this summary of what Thomas said about repentance, I also picked up on some things I didn't notice my first time reading through the book. I will read the book again maybe soon, maybe not.
My quick explanation of true repentance is to emphasize the difference between just saying something and actually being something. A lot of people say they are Christians, but that doesn't mean they've been truly transformed by Jesus Christ. Another quote by Ian Thomas is, "If this repentance is real, it will result in a Spirit produced 'hunger and thirst' to be like Jesus." A true Christian will exhibit the Fruit of the Spirit. Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
A super simplified way of thinking about it is this: a lot of people out there claim to be Batman. The truth is, however,  they don't own a bat-suit, they don't drive the Batmobile, and they don't fight crime. So guess what? They aren't Batman! 
This simple analogy does not take into account true Christians who are living in the flesh (I posted about that a few months ago). Only God can see someone's heart. I don't mean to make anyone doubt their salvation either, but I would much rather be guilty of that than to not have warned people from entering eternity, thinking their destination was secure, only for them to hear, "depart from me I never knew you."

A great place to find out about repentance is the Bible. Start in the gospel of John. Then go to 1 John. Then probably James. And then Romans. Not necessarily in that order, but maybe.

This blessed me

A story about the difference between Christ and Confucius and Buddha taken from Four-Fold Gospel by A.B. Simpson. 

A man once said, "I was down in a deep pit, half sunk in the mire and was crying for some one to help me out. As I looked up I saw a venerable, gray-haired man looking down at me. His countenance bore the marks of his pure and holy spirit. 'My son,' he said, 'this is a dreadful place.' 'Yes,' I said, 'I fell into it. Can't you help me out?' 'My son,' he said, 'I am Confucius. If you had read my books and followed what they taught, you never would have been here.' 'Yes, Father,' I said, 'but can't you help me out?' As I looked up he was gone. Soon I saw another form approaching, and another man bent over me, this time with closed eyes and folded arms. He seemed to be looking into some far-off distant place. 'My son,' he said, 'just close your eyes and fold your arms and forget all about yourself. Get into a state of perfect rest. Don't think about anything that could disturb. Get so still that nothing can move you. Then, my child, you will be in such delicious rest as I am. 'Yes, Father,' I answered, Til do that when I am above ground. Can't you help me out?' But Buddah, too, was gone. I was just beginning to sink into despair when I saw another figure above me, different from the others. He was very simple, and looked just like the rest of us, but there were the marks of suffering in His face. I cried out to Him: 'Oh, Father, can you help me.' 'My child,' he said, 'what is the matter?' Before I could answer him, he was down in the mire by my side; he folded his arms about me and lifted me up, and then he fed and rested me. When I was well, he did not say, 'Now, don't do that again,' but he said, 'We will walk on together now;' and we have been walking together until this day."

OWS

This is a shout-out to occupy Wall Street:
"For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice." (James 3:16 ESV)

Jealousy and selfish ambition-- fitting descriptors...

"No one can take advantage of you if you are being generous."

I do not know if I made this quote up, but I used to say it five years ago. I had almost completely forgotten about it. Even after I was reminded within the past year, my response was, "that doesn't sound like something I would say." Thankfully just tonight I remembered a situation from many years ago when I truly believed and lived like no one could take advantage of you when you're being generous. It was joyful back then and it was joyful now to remember.

Biblical virtues are not simply actions but involve a lifestyle.

This is the song Send Me/Represent by the group Amped. You should listen to the song, but I also posted the lyrics from verse two. The artist understands a life attitude of worship in his statement of, "send me; I'll go," because a life of worship is a life submitted to God. These lyrics also contribute to my post on a worldly Christian.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOsBE_xbSj0

“Hey! After, 1, 000 years in the west and the church is
Get'n bigger daily without understanding worship. (say what?)

Some regenerated but a lot ain't saved.
You walk outside and be surprised cause the block ain't changed.
And the numbers, they be getting em.

Something just ain't hit'n them.
America ain't christian they just practicing a ritual.

That's why we should be missional.
Hey, what you think I'm spit'n for?
The united states is dying
And in the east it's looking pitiful.

Some places if they catch you
They'll arrest you.
They'll serve you,
But they still need the word too.
The gospel should be heard too.
We claim we ain't ashamed,
But we ain't hit the block up.
Were in our christian bubble,
While our brotha's get'n locked up.
Lord I wanna stock up,
Pack a bag and walk up
In a country where sharing my faith may get me shot up
Anywhere I go, whether my city or far abroad,
I just wanna show them Jesus Christ the risen holy God."

We are saved to worship God.

-- Tozer

Bid soon

There are some really neat items on the auction especially for in the home. I just shamelessly promoted a link to the auction in my previous two points, but now I want to explain a bit about the auction in case some have been turned off from any of the various steps.

Here is a link directly to the auction: http://www.32auctions.com/organizations/1900/auctions/2062?reset_filter=1

I'm sure by now you know that it's for my older brother, Matt, and sister-in-law, Emily, to adopt a child from Uganda—it is a complicated and costly process.

Scroll around to different pages of the auction and click on any items that interest you. Before bidding, you'll be prompted to create an account with this auction website. I think it took me about a minute and a half to register—it’s not a big deal at all.

The auction ends Thursday evening, which means it will probably get busy towards the end of the auction as each person wants to monitor the items they are trying to win and make additional bids during the last few seconds. Auctions are competitive and cutthroat so bid high :-)

The auction is here!

Click the link and get bidding! The auction will end in a couple of days.

http://www.32auctions.com/organizations/1900/auctions/2062/show_info

Another Tozer quote

This quote is from Tozer's book The Purpose of Man.

The purpose of nature is to lead us to the Creator and to worship Him. The purpose of man's feelings and emotions is to lead to the One who implanted those within the heart of man, to the Creator. Everything in all of creation is to point to the Creator and to evoke with adoring wonder and admiration and worship. Wherever we go, we can worship.

Do not miss this auction!

Market on your calendar 09/10/11

Just keep checking the link to this blog as more information is coming soon. This will be a great auction with some great items for a great cause.

http://onehopeoneheart.blogspot.com/

Dang, we're in a tight spot! The evil empire, DHS [cue music] (who up until this time I, surprisingly, had taken little issue with), will most likely cut many of the hours I receive for caretakers. My mom and I have a very God-centered, year-long plan in place and I don't know how this impending setback will affect that plan.

Proverbs 16:9 "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and do not lean on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." I know God is in control.

I personally do not do well when a situation is uncontrollable, so I have been initially angered by the news of potential cutbacks. I will find out soon exactly what changes will be made, and I know there is an appeals process...

Worldly Christian

This post is in response to a comment from the 17^th: Please explain a worldly Christian.

The apostle Paul had to deal with worldly Christians. (I did not know if the use of worldly Christian, carnal Christian, and Christian living in the flesh are identical in the Greek, but they carry the same ideas.) Paul addressed the church at Corinth as, "people of the flesh, as infants."

The quote about a worldly Christian in my last post is from A.W. Tozer, and he used the same verse in Corinthians to write an entire chapter about who he described as carnal Christians. He said carnal Christians are: Self-centered, feelings oriented, dependent on the external (when worshiping God), without purpose, unproductive (they must be tricked into reading God's Word), shifts blame away from self, and eats a limited diet [of God's Word and spiritual disciplines]. This is a limited explanation of the chapter, and I would encourage you to get a hold of his book Reclaiming Christianity to read the rest, but you can start to see the types of characteristics that expose those who may be a worldly Christian.

The apostle Paul in Romans chapter 1 listed what is apparent in those who are of the world, whether Christian or not. He said in verses 29-32,

They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Paul also said in 1 John 2:15-16, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world."

Ephesians 5:1-21 is too many verses to list here, but you should read them. It talks about how a Christian is to live and what to avoid. Ephesians 5 is the only passage I've listed that talks about sexual immorality, which is one of the greatest ways self-identified Christians reflect the world’s standard rather than God’s.

Pretty much all of this discussion can be summed up in Romans 12:2 where it says, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your minds, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." I like the way The Message translation explains verses one and two from Romans 12,

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Worldly Christians are Christians who are characterized by anything from the above-mentioned.

The book Reclaiming Christianity by A. W. Tozer was written over 50 years ago, but it is astonishing how it reads as if it could have been written yesterday. One of the most startling chapters I read was one that talked about words that are now dead in the church. Here is another parting quote:

In the great campaigns of a former generation, [The word ‘accept’] became the catchword for evangelicalism, fundamentalism, full gospelism and world missions. [The word ‘accept’] contained a mighty truth that has long since died, but the word stays on. It stays on the theological spectrum and is producing a generation of Christians, or so-called Christians, that are [unrepentant] in their hearts, frivolous in their spirits and worldly in their conduct. Telling people who come to us to be converted, and "accept Jesus," and so they say, "all right, I'll accept Jesus." So they accept Jesus and that is all about there is to it. There is no transformation and no [unrepentant] root of their being that is ever cured. There is pride that has never been crucified, a worldliness they have never been able to deal with and a frivolity of spirit that is beyond description.

Score

I didn't do as well on my LSAT as I would've hoped to. I will probably just take it again.

Here is a parting quote from the book I am reading: “You cannot have a Christian world, but unfortunately, you can have a worldly Christian.” –A. W. Tozer

Chip Ingram

I've recently been listening to Chip Ingram's daily podcast. The podcast is free and I highly recommend it. Here is his website.

If you don't know what a podcast is, you are reading this blog on a computer and that's a really good start.

LSAT

I don't know how I did overall. It could very easily be anywhere from really bad to really good. We shall see.

God at work

Watch this. An amazing story of God's mercy and grace.

LSAT

My LSAT is Monday around one o'clock. Would you all lift me up in prayer?

Coach Tressel

Here is a link to a blog where a family talks about their personal interaction with the former coach of Ohio State, Jim Tressel. Tressel is a Christian and while it was wrong of him to violate the NCAA rules, it is saddening to hear how some members of the media have made him out to be a villainous person.

Spring

I was kindly reminded that it is May now, so perhaps an update is in order.

The truth is I don't like updating this. I have an e-mail address if anyone wants to know what's going on with me, and most of the time I would post something only because I had been motivated by a specific something that would get me justifiably angered; once angry enough, I would write about what was on my heart in terms of what an accurate Biblical perspective would be. I have not in the past few months been justifiably angered by a specific something partially because it's in God's hands, and also because when I picture the type of man of God I want to become—the even-tempered, wise, reasonable man from the book of Proverbs and Paul's epistles—I do not want to be easily riled by circumstances.

With that said, it has been some days since I last posted, and I was just reading an article about Mr. Obama’s pretentious, willfully ignorant, anti-historically accurate, and impractical (my words, not the article) speech at the State Department about the Middle East; so it felt like posting.

I have studied solidly for the LSAT these past months. Time has flown-by now that I actually think about it. My days were relatively the same routine over and over. I would get out of bed, maybe exercise or do personal computer stuff, eat lunch, study the entire afternoon, eat dinner, and then after dinner either study more or personal entertainment. But, in two weeks I finally get to put my 20% nervousness 80% excitement to good use. My test is around 1 p.m. June 6, and I would very much appreciate if you prayed for me. Specifically pray that God would bring to my mind the information that I have been working to put in there for eight months and also that I would have a clear mind and focused energy.

I used to tell myself and tell others that I would take the LSAT and if I completely bomb I would take it as God closing the door on me pursuing a law career. Well, I'm glad I never truly believe that, because hundreds of dollars and optimism about my practice test scores have confirmed: this is for real. And since this is for real, I know there is the next stage to complete immediately after the test is done, and I want to jump right into it.

Well, I don't know when I will post next. There isn't any point to saying something right after June 6, because I won't know my test results until the end of June, and I'm not going to just advertise what my test result is, so maybe towards the beginning of July I'll say if I am happy with the way the test turned out.

One more reason I don't like to post is because I really don't like straight up talking about myself—I’m not President Obama… Hey-O!!!... No, but seriously God places all leaders in charge for a reason. Maybe the reason is to make us more patient or maybe to bring about the downfall of America. I don't know, it could be both.

Peace

I haven't really felt like writing for a while. Obviously feelings should not necessarily dictate reality or necessity, but they do play a huge role in desire, inspiration, and motivation.

I'll just share a little bit about what I've been up to. I plan to go to law school, but before actually attending I need to apply, and before I apply I need to take the LSAT. So for these past few months I've been studying for the LSAT – which I will take in June. Some days and weeks are better for studying, but overall it's been going pretty well.

During my final year at Cedarville, and even as recently as the summer, I had wavered a bit whether to continue on to law school – as has been my goal since high school to be a lawyer. Probably around the month of July, I 100% mentally recommitted to pursue the law track, and since then I have had a renewed peace about the decision. God has opened a lot of doors these past few months and allowed me to get connected to various people and organizations.

God is good and life is moving on!

My brother Matt and his family are adopting again. I believe Emily will be updating her blog regularly . onehopeoneheart.blogspot.com