Classic

This video is from a church that we visited in LA.  It was a neat church with great leadership.  They did a spoof on Journey, the awesome band from the 80's.  I thought this was hilarious.  You really have to see the original video to understand why they made it this way.  You can look it up on youtube and search for Journey.  It's easy to find.  The song is called separate ways.  You have to watch it all the way through.  Thanks and gig em.

Never Good Enough

Are you ready to be entertained? 

As you know I’m preparing to go to seminary.  I’m going to express a theological thought that has changed how I see certain life experiences.  Brace yourself! This one is a little lengthy.  It takes me awhile to put something together that will make sense.  Hopefully, you can follow along.  I don’t want to just write something lengthy but something that explains what I’ve chewed on for years and will continue to chew on for the rest of my life.  This is a passage that has meant a lot to me and given great peace to my soul in times of self reflection.  It has confused me, encouraged me, and left me just frustrated.  It’s good to wrestle with scripture, it’s a humbling experience.

I want to write about the first half of Hebrews chapter 12.  It is a hard, but glorious text full of encouragement when understood.  It’s full of rich meaning and truth.  The chapter covers so much, but I want to focus on a certain part, mainly verses 4-11.  It’s hard to leave out verses 1-3, because those set up the whole context for the rest of the text and wrap up the passage by pointing the reader back to Jesus and his example of long-suffering.  So starting in verse 4:

 

In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.  And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:

 

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.  For what son is not disciplined by his father?  If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.  Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it.  How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!  Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.

Then the author of Hebrews drops this amazing verse in there to further enhance the importance of endurance and trust in the father.  He sympathizes with the reader at a much needed time.  Continuing with verse 11:

 

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

After reading that you just have to go, wow.  Then follows a,” what does that mean?”  The meaning is not mysterious though; we can take many things and build our strong foundation on how God treats us as sons.  There are many exhortations in that passage, ones that are good and meant to protect the children of God.  A Father who loves us also wants to protect and provide for us. 

The redeemed of God who have walked with Him for any period of time know that we cannot always walk high on the mountain; sometimes we have to tread through the valleys.  The church in America seems to tell us that we always have to put on the nice face and play as if everything was alright (opening another discussion, but I must finish this one).  It’s not always alright, so what is going on during a time like this and how should we see and approach the situation.  This is what I’ve struggled with over the years. 

In times when I feel distant from the Lord, I feel as though I’m doing something wrong.  Jesus likes to humble his people and gradually, but surely he shows us more and more how wicked we are.  I’m thinking, what’s going on here and why is this happening?  Nobody ever explained to me that this was normal and a part of the Christian life.  Thankfully I came across this text and God spoke to my heart in a wonderful way.  Four years ago I experienced a period in my life where I knew God was doing something, but I did not know what.  I was scared and honestly I thought I had lost my salvation.  I’ve learned a lot since then.  As I was reading this passage one night, it leaped off the page at me.  The Holy Spirit was saying, “This is what I’m allowing you to go through.”  At that point I experienced a thrilling peace!  A huge weight was lifted.  I realized there is a purpose in this misery and loneliness, because that’s what it felt like.

Remember what it said in verse 11, the discipline seems painful at the time.  It can be very painful and sometimes there is no end in sight.  This was the question posed to me, how much pain is there and was the pain that I was experiencing actually discipline from the Lord?  It seems strange at first, but I hoped I was, because that meant I was a legitimate child of God being instructed by his discipline.  There was really no previous standard of pain to compare it to.  Jesus wanted me to trust him and trust in His word.  He wanted me to be thankful and content for the present situation.  At the moment, I was just thinking about the present and not the future.  Christ wants to conform us to the image of himself and it takes time and long-suffering.

To wrap things up, I wanted to touch on something that you probably were curious about.  I mentioned it at the beginning, but you forgot while enduring through this compilation of thoughts.  It was the title, never good enough.  You may have caught on to where I was going with this, but I want to explain why I used it briefly.  That statement refers more to what the enemy says to rob me of the joy and knowledge that God is working.  When grey clouds hover over my head, the enemy tries his best to inject lies into my mind.  He says, “You will never be good enough.”  He’s right and there my hope is not put in myself, but in Christ Jesus, my hope of glory.  He has forgotten that Jesus saves.

The darkness lasts for only awhile.  Freedom comes!  God’s word engulfs the darkness shining like the sun into my weary soul.  The battle continues in seeing God for who he is and how he sees us.  There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  I no longer want to live under the cloud of the Law.  Christ redeemed us from the Law (Galatians 3).  Patience and suffering mark this journey, but the journey is one worth fighting for.

Home and Gone Again

At the moment, I’m in Florida. In my last blog I said that I was on my way home. Well, I made it and it went by really fast. I was home for only a week, but it was a great time. I can't even remember what I did on some days. I got to hang out with the family except my brother who will be home soon. The whole week I was anticipating what the weekend was going to be like at the Passion conference.
I attended the conference last year in Atlanta and it was amazing. I can’t really compare the two because they were done in two different ways and were awesome in their own way. The events took place over Friday and Saturday in Dallas. I was excited about joining the body of Christ, mostly college students, in times of worship and prayer. Add to that great teaching from two honest and real men of God who have a passion for Jesus. They shared their heart and purpose for the conference not to be just another Christian huddle, but a movement to change the world and exalt the renown and fame of Jesus.
So young men and women joined together from around the southern United States to seek God and make his name known to all the college campuses represented there at the conference. The worship was amazing and the teaching challenging. It really made me think which I love to do. It was thrilling to worship without shame and with all your strength among the 6000 students. A lot of things were brought to the table to chew on and they will take awhile to sink in. Francis Chan talked about the Holy Spirit and the power that really indwells us as Christians. The heartbeat of the place was a passion for Jesus and to see his kingdom spread throughout the earth. They encouraged us to think big and believe God for great things that are possible with only him. However with that admonition, they added that God looks for people who are faithful with the small things in life. Some big things may seem small, like taking care of orphans or trusting God to redeem your family, but they can grow into something larger. God wants to use his people to reach this broken world.
Will I step up, will you? Peace and Love
http://www.268generation.com/
P.S. miss you Chris (if you read this)

Almost Home

Here are some more pictures that I have gathered the last couple of days.

I would like to write something awesome, but my mind is not in any condition to do so. Even though the last couple days have been relaxing on the Santa Barbara beach in California, I am mentally drained. I have one more stop to go tomorrow in Chicago then on my way home Sunday. It will be great to be back.

It has been tough being gone for so long. It’s been tough not being a part of a solid church body on a consistent basis. As Christians we should never try to do things alone. God has been showing me that. The body must function as a whole gathering in the straying individuals around them with open, loving arms.

I did find out the other day that I was accepted into Dallas Theological Seminary, so that was exciting. I am still waiting to here back from Southwestern in Fort Worth, then I will make a decision on where I will be starting school in the summer. Praise the Lord for that.

Love
Jaret

Pages

Throughout the last couple of years I have been doing my best at keeping a journal, not a diary. It's been written evidence into my spiritual journey with the Lord and just what's going on in my life. I don't share it with too many people. Sometimes I pick certain parts out to tell and wanted to do that in a post. This was something I wrote about that happened on a plane while I was in Canada last week.

Journal Entry
1/28/08
By the time I boarded the plane, I was tired of flying. Before we even took off the people around me were talking to me. It was a little out of the norm. They were all Canadian and I concluded that most Canadian people were nice. Before I sat down, this lady asked me to switch seats with her so she could sit down by her husband. I thought that was simple enough. So I ended up by this man and we talked about all kinds of stuff. He told me about what he did and I shared the same. It was a pleasure to speak with him. I didn’t think he was a Christian so I wanted to swing the conversation to God. He made it rather simple. So I got to share the Gospel with him and ended up explaining a lot of stuff because he had many questions. They were good questions too. We talked for about an hour and a half. It went well. When we landed this couple behind us told me thanks for sharing. At first I was confused, but they said they had been listening. They said they were Christians and had been praying for me. It was such an encouragement.

miss you guys, love
Jaret