Normally our idols aren’t golden cows (Exodus 32), but we have them. Merriam-Webster says that an idol is an object that is worshiped as a god. We don’t always think of spending excess amounts of time on our cell phones as worship, but if we put anything before God it is our idol. We all have different idols in our lives. Idols can be phones, internet, TV, food, exercise, a significant other, or even ourselves.
I have noticed, now that time has slowed down with the beginning of summer, that there is a lot of time on my hands to just think. To think about the day. To think about the future. To be honest, I would say that I think a little too much. However, one aspect of this that I have really been paying attention to is the way that we react to things, people, and situations in our everyday lives.
I like to think of our reactions as being on a scale of sorts. The lowest point would be the negative reactions, the middle would be our neutral reactions, and the highest point would be our positive reactions. This scale would be different for every individual because each person tends to have a different take on what is positive and negative in their own life. One easy example of this would be money. For most the idea of having a lot of money would be positive. There would be no worries and nothing to stop one from accomplishing everything their heart desires. For the one that has money, however, it is a different story. People see the money rather than the company. The perks rather than the friendship. They don’t see the real person behind the wealth, because they themselves hold wealth at a higher importance than anything else. So Continue reading
We are pleased to announce that this blogging site is growing. As of right now, we have about 4 writers committed to writing 2 posts a month, and around 4 or 5 who will soon have content as well. Recently at the Northwest Texas United Methodist conference a session was held at a coffee shop that was essentially a meet and greet for young people called to ministry. I am happy to say we will see some new content from some of these people soon. One of them, Brandon Upton, will begin to add content to the site, and I hope he will become a regular. A short bio is below.
Hello All!
My Name is Brandon Upton, and I am 26 years old. I graduated from West Texas A&M University, and now I am pursuing a Masters of Divinity in Pastoral Counseling from Asbury Theological Seminary. I have 2 younger brothers, and an older half sister. I am excited to begin writing for this site, and cannot wait to see where the Lord takes it. I wanted to take a moment, and say that if there is anything you would like me to cover please let me know. I may not know the answers to the topics you would like me to discuss, but I will do my best. I am looking forward to journeying with you guys!
-Brandon Upton
Who are Millennials?
Well, according to the interwebs, we’re the folks born between 1982(ish) and 2004(ish). (I’ve found many different timelines from many sources that varied a few years both ways.) But to be clear: We’re the ones with our selfies and our entitlement and our Snapchats and our short attention spans and our narcissism. The ones raised by iPads and Kim Kardashian. That’s us. *grins and waves*
A quick Google search on millennial stereotypes turns up plenty of descriptors like “entitled,” “lazy,” “narcissistic,” and “addicted to social media” while a search on Generation X stereotype turns up descriptors like “self-reliant” and “independent.” They’re also sometimes negatively categorized as “cynical” and “skeptical.” But as I stated earlier, no one can really know for sure where one generation ends and the other begins. Seriously, Google it and see the inconsistency for yourself. Some sites had the Millennial generation starting in 1975 and some had it ending as early as 1995.
For me, this begs the question, if someone born in, say, 1975 grows up to be a “lazy” person, does that make them a Millennial? And if they grow up to become “self-reliant” and “independent,” does that make them a Gen X-er? If they’re “independent,” does that make them a Gen X-er and if they’re “entitled” does that make them a Millennial? Oh gosh, but what if they’re narcissistic and self-reliant? Where do they fit? And what about these people from Generation X (and the Baby Boomers!) that are addicted to social media? They’re throwing the whole system off with their “Words with Friends” and their Facebook comments. And, now that I think of it, I know some Millennials that are entrepreneurs. They’re successful businesspeople. If I didn’t know they were Millennials, Continue reading
If God is almighty and perfect, why does He want worship from imperfect people if we can’t compare to His greatness? Does it really affect Him?
These are a couple questions that many Christians ask about why we worship.
The Word says that God sent His Son to die for us (John 3:16) and if we confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts that Jesus is Lord, we will be saved (Romans 10:9). God gave His everything for us, but He gave us a free will to choose to give Him back our everything or live for the World. As Christians, we should choose to give Him our hearts and souls: our everything.
This includes our worship. Merriam-Webster defines worship as excessive admiration of someone. We all have one thing that we admire or put before all else, but for Christians, it should be God. In simple terms, God gave (and continues to give) His all to us, isn’t the least we can do is live for Him?
You see, worship isn’t just lifting up your hands to music. Worship is your actions. Your life is worship to God. It is you living your life for God. When we are living in His will and giving God our whole selves, THAT is true worship.
God spent 5 days creating the earth and everything in it. His hand made the birds, the oceans, the trees, the fruit, but He loves His creation of humans the best. He loves us more than anything; He loves us so much that He doesn’t want to force us into anything, but He wants us to CHOOSE Him. When we choose to worship Him and put Him first, we are the ones that have that complete satisfaction, not God. It’s accepting His love, and returning it. It brings Him joy to see us joyful, and we will only have that full joy when we completely live for God.
“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him.” John 4:23
I read something a few days ago that told me that there were periods of time that ask questions, and periods of time that answer them. As I wrap up my last semester of college, I’m noticing that I’m transitioning from a time of answers, into a time questions. About four years ago, I was moving into the time that would ask the questions that these years have answered. Questions like, where will I go to college? What will I study? Will I make friends? Will I have an internship somewhere like my cool college friends? Will I be able to handle the pressures of college? What will the workload be like? Do people really stay awake all night studying? Will I actually graduate someday?
The idea of actually graduating college was such a far off concept four years ago. I thought that maybe only a lucky chosen few were able to do it. Honest. I thought only the best and the smartest made it this far. Now, of course, I see that some real dimwits have done it. I’m not the best or the smartest, but I’m definitely not a dimwit. I think I land somewhere in the middle. Anyway. The end is in sight. I never imagined Continue reading
Prayer is the most powerful action that a believer can do. This is how we become children of God and this is how we lift each other up; however, the most important aspect of prayer is the definition of it: communication with God.
When you communicate with a physical person right in front of you, you’re not the only one that talks. Even when I talk to my dog, I pause as if he’s going to answer me. A conversation has two sides. Prayer is just as much about receiving as it is expressing. We all want to tell God our problems, but do we ever stop talking to let Him tell us that He’s got it under control?
I remember as a student in Jr. High, a drama ministry group from Southwestern Assemblies of God University came to my church to minister for a weekend. Before we ate our meals, their staff advisor prayed, but first he was silent. He listened to what the Holy Spirit was telling him, and THEN he prayed. He actually let God talk to him first. I remember thinking, “I never let God talk first. That’s just selfish.” That was when my thought process of prayer life changed forever.
You know how the big thing with Christians lately is to say “it’s a relationship, not a religion?” Well, tonight I decided that I want more than a relationship. I have a relationship with my friend/editor, Cody, who invited me to start writing for this website. When we see each other, we know who the other is. We greet each other when we see each other, but because our lives are so busy, that’s about the extent of our relationship. With God, I want FELLOWSHIP. I want to be able to say “Hi, Jesus!” and He say “Hey, Jordan!” and we keep taking turns talking to each other. It’s the back and forth that is important. Without hearing God’s direction, we will never have more than just a simple relationship. God wants to have a deep fellowship with each and every one of us.
The second part of this post is HOW to pray. I’ve been told twice in the past month that I “pray good.” So, I want to give you guys my strategies for prayer. When Jesus was on the Earth, He gave us instructions on how to pray. We call this The Lord’s Prayer that is found in Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJV):
*Identify who you’re talking to. Praise Him.
*Be open His plans for your life while you’re on Earth.
*Thank Him for what He’s provided you.
*Ask for forgiveness for the sins you committed today.
*Don’t lie, you know you do every day & need forgiveness.
*Ask God to guide you to the right way.
*Tell Him what’s going on that you need help with.
*You enter with praise, you exit with praise.
I know it’s popular to close your eyes to pray. In public, totally do this so it’s just you and God. But when it’s your bedtime prayers, keep your eyes open so you stay focused.
I don’t use big words. Seriously, if it makes sense to me, it makes sense to God. He knows my heart. It’s just me and Him. You don’t have to talk like you’ve studied theology for 8 years and use Hebrew and Greek words that are in the Bible. And if you do, make sure you know what you’re saying first. Bible glossaries and Google are great tools if you learn a foreign word from the Bible or in church.
Also, I ALWAYS back up my prayers with scripture. This is so I know that it lines up with God’s will, and as His Word says, it WILL BE DONE.
I hope this helps anyone who finds it hard to pray. You don’t automatically become an expert at what to say when you become a follower of Christ. It’s okay to be simple. I know it’s something that I’ve struggled with for a long time, and prayer life can always grow.
Imagine this:
Four years ago. In a quiet room, there sits a glossy, stained wooden dining room table. The room is well-lit and inviting. There’s two chairs facing each other. In one chair, sits Jesus.
He sits there awaiting me. Excitingly awaiting me to come, to know him and him to know me. He’s ready to overwhelm me with His character and communion.
I enter the room.
I somewhat eagerly walk towards the table. I am anxious to get to Him, but I have brought a lot with me. Overflowing out of my hands are the piles of garbage I have brought in. It smells. It’s gross to look at. It’s distracting.
I sit at the table and spread out the garbage before Him.
At these communions, I haven’t brought this garbage to surrender at His feet. I’ve brought it in to lay out in front of me. I’m distracted by it. It’s in front of me and has my attention more than He does. In fact, at most of these dinners, I have piled up the trash so high, I can’t even fix my eyes on Him.
“This stuff isn’t really bad stuff. It can be turned back into good if I decorate it a little,” I tell myself. “I don’t want Him to have it, I know He will throw it away. I want to keep it, because my life won’t look the same without it.”
I don’t enjoy dinner or our conversation, the little that we had, and I blame Him for it.
“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him…” Philippians 3:7-9
4 years ago, I hadn’t considered anything in my life as garbage compared to knowing Christ. I wasn’t ready or even willing to lose any of it for the sake of gaining fellowship with Him.
Christian of Tomorrow 