Tips for Any Incoming Freshmen from Someone Finishing His First Year of College

For those that may follow my blog, you may have seen that I haven't posted in a long time...like, a very VERY long time. The last time I posted was back in August of 2013. That was back when my first semester of college was finally kicking off to a start.  Little did I know that I was going to be extremely to the point where I was ultimately forget about my blog and expressing my opinion to the public.  But now, with only one more day left of finals, my freshmen year of college is finally coming to a conclusion.  I simply just want to give some helpful tips to my fellow classmates.  This is mainly directed towards seniors in high school, but if you were in college and wanted to check this out, I wouldn't really complain.

Here's some tips to make your freshmen year of college the least stressful possible.

• Finals week is rough. But you can make it easier on yourself by staying up to date throughout the semester
• Unless your parents are fruitful, you are going to be broke. But the best things in life are free.
• Some professors may try to intimidate you, but don't be afraid.  The professor that scared me outta my boot on my first day was the one that I learned from the most.
• Don't be scared to sign up for classes that are the furthest thing away from your major.
• Math may be hard for some people. You gotta find "that one guy" though. He'll help ya out.
• Take classes with your friends. It makes life so much easier
• Take classes without your friends. It forces you to branch out of your comfort zone.
• Don't judge your classmates. Some of them are actually really cool people with really awesome stories.
• If you're going to transfer, make sure you read EVERYTHING there is on college websites. It's 20 times more complicated than applying as a freshmen.
• If you're going to transfer, DO IT EARLY.
• If you have a job, make sure you manage your time. Sometimes you're going to have to wake up early to work on some stuff.
• Don't take 8AMs. I repeat, DO NOT TAKE 8AMS. You'll thank me later.
• Take a weekend off with your friends. Go somewhere. Get away.
• Leave time aside for yourself, especially if you're an introvert like me
• Take risks for people.
• Don't be afraid to change your major... I did it.
• Don't be afraid to drop a class... I did it.
• Some classes are going to be hard, and some are going to be really easy. Manage accordingly.
• MEET NEW PEOPLE.
• Don't be afraid to communicate with professors. They'll appreciate your openness.
• Look for doors that are opening.
• Have an open mind.
• Newsflash: You have to buy scantrons now. Crazy right. 
• Winter Break is glorious.
• 8 week courses are not a bad idea. Took 2 of them and got an A in both.
• Find a coffeeshop and get to know the barista. You'll be seeing them a lot.
• Get a cool backpack. I judge most my classmates on how cool their backpacks are.
• Get a nice laptop, but don't break the bank.
• Don't use your FASFA money on anything other than school. If you have extra money aside, just put it into a savings account unless you have to use it.
• Procrastination is pretty much expected. Just know that the best work is done under pressure... for most people.
• Meditate. Take a break. Go out with your friends. Get some sleep. It's not just a college thing, it's a life thing.
• Do what you wanna do with your life. Just because you are good at something doesn't mean you should major in that.
• Majoring in Pre-Med will get you major brownie points with older folks. But doing what you wanna do will give you major brownie points to your future spouse and kids.
• Stay true to yourself and your beliefs, but be open to hearing other opinions. Be intrigued by some, laugh at some others.
• If you think about dropping out, don't. It's not the end of the world. You'll be blessed if you persevere.
• Don't quit, you can make it. I promise.

Don't Over-Think It

For the past couple years or so, I've struggled with discovering the plan that the Lord has for my life.  I can say that the mysteries behind it has consumed me. I remember countless hours of anxiety towards the uncertainty of my success. (Which frankly is pretty selfish) I assume that the majority of the people who read my blog struggle with this ambiguity as well. Let me be the first to say that you're not alone. Chances are, you're probably a college student who's life has been bombarded by questions of whether the major that you're currently in now is what you're meant to be in. If you're not a current college student, you're probably a high schooler who's vision of college is right around the corner, especially you seniors. Making decisions is a struggle, mainly because the normal human being is concerned about making the wrong one, and the number of decisions that appear in this specific season of life couldn't even compare to the total amount of decisions that you've had in your entire life combined. Let's be honest, the biggest decision you've probably ever made before senior year is what you should wear, who your friends should be, or whether you should date a specific person or not. Here's a couple of examples: What should I major in? Where should I go to school? Should I stay home and save some money, or should I go ahead and take some loans out? What classes should I sign up for? Should I take the daring challenge of an 8AM? Where do I go to graduate school? (if applicable) Who should I marry? When should I marry? Should I even get married?! How many kids should I have? Etc. I guarantee that everyone one of these questions have entered my thoughts at some point. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you've probably thought of these as well.

After seeking wisdom from people older than me, reading a couple books, and digging into Scripture, I've formulated a theory that has comforted me immensely.

DON'T OVER-THINK IT.

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the fields, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." - Matthew 6:25-34

I've read this passage over and over again, and it wasn't until lately that I've taken it to the heart.  Jesus doesn't necessarily take our obsession with the future and some little quirk that we live with, but instead as evidence of how small our faith really is. If we honestly trusted Jesus with our lives, then we wouldn't be so worried about our future.  If what I'm saying is truth, then I will be the first to say that I don't trust Jesus as near enough as I should.  Have comfort knowing that God will have mercy poured upon the troubles for today, and know that his mercy is so vast for the troubles that will come for years.

I don't believe that God will hand me a divine map of where I should be, and where I should end up. I've learned that the vast power of God can be used through me wherever I'm at in life. Now, I'm not questioning the supreme omniscience of Him, because He knows what I will do with my life, but that isn't for me to know until I get there.  I'm glad that He works like that, because it forces my trust to be bestowed in Him.

Sometimes I think that Christians open up the Bible and expect answers to the countless non-moral decisions that we face in our lives. Sorry to break it to you, but you're not going to open up God's Word and magically see the name of your future spouse, or your future income. If the Bible was like that, it would be a lot more bland and disheartening. The Bible is much more than just a "rulebook" or a "magical compass" that will take you to the most prosperous life planned possible. The Bible is a book that is written by God Himself, and it amazes me as to how simple it is sometimes.

Let's ask the question, "What is the will that God has for my life?" and see what comes up in Scripture.
"For this is the will of God, your sanctification." - 1 Thessalonians 4:3

Woah, that was easy. God wants you to become sanctified in the life that you have. Sanctified literally means to be "set-apart." Simply put, sanctification is you becoming more like Jesus and less like the world. The doctrine of an idea called "progressive sanctification" is something that I believe in.  In essence, progressive sanctification states, that my life will gradually align with the life of Jesus, and will not be fully completed until I enter in to the Kingdom of Heaven. I also think that God's will for your life is that you continue to know him more so that you can bear fruit. Ya know, the basics, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, and then actually producing these fruits towards other people.

Honestly, I'm not afraid to say that God probably doesn't mind what you do if you bear the fruit of the Spirit. If God was hard to impress, it would be really tough to be a Christian. All that matters to Him is if you know His Son, and you are serving His Kingdom. No matter if you're doing that as a teacher, scientist, or real estate agent, it all pleases Him the same.  God concerns more about whether you loving Him with your entire heart, rather than if you're living in the "right" place. "Love Jesus, and do whatever the heck you want." - Boone Benson

Our society has morphed every single decision into a "Right or Wrong" answer.  I think that some of the biggest non-moral decisions are based on an answer of "Right or Left." You can either go right, or you can go left, but the most important thing is that you have to turn. Don't over-think it. Just make a choice, and don't turn around. Don't be so worried about where the other road may have lead, but look at the road ahead, and make the best out of it! Do what makes you happy, and love Jesus all the while.

I'll conclude with a famous poem written by Robert Frost. I'll let your interpretation be what it may.

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

This I Believe

For those who don't have Mrs. Isgitt for AP English IV, for the last assignment of the years, we we're assigned an essay to write about what we believe.  It could be about anything; something tangible, metaphorical, philosophical, or even spiritual. In my opinion, this essay has been one of the best assignments that I've ever had to do. (Trust me, there aren't many assignments that I enjoy doing) The fact that it's word limit was only 500 made it that much better. Originally, "This I Believe" essays were started by a radio station.  The radio station first asked certain people to write them, but as the popularity of the program increased, the station opened up to public submissions. Now, 60 years after the program started, I'm writing one of my own. I thought it was pretty cool, so I decide to share my essay with the folks who aren't in my English class. If you're curious, they have tons of essays online at www.thisibelieve.com that are open for public reading, and let me say, there are some fantastic writers out there with some outstanding ideas.

Gathered Around a Campfire

There’s something about a good story that we all love.  We’ve all been there.  We all have a movie that we could watch time and time again. We all have a Netflix series that we waste away our Sunday afternoons on, and whenever the series ends, we feel as if a piece of our own being is gone.  As much as we joke about never reading, all of us have a book that we constantly return to on a rainy evening.  We fall in love with the heroes, and we scorn the villains. We all countdown the days until the new season starts, or when the sequel gets released.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good TV series as much as the next guy, but it’s the stories of real, actual people that get me hooked the most.

I went on a mission trip to Galveston during the spring break of my 8^th grade year.  The group that I went with was around 25-30, so it was a pretty close-knit, tight group.  On the last night we were there, we gathered around a campfire on the shoreline.  Now, I’m not so sure what it is about a campfire on the beach, but everyone seems to get incredibly genuine all of a sudden.  On that night, we all shared our stories; where we’ve been, where we are, and where our story hopes to be years from now.

I believe in stories. And while I do love books, movies, and shows, these aren’t the stories that I’m talking about.  I love the stories that even Hollywood cannot script: The testimonies of a young, ambitious man who overcame the poverty and drug abuse, the memoirs of an elderly woman who has had the pleasures of watching her children and grandchildren grown into adults, or even the experiences of a kid in high school just trying to be accepted.  It’s the stories like these that I heard on Galveston Beach that have inspired me to continue my own. 

As I continue living my life, I come across all different kinds of stories. Whether its stories that make me cry, or stories that make me laugh, each one that I’ve heard has affected me in some sort of fashion.  I don’t care who you are, where you’ve been, where you’re going, or what race, religion, or political background you have, I believe in your story.  I believe in stories because it reminds me that I’m not alone in this world. The memories that create these stories are what allow us to make ties between one another.  With each person’s unique, individual story, we can break the chains of isolation a link at a time. Simply listening to their story could change a person’s attitude from complete loneliness, to feeling loved, and valued. The best part is you’ll never get bored.

Jesus Is My Carpenter.

"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind." - Ephesians 2:1-3

We were dead. We followed Satan. We let the spirit of sin consume our lives. We gave into our flesh. We were children of wrath. We rebelled. We spat in the face of Jesus. We made his grace cheap. We were hurting. We were broken. We were crooked. We didn't know what to do. We were clueless. We were full of doubt. We were bruised, battered, burnt, and bent pieces of wood, just as the branch of a tree broken by the weight of a hurricane. We were hopeless.

Notice how they are all in past tense. Trust me when I say that it does not end there. Just as Jesus rose from the dead, we can also resurrect from the sin that was literally eating us alive. Every time I come across a "but" in the Bible, I highlight or underline it. "But" initiates an exception, dispute, or a turn of events. Although something appears in some sort of fashion, once you insert a "but," everything changes.

Let's say we have a prodigy baseball player. This kid can hit the ball 500 feet, he's able to hit for average, he steals bases left and right, he's able to throw a guy tagging up at third with ease, and he makes plays in the outfield that appear on SportCenter's Top Ten almost every night.  He's an obvious 5-tool player. He's a first ballot Hall of Famer before he even gets drafted. Needless to say, he's a stud. But, he has developed heart problems, and his doctors won't allow him to play baseball ever again because it could risk his life. All the potential that this kid could live up to is taken away, just because of this one "but." Once we introduced this "but," the entire plan for his life took a turn of events. Everything changed.

There's different degrees of these "but"s. It could either be "All of these are green, but this one is blue" or "This kid would have been a Hall of Famer, but he has a heart problem." While the "but" in my example is a very unfortunate and tragic, the one that I'm about to show you is the complete opposite. It's the "but" that gives us our biggest hope. I'm certain that the "but" that is coming in verse 4 is the biggest "but," not only in the Bible, but in the history of mankind.

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." - Ephesians 2:4-10

We were dead, but he made us alive together with Christ. We were in chains, but we have been liberated. We were broken, but now we are formed. We were resting our heads in the pit of hell, but he seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ. We were lost, but now we are found.

I'm sure that Jesus wasn't a carpenter on accident. My English 4 teacher explicitly tells us to find details in the novels or passages that we read. I've started to read my Bible with the same detail that I read any other piece of literature. (mostly due to repetition, I'm forever forced to look into the details about everything, not necessarily a bad thing.) I think Jesus being a carpenter is just a detail that creates a much bigger metaphor for what he will do for each of us. He took pieces of wood that don't have much purpose, and reshaped them into chairs and tables. His calloused hands cut the wood into specific shapes and sizes. He sands down every detail of the pieces. Every nook and corner of his work is perfected. It is being fashioned into something that can be of daily use. He takes a simple (sometimes broken) log of wood, and shapes it into something that is beneficial.

Some of us were just modest logs of wood. We lived our lives with ease. We did good things. We tried to live a good life. We got into our routines and lived a normal life, but it didn't have very much purpose. Jesus didn't come just to give us a normal life; he came to allow us to live life in abundance. Jesus can take the normal, modest man or woman, reshape her life, and allow us to live with a greater purpose. He makes us into something useful, and effective. If you feel as if your life is just normal, ask him to come and change you into something that has a greater purpose than anything this earth could ever offer. The process is a joyride, lemme tell ya. I'm still in the middle of it.

On the other hand, some of us are logs of wood that have been completely shattered. We have gone through a hurricane, and we are broken. Your parents get divorced, your brother dies in a car accident, you continually get broken-hearted, or some other life event that leaves you lost. Let me tell ya something: nothing that is of this world could piece you back together. Not a girl, not a boy, not sex, not drugs or alcohol, not judgement, nor anything else that you could ever try to make you feel complete. The only thing that could leave you 100% satisfied is not of this world: that is Jesus. If you feel like you've gone through a living hurricane, ask Jesus to come and start a great work in you. He can rebuild you as well! His grace and love will never return void, no matter how crushed you may thing you are. Nothing is too hard for him, because he's God. Maybe you've been burned and battered, but I promise he can make you into something beautiful.

Jesus has changed my life. The path towards sanctification is definitely a joyride. There's unexpected twists and turns, ups and downs, and detours, but the road always leads to greener pastures, higher hills, and sweeter waters. It's hard sometimes, but it's always worth it. Jesus is my carpenter, and he is continually making me new. He will never stop the work that he has started in me. This truth goes for every single person in all of creation, and all you have to do is allow him to start it.

"I am sure of this: that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." - Philippians 1:6

P.S. Lift up a pray for Boston today. Some people who have a passion for running will never be able to run again.

Sunday is Coming.

It's Saturday. The day after Jesus was crucified. I can't imagine the questions surrounding everyone in Judea at this time. I'm sure the word has spread to Damascus by now. The supposed Son of Man is murdered? The man who came to Earth, who was worthy of every praise, who was worthy to be exalted, who was worthy to overtake all the kingdoms of the Earth, but instead came to love, to serve, and to humble himself to the point of death? The man who had been prophesied hundreds of years before is dead? He's gone? This can't be!

Last week at the high school ministry service at my church, our pastor challenged us to read the proceedings that had happened from the Triumphal Entry all the way until the Resurrection. I hadn't really thought about the day between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday all that much... but it still was a day. A day after Jesus had been crucified. Can you imagine? How sad it must have been, or how much of a victory it was (depends on who you were). Whenever I was reading in between the crucifixion and the resurrection, I put myself into the different shoes of the people back then. I just want to share with you what I imagined it could have been for specific groups of people that had been involved with his crucifixion.

Now, there isn't that much said in Scripture on what had happened on that day... I mean, it was the Sabbath, not much could have happened anyways. But I did find two different areas in the Gospels pertaining to today. The first one is in Matthew, and it relates to Pilate and the Pharisees.

"The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, "Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, 'After three days I will rise.' Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, 'He has risen from the dead,' and the last fraud will be worse than the first. Pilate said to them, "You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it secure as you can." So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard."
- Matthew 27:62-66

Obviously the Pharisees weren't done with Jesus. I don't know about you, but this passage makes me sick. The day after they kill him they still continue to call him an impostor? And then they call him a fraud? I'm sure the Pharisees couldn't have been happier with the death of Jesus. After they all party around the imagine of him of the cross, they go back to the temple, high five each other, and then leave to go find another person to judge. They say, "Man, now that the Jesus-dude is gone we can go back to being on top." They walk around town with their heads held high, thinking they saved their faith from being control, and have comfort knowing that they can control their lives without the criticism that comes with their hypocrisy. They have everything under control. They've killed Jesus, and now they can live their lives thinking that they could work their way into heaven.

But aren't we the Pharisees? We continually reject Jesus, and spit in his face, not even noticing the work he has done in our lives. We walk around with our self-righteous heads held high, while we wave around our good deeds just hoping someone will notice just how amazing we are. We roam the halls of our schools and see people who are living in sin, saying to ourselves, "Wow, I'm glad I'm not that guy," but aren't we just as guilty as they are? I couldn't trust the best 5 minutes of my life to get me into Heaven, but sometimes I walk around with this self-glorifying look on my face, knowing that I'm able to live a morally sound life, while I'm just as broken as the guy sitting next to me. We wait until the day that our good deeds overcome the amount of the bad ones, and when that day comes, we feel the right to go around and judge everyone and their faults. I'm guilty of this. It's a bad place to be, because it takes some serious conviction to get out of it. Don't be so heavenly minded that you're no earthly good.

Get ready Pharisees, because Sunday is coming.

Another area where I found what happened on Saturday is in Luke. Instead of the Pharisees, this very small reference to Saturday pertains to the followers of Christ. It reads:

"On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment." - Luke 23:56

That's pretty simple. What's there to imagine about that? Now, I'm not sure if this is right, but this is what I imagined what happened on the Sabbath. Whenever I'm resting, I think a lot. I think about the God moments that had occurred throughout the week. I think about the work that he is doing through me in my life. I think about other people, especially the ones closest to me. I think about how blessed I am to have them. I think about the amazing things that they are going to do with their lives. I think about the times I have had with them.

I think that's what the disciples did on Saturday. They thought.

They have to be in a world of doubt. Was Jesus really worth losing my entire life over? Did I just waste the past three years of my life? Is Jesus really the Messiah? Was he just a man who just knew how to live? Was he really God? Peter is probably in an entire universe of doubt. Peter, known for being one of the boldest disciples, had just denied of knowing Jesus three times. Peter fought for Jesus, until he saw death become a realistic thing. He drew his sword ready to fight for Jesus. He denied knowing Jesus and know he saw him upon the cross. The rest of the disciples did the same thing. I'm sure they remembered what the prophet Isaiah had said. They remembered about Zion's Coming Salvation, and the Future Glory of Israel, but they still doubted. Their thoughts consumed them, and they feared their lives for following this man. They feared death themselves, and I'm sure they were afraid that their death would be in vain. What if it didn't mean anything?

I can find myself relating to the disciples felt, and I'm sure a lot of other Christians could as well. Is giving our entire life away worth is? Is Jesus really who he says he is? Is hope all lost? Am I wasting my life away following just a man who was crazy? Is this really worth it? Is it true? I know it says in the Bible that I'm sealed into the Lamb's Book of Life, but is that really true? Does God really love me? Does he care about me? Are my sins too big enough for him to bear? Why did he do this for me? I'm really messed up bro, can he really forgive me? I've grown up in a Christian home, and I've been exposed to Jesus my entire life, but I'm afraid. Will God keep his promises?

Just as his followers rested on the Sabbath, so did Jesus in the grave. Jesus reflected on what he had done on the cross. He had just beared the weight of sin of the entire Earth onto his shoulders. He broke the veil between God and man. He made the way. That's amazing, and that's definitely something to reflect about.

Doubt is normal. That's what a lot of today is about. It's about doubt and silence. But let me assure you.

Rest your head disciples, because Sunday is coming. There will be no more tears, because Sunday is coming. All of our doubts will be erased, because Sunday is coming. We will know that our work was worth is, because Sunday is coming. Do not be afraid, because Sunday is coming.

The Beauty of the Cross.

So, today I was walking with my girlfriend, Hannah, around Islands of Adventure. We we're walking towards the Harry Potter World and we both notice a girl wearing a shirt with a cross on it, with multiple French words. I looked at her and I said, "I'm not so sure I would buy a cross shirt with words in a different language on it without knowing what they meant." She educated me on the first word that she saw (she took French in high school) and said that it meant "luxurious." She continued on to say that, "I'm not so sure why you could consider the cross luxurious. It's not. The cross is sad, and painful, but not luxurious." She's really smart by the way.

But isn't that so true? It got me thinking...

The cross wasn't meant to be easy. It was hard. Jesus has doubts about whether it really had to be done. You remember the whole, "If in any way possible, take this cup from me" thing? It wasn't convenient. Jesus died at a young age. He was only 33. His ministry only lasted 3 years! The cross wasn't easy for Jesus to accept. Yet, he was still willing to do it.

I've noticed in the recent weeks that we have made the cross into a fashion statement. All around the stores in our malls, we have shirts that have huge crosses on the front of them. We go to jewelry stores and get these extravagant golden crosses with real diamonds imbedded in the fronts of them. We decorate our houses with all different styles and patterns. Why? I think it is because the cross truly affects people whether they know it or not. I'm not trying to say that these things are bad. Anything that helps spread the name of the Lord cannot be bad. My mom loves to decorate our houses with crosses in the front, and I wear a cross necklace around my neck. I'm just trying to say that I think a lot of us, including me sometimes, forget what the cross means.
  
"Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever will save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?"" - Matthew 16:24-26

If you've grown up in church, you've heard these verses over and over and over again. You probably have them memorized for the sake of repetition. But these verses have power! Jesus is telling his disciples to take up their cross. Remember, the cross was a torture device in Roman rule. It was used for execution. That's some crazy stuff! He's telling them that the cost of following him is to take up a device used for executions! To carry that on their sleeve? These men must have been radical! 2000 years later, this verses means the same to us. Let's put it in modern terms though. Think of, "take up your electric chair" or "take up your noose." That's some pretty intense stuff. I wonder if some of us are really willing to take up our electric chairs and nooses for the sake of following Jesus. Sometimes I do the same, I'm human just as you are.

But what does it mean to take up these things of execution? Does it literally mean to put crosses over our necks and on our t-shirts to let the entire world know that we're a pretty little goodie-two shoes Christian? I'm not so sure. I think taking up your cross means to go to the point of execution for the sake of following Jesus. Remember, Christianity isn't easy. The cross wasn't easy. The road is narrow and long, and few take it. Jesus promised persecution. It's real life! Not necessarily in our 21st century American society, but in countries all around the world, people are accepting that status of "martyr" for the name of Jesus. Except our persecution is a little different. It means being able to accept that sometimes your friends will talk junk about you. Maybe you won't be able to go to parties as much anymore. In rare cases, sometimes your parents won't respect you following Jesus. (This is not my case. I'm blessed to have awesome parents.)

Remember today that the cross is not comfortable, first-class, opulent, or luxurious. The cross is bloody. Our Savior was murdered on the cross. The cross is agonizing, excruciating, and miserable. The cross was a struggle. But hope is not lost. The cross is the reason for our salvation. Like Lecrae says, "If Jesus wasn't executed, then there's no celebration." Celebrate the cross, not because it's luxurious, or comfortable, but because of the beauty in the ugliness of it. The beauty is like a father working extra hours to supply for his family, a mom quitting her job to take care of the child at home, or a person willing to tithe even when the finances are tight. Sacrifice is of the highest beauty, and Jesus sacrificed the highest price, his life.

Get off the cruise ship, and let's get on the battleship!

2013 Uganda Mission Trip

Good day family and friends! While my usual blog posts are just me rambling on about something that I found interesting about life, this one is different. This post means so much more to me than any of the other posts ever combined. If you have the second to read any of my other posts at all, then spend just a few minutes reading this one, because it means this much to me. It's me asking something to you. I need your help!

On June 8, 2013, I will be graduating high school from Fossil Ridge High School in Keller, TX. I plan to attend Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma, enrolled in the Honors College, while majoring in Biochemical Engineering. While usual high schoolers ask for a graduation gift to aid their purchase of a new laptop, TV, or any other accommodation towards their college life (which are all fantastic things by the way), I want your help in supporting me on my mission trip to Uganda in the summer of 2013.


In July of 2012 the Met Church took their first international mission trip to Uganda, East Africa. The Met partnered with Buyamba Uganda, a non-profit ministry organized to support the orphaned and disadvantaged children of Uganda. Buyamba Uganda supports the vision and work of Pastor Bethuel and Florence Dongo at Buyamba Orphan Outreach in Uganda through God Cares Schools (GCS) and Orphanage.

Our 2012 Mission Team consisted of 14 individuals who felt God’s urging to step out in faith and travel to Uganda to work alongside the staff and teachers of God Cares Schools (GCS) and Orphanage in their efforts to provide a safe, healthy, spiritually rich environment for children to learn and grow. The lives of those 14 individuals were changed forever and the impact of their efforts on behalf of the children at GCS will be felt for years to come.

In 2013, the Met will return to Uganda and God Cares Schools to continue our support of the children and staff. Our mission projects are still being defined, based on needs identified by Pastor Dongo and his staff and on the talents of our mission trip members. In 2012 our mission team members taught in the
classrooms, painted offices, built clothes lines, gave haircuts, lead devotions, conducted a women’s conference, and even put on a puppet show. While we don’t yet know what our 2013 mission projects will be, we know that whatever we do, as long as we do it as to The Lord, our efforts will be blessed.


Uganda is one of the world’s least developed and resource-poor countries. It has endured the scourge of civil war and the deadly AIDS epidemic, causing an environment where an estimated 85% of Uganda’s population live in rural areas with 50% of its total population being children. Of those children, it is estimated that at least 20% are orphans. Very few of any of these children have access to an education. School life
expectancy is 10 years and the adult literacy is only 66%.

Uganda’s current population is about 32.7 million (last census 2010), with 50% being under the age of 14, the Sub-Saharan African nation has more than 2.3 million children orphaned due to AIDS-related deaths. With a total population of more than 30 million, Uganda has the highest proportion of AIDS orphans of any country in the world.

Though Uganda now has a stable government, it is still crippled by debt, lack of industry, and the AIDS crisis. Therefore, the government is unable to support services to rescue its children. Churches and international relief agencies are vital to confront this crisis on a daily basis.

After seeing such a great need within their beloved country, God put it on Pastor Bethuel and Florence Dongos’ hearts to reach out to His people, people with Aids (HIV), orphans, and children who are abandoned, destitute and poverty stricken.

Recognizing thousands of children lacked love, education, and simple basic needs, Bethuel and Florence started Buyamba Orphan Outreach to provide love, care and assistance to orphans and needy children whose parents were too sick or destitute to care for them.

Buyamba Inc., a non-profit corporation, was founded in the U.S in 1999, to support the Dongos’ efforts with Buyamba Orphan Outreach in Uganda, through its child sponsorship program and provision of needed resources. As a result, God Cares Nursery and Primary School was started in 2002 with 97 children. Today the Nursery and Primary School enrollment is approximately 800, with an additional 400 students
enrolled at the God Cares High School.

I will be in Uganda from July 1 - July 12. The total cost of this trip is $3500, which $1000 needs to be paid by March 15th. As much as Pastor Dongo's hearts reach to those children, mine do as well. Any donation will mean the world to me, whether it be $5, or the entire trip, it's all the same. If you feel the Lord leading you to give, and to help support me as I reach this goal, then I would be more than excited to give your more details in that regard. My email is piefer.matt@gmail.com, you can message me on Facebook, or Twitter, and I can give you my address to send. Cash, check, anything goes.

You guys are amazing. Thanks for taking time out of your day to read this. Anything helps. Even just a press of the "Share" button on Facebook, or a retweet on Twitter. It all goes a long way. God bless you all!

Science Rules: #1

Now, along with being a man of faith, I'm a science geek. I simply think science is an additional way that God uses to, not only give proof of himself, but also to make his children even more amazed by the Creator. Simply put, God is science. God made science. A lot of us have a blurred bias between the differences of science and faith, but really, science is just another form of faith. Scientists have faith in their theories. Men of science have faith in their leading scientists, so therefore, men of science have faith in theories that were created by scientists. In essence, men of science are men of faith, just not in the same thing. I could consider myself to be a supreme man of faith. I have faith in the theories, because I have faith in the upper knowledge of scientists themselves, but that is only because I have the utmost faith in God that he was the original being that created all these occurrences and phenomena, therefore, since God has bestowed these scientists with the knowledge they have, it really only strengthens my faith in my Father. Now, scientists nowadays have abused their knowledge and turned it for evil, chasing after the desires of their flesh (ie. money, fame, power) and have left God out of their discoveries, but that's going off of on a tangent. So, from time to time, I'll post some awesome things that have been discovered in the science realm of life, because it just helps me, and hopefully everyone else, realized just how indescribable our God is. Plus, any normal human being would get excited with whatever is being advanced in today's technological realm.

So, DNA... deoxyribonucleic acid... As, Ts, Gs, and Cs... The blueprint of our body... The step-by-step manual to our bodies running... In summary, the entire essence of how we exist. Just a couple fun facts about DNA and how pretty sweet it is.

- our entire DNA sequence would fill up 200, 1,000 page NYC phone books
- If a person typed 60 words per minutes, for 8 hours a day, it would take them about 50 years to type the human genome
- there is about 3,000,000,000 bases in an entire human genome
- if you unraveled all of the DNA in your entire body, it would be long enough to travel to the moon and back 300 times.

Impressed yet? Well, if you're not... lemme take one more shot at it. The human genome is the most complex set of instructions. In October 1990, scientists began a cooperative research program to basically map-out the entire genome of a single human being, called the Human Genome Project. It wasn't until April 2003 until they officially declared the HGP to be complete. After the completion of the project, scientists estimated nearly 140,000 different genes that could be identified within the DNA. 140,000 different steps to construct the complexity of the human body that you are currently occupying right now. That's pretty amazing if you ask me. (More of the Human Genome Project can be read here: http://www.genome.gov/12011238)

Now, here's something new about DNA. It can store data... lots of it, and not just the amount of gigabytes that you can store on some hard-drive on your computer at home.

About a cup of DNA (and when I say cup, I mean the official measuring "cup." The 8 oz cup. Not some cup you can get from Sonic), can store up to 3 zettabytes of data. Never heard of a zettabyte? Me either, until today. Let's put this into perspective compared to gigabytes.

1 zettabyte is equivalent to 1,099,511,627,776 gigabytes. That would make 3 zettabytes equal to 3,298,534,883 gigabytes. Now, that may not seem as significant to you, because a cup of DNA, in reference to how small DNA actually is, would mean that there would have to be a lot of DNA to store data.  Let's get down to the small scale. (in comparison to DNA)

Think of things that weight a gram... maybe a pencil eraser? A paper clip? A piece of paper? A button? Things that weigh a gram are pretty small right? Here's a pretty cool number. 1 gram of DNA stores about 2,000,000,000 megabytes, which is equal to about 2,000,000 gigabytes. 2000000GB hard drive for ya right there, and that's only in a gram.

A top-of-the-line MacBook Pro, that can cost up to $2,800, that is used for professional video editing and uploading, contains a hard-drive worth 500 GB. Not only does this small amount of DNA have more room, but it also cost effective (assuming that DNA is essentially free, before the cost of labor, research, and process of inputting data). One MacBook Pro contains about .025% of data storage in a gram of DNA. In order for you to equal the amount of memory stored in a gram of DNA, you would need about 40,000 MacBook Pros, and for kicks, that would be equal to spending $112,000,000. I'm just going to assume that altering the sequence into binary numbers costs much less than that of 40,000 MacBooks. (I do realize that these numbers are kind of skewed, because the hard drive is not that only factor in a laptop, but all things equal here.)

I'm not sure about you, but that gets me excited about the future of technology. Who knows what we could be working on in the next 10 years. Hopefully, the cure for cancer will be long found before that. Once you begin to store the "I Had A Dream" speech, and all of Shakespeares sonnets, onto the manual for your body, that's when something amazing happens. I don't even wanna know how much memory is able to store an entire human genome of a regular human being... Too big to comprehend.

And if you think I'm lying, (which would be a pretty drawn out lie) here's a couple articles that I read about this. It's not crazy, it's science, and science rules.

Original Article:
http://earthsky.org/human-world/scientists-successfully-store-data-in-dna?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+fullsite+(EarthSky)

The Official Press Release:
http://www.ebi.ac.uk/Information/News/press-releases/press-release-01232013-DNA_storage.html

God loved Adolf Hitler.

"The relation between Creator and creature is, of course, unique, and cannot be paralleled by any relations between one creature and another. God is both further from us, and near to us, than any other being. He is further from us because the sheer difference between that which has It's principle of being in Itself and that to which being is communicated, is one compared with which the difference between an archangel and a worm is quite insignificant. He makes, we are made: He is original, we derivative. But at the same time, and for the same reason, the intimacy between God and even the meanest creature is closer than any that creatures can attain with one another. Our life is, at every moment, supplied by Him: our tiny, miraculous power of free will only operates on bodies which His continual energy keeps in existence - our very power to think is His power communicated to us. Such a unique relation can be apprehended only by analogies: from the various types of love known among creatures we reach an inadequate, but useful, concept of God."
- an excerpt from The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis

Let me just make this clear. It is very hard to read books written by C.S. Lewis. After all, he was the professor of English at Oxford University for the majority of his life. Let me just simplify what Lewis said, and I will add my own commentary onto that.

The very first sentence that we see is concerns the relationship of God and man to be one that is "unique, and cannot be paralleled by any relations between one creature and another." It's the simplest of terms, there is nothing that can compare to the relationship that we have with our Father in Heaven. Even your closest relationships, such as your mom, your dad, your best friend, your girlfriend, or your youth pastor, aren't even worthy to be put against the contest of Him. Jesus makes it very clear. In Matthew, He says that, "the person who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of me." (Matt. 10:37) That's scary to think, but that's just the transparency that Jesus used to preach to the crowds that followed Him. You may raise the question,
"But didn't God tell us to obey our mother and father?" Well, no, not exactly. He told us to HONOR our mother and father. While obeying is a way to honor them, if their commands go against God's Word, and His plan for your life, then you respectfully tell them that it isn't right. I love my mom and dad, but my mom and dad didn't save me, nor could they ever save me. Jesus is the only one who saved me.

Why could nothing compare to your relationship with God? It's an easy answer. He made you. He also made you for a reason. While some of us may not know the specific reason as to why God made us, we can rest assured knowing that whatever reason it may be, the main reason is so we can honor and worship Him. This means our whole life. Every waking second should be dedicated to worshipping God. Is this easy? Of course not. I struggle with it sometimes, because it's really easy to not worship God. There are far more ways to defy the name of the Lord, rather than to worship it, especially with the world we live in today. Also, it's very easy for us to do that too. We were born into sin. Our nature is to sin. The law of thermodynamics wasn't lying when it said all things tend toward chaos, or disorder. Sin creates disorder in our lives, and we tend towards that disorder. Always remember, our walk with God is never about being constantly perfect. That's humanly impossible. Instead of being constantly perfect, walk with the Lord with persistence so that He can keep you blameless before His eyes.

Another point that Lewis brings up about our relationship with the Father is that it's unique. It's different. It's special. He states that while our relationship with God is like the relationship between "an archangel and a worm." Obviously, he is the archangel in this comparison, and we are only a worm. We're insignificant compared to Him, or at least to the naked eye we are. But just as John Mark McMillan said it best, "You set us up above all the stars." While we presume to be insignificant, he makes us dressed in glory that isn't our own. He sets us above any creature, plant, star, galaxy, or mountain. That's what makes the relationship so precious, because we don't deserve it. Even the most broken, dark, crusted heart has a closer relationship to God than any other human. Put this in perspective. God saw adoration for even Adolf Hitler. He loved Hitler.

Isn't that crazy? That's pretty far fetched if you ask me, but he did. It's the truth. The thing that shakes me the most is that he continue to give Hitler life. God gave Hitler the power of free will, and he took advantage of it. Am I saying Hitler is in Heaven because God loves him so much? No, not at all. God loves him enough to be fair with him. To give him his deserved punishment.

That's God's love in a very discrete manner. A person could make up analogy after analogy to "properly" describe the love of God, but that is impossible. A way a husband loves his wife? Doesn't come close. A way a dad loves his children? Doesn't come close. A way a dog loves it's owner? Doesn't even nearly come close. While we can see mere glimpses of God's love through these specific occasions, it can never even come close to matching up the love he has for his children.

Just as a father is still a father to a child who disobeys them, so is God is still our Heavenly father even when we run from him. No matter how far you may seem, you are never out of reach. God has a pretty big wingspan if you ask me. If you're walking with God today, stay by his side. Let him lead you wherever he wants. If you're not walking with the Lord right now, don't fret. He hasn't abandoned you. He loves you too much to make you do it on your own. No matter how distant he may feel, just give him a call.Knock on his door. He's going to answer you, and that's something I'm not afraid to promise.

“Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."
 - Matthew 7:7-8 (HCSB)

2012: The Year of Change

2012 has been an eventful year, especially in the world around us. Some events notable enough to look back on were the 2012 Summer Olympics when Michael Phelps broke the record for most medals ever won by an Olympian ('Merica), or Curiosity, a Rover constructed by the Mars Science Laboratory, which successfully landed on Mars in August. Even the tragic events unfortunately made 2012 a year to remember, such as the shootings in Colorado and Connecticut, and the Benghazi attack that killed 4 U.S. diplomats on 9/11.

But nothing compares to the work that God has done, not only in my life, but the lives that I see around me.

I don't think Obama was lying when he said he was going to bring change... it was just the change we weren't expecting. My life has changed so much since 2011. I've gone from the country wannabe kid, that only played basketball, to a man who desires to chase after Jesus. For anyone who doesn't know my past, I've been raised up in church 9 months before I was born. I accepted Christ as my Savior when I was 5 years old, but that's only because I saw everyone else doing it, and I didn't really want to go to hell when I died. On a church camp to Colorado in 2008, I finally became awakened to the Gospel, and I understood how powerful and wondrous God really was. I acknowledged it that year, but I didn't really take it to heart, so I went on with my life without really thinking about it much. It wasn't until late 2011, after I gave into some of the world's temptations, when I really became overwhelmed with the presence of God. I finally realized that I wasn't going to be a man until I surrendered my life away. I understood that the true meaning of manhood wasn't having sex or benching the highest weight, but I learned that being a man meant I was willing to say, "I can't do this on my own." In late October, after I saw my best friend Robby get saved, I surrendered to God and said, "I can't do this on my own, I'm handing it over to you." And that's when the change began.

One of my favorite pastors, Mark Driscoll, always says that it is impossible to meet Jesus without changing, and if you haven't changed after meeting Jesus, then you didn't meet the real Jesus. That could not be more truer. I know you can't change that much whenever you're 5 years old, because your innocence has still clouded out your mind of all the pain and brokenness in the world (which I wish I still had), but the difference was that I became awakened to the Gospel, rather than just knowing about the Gospel and accepting it as ultimate truth. When I became awakened, that's when the change began. That's something I really desire to be seen in my peers. Is that they become awakened to the Gospel, rather than just seeing it. Whenever you just see the Gospel, you are still prone to attacks from Satan which can steer your vision off of it, but when you become awakened, and place Jesus on your foothold, and allow him to be your foundation, is when you can't be shaken. Satan has no power against a person who has been awakened to the Gospel.

Being awakened to the Gospel is easy. It's when you finally realize that, not only that you don't have to do anything, but when you realize that you can't do anything. Jesus says it clearly, and it's so simple for us to overlook. "It is finished." Done. Over. Complete. Whole. Finished. He already conquered the grave, so that you could do so as well.

Here's to 2012. The year where I became a man. The year where the Gospel began to move in my life. The year when I became awakened to the Gospel. But most importantly, the year when I finally began to walk with Jesus, hand in hand. It's amazing to know that he was always there waiting for me. He never changed.

With that said, let me share with you one of my favorite Psalms to usher in the new year, 2013. This Psalm speaks of a person who continues to have confidence in God in the midst of a crisis. The psalmist writes it so beautifully.

Psalm 77
I cry aloud to God,
aloud to God, and He will hear me.
I sought the Lord in my day of trouble.
My hands were continually lifted up
all night long:
I refused to be comforted.
I think of God; I groan;
I meditate; my spirit becomes weak.

You have kept me from closing my eyes;
I am troubled and cannot speak.
I consider the days of old
years long past.
At night I remember
my music;
I meditated in my heart,
and my spirit ponders.
Will the Lord reject forever
and never again show favor?
Has His faithful love ceased forever?
Is His promise at an end
for all generations?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has He in anger
withheld His compassion?

So I say, "I am grieved
that the right hand of the Most High
has changed."
I will remember the Lord's works;
yes; I will remember
Your ancient wonders.
I will reflect on all You have done
and meditate on Your actions.

God, Your way is holy.
What god is great like God?
You are the God
who works wonders;
You revealed Your strength
among the peoples.
With power You redeemed Your people
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

The waters saw You, God
The waters saw You; they trembled.
Even the depths shook.
The clouds poured down water.
The storm clouds thundered;
Your arrows flashed back and forth.
The sound of Your thunder was
in the whirlwind;
lightning lit up the world.
The earth shook and quaked.
Your way went through the sea
and Your path through
the great waters,
but Your footprints were unseen.
You led Your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Here's to 2013. Bless this year for all of us, God.

I'm As Guilty As The Connecticut Shooter.

27 dead. 18 children. It's a hard pill to swallow isn't it? It leaves a lot of unanswered questions doesn't it? Why did this happen? What is wrong with people? Who in the right mind would do this? Probably, the biggest one that I could think of is, why to bad things happen in general? It's a tough one. Why do bad things happen? There are a lot of reasons why specific things happen, but why to bad things in general happen? Why do hurricanes destroy thousands of homes? Why does cancer have to kill millions of people a year? Why does a person believe he has the right to run into an elementary school and start shooting children and teacher? I thought about it all day. It wasn't until I drove home and realized a couple things about it. I'll share with you what I came about on my way home.

A quote reminded me of tragedies, and why they happened. I really wish I came up with it, but nonetheless, this quote is from Billy Graham's daughter, who was being interviewed by Bryant Gumbel on the Today Show in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Her response is beautiful. Here it is.

Gumbel: "Why didn't God stop this or do something about this?"

Her response: "For years we have told God we didn't want him in our schools. We told him we didn't want him in our government, in our finances. God was just being a perfect gentleman in doing just as we asked him to do.  We need to make up our mind. Do we want God or do we not want God? We cannot just ask for him when disaster strikes."

Wow. Talk about a bold statement. She went on and said that on national television in front of millions of people. It's 100% true though. How can we expect God to show up in our lives if we keep asking him to stay away? The beauty of God is that he has given us free will. He gave us a choice, do we want him in our lives or do we not? I understand the reluctance in letting something that you've never seen control your life. I thought about it for years, and lemme tell ya, it's a much better journey than anything I could create. I've met amazing friends, built amazing relationships, and seen people change. It was beautiful. It was by far the best decision I have ever made. But there are somethings that I have still yet to overcome, and one of those is not spreading the love that the Father has shown me. I think a lot of us struggle with that. It's hard to do sometimes, and rejection is tough. Think about it though, if someone would have displayed the love that our God displayed to the shooter, then all of those innocent lives would have been saved. That's something in the past year I have vowed to do. Your words are a lot more than you think they are. Love on people. You could save a life.

A lot of people who doubt the existence of God ask me, "Matt, if a loving, all-controlling God exists, why is it such an evil world that we live in?" The immediate response is easy: Satan. But of course, I have the need to elaborate more on that. In Genesis, the fall of man came about when the serpent entered the  garden of Eden. Here, we see sin first introduced into the world. Not only did Satan bring sin into the world, but he saturated sin within the hearts, souls, and minds of man. The reason why we hate each other, gossip each other, and lust over each other is sin. Sin is evil and, because sin is in our hearts, we are evil. We are an evil race. We are filthy, filthy people. It's a hard pill to swallow, but we really are evil. We lie, we cheat, we lust, we hate, we curse... we're just bad. If God were to eliminate all the sin in the world, wouldn't that include us? How far do we stop? Do we stop at lying, or murdering, or even to the smallest things as our thoughts? But here's a twist that you weren't expecting, we deserve every bit of wrath, power, and strength that God has. We deserve to be swept off the Earth. We deserve to die. You might be saying, "Well, this sucks. What's the point of living if we're just going to die?" Just wait, the story gets better. So, in conclusion, if God were to eliminate all the evil from the planet, then that would include us. We would be gone in a heartbeat. Especially me.

I could easily sit here and bash on society and how corrupt it is. That would be the easy road though. It would also be a bit hypocritical of me too, because I'm apart of society, and I've given into what society has told me. Let me tell you about my Savior. He is amazing. There aren't enough words for me to describe how amazing he is. Let me tell you about myself. I suck. I'm a screw up. I'm just as guilty as the Connecticut shooter. I deserve the same punishment as him. If you have seen my parking spot at school, I have Galatians 2:20 painted on it. It isn't just one of those verse that I just opened up and said, "Oooo! That sounds fancy, I'll paint that and it'll make me look all Christian." No, it's much more different than that. Every time I drive into my spot in the morning, it reminds me that I'm not the one living. Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but he who lives in me." How awesome is it to believe that we don't have to labor anymore? It is no longer I who live, but HE LIVES IN ME. He is the one working in me. He is the one controlling my every step. I don't have to do anything, I can't do anything. All I have to do is just let him do it.

You may have come across my blog confused. Who is Jesus? Who did he save? Why did he do it? This is where the story gets better. Jesus traded perfection for brokenness, holiness for dirt, bliss for blisters, heaven for earth, goodness for sin. He traded my sin, your sin, and our sin, for his perfection. He did it because he loves us. It's as simple as that. How great is the love of the Father that destroyed the sting of death. Because of Jesus, I don't have to fear death. I have overcome the grave because he has overcome the grave. I get to spend eternity with him, because he suffered for me. He suffered for you also, but he also gave you a choice.

One of my favorite passage in the Gospels is found in Luke 23:39-43. When Jesus was crucified, he wasn't alone. He was crucified between two criminals who did wrong. These criminals are you and me, but they couldn't have been different. Here's what it reads:

"Then one of the criminals hanging there began to yell insults at Jesus: "Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" But the other answered, rebuking him: "Don't you even fear God, since you are undergoing the same punishment? We are punished justly, because we're getting back what we deserve for the things we did, but this man has done NOTHING wrong." Then he said, "Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom!" And Jesus said to him, "I assure you: Today you will be with me in paradise."

You and me are like these two criminals. Either we can say, "Aren't you God? Prove to me that your God by stopping this!" or we can say, "Father, forgive me. Remember me. I did wrong. I deserve this death. You don't deserve this. Please, take control of my life. You deserve it, since you gave your life for me." I think we both know what the better response is. I'm asking you to join me today, in Heaven. Become apart of my Lord's kingdom. If you have any questions on what else you can do, just message me. I'm here for you, and I want to help you come and be apart of this kingdom. It'll change your life. It changed mine beyond belief.

Paradise. Amazing isn't it?

This Is Your Life. Are You Who You Want To Be?

It's a simple question. What do you want to do with your life? What do you desire? It's the question that all of us have been asked ever since we could remember, what do you want to be when you grow up?

With me being an AP student, a lot of my friends that I talk to in my classes aspire to be doctors, or lawyers, or engineers. Don't get me wrong, our society needs people like these, but what should our driving factor be in deciding what we want to be? Is it the atmosphere? The people? Or is it the pay? Sadly, not enough of us do what we want to do because it doesn't pay enough. I'll talk about myself for a little bit. Ever since I was in middle school, I've wanted to write. I have journals full of ideas for novels, and different topics to write about, but what's holding me back? There are a multitude of ideas. Maybe I'm afraid of criticism? Will it be good enough? But the main reason why I don't think I could make it as a writer is because I could make enough money from my publishings. Now, I do have dreams to fall back on, but are they really my desire?

Let me take some time to brag on my best friend, Robby Kennedy. Me and Robby have known each other pretty well since freshmen year. Ironically enough,  the first time we met was when we we're doing a study over a section of the Bible during English class. Robby started going to church with me the summer between our sophomore and junior year. Eventually, he gave his life to Christ in October of our junior year. Now, God has worked in both me and Robby's lives in unimaginable ways, and I still remember the day when both of us were planning on building a church together where I would be the head pastor while he ran the youth program. Times have changed, and the Lord has worked on my heart more, but Robby's dreams have stayed the same. But he's not doing it for the money. The money has no purpose in his desires, and I love that.

What I'm really trying to get at here is, are you going into a certain job field because that's what you want to do, or is it because that's what would make your parents proud, or where you can make a lot of money? You do what you want to do with your life. The Lord has placed certain talents, desires, and interests on each of our hearts, and if you're following him, there's no doubt that you will be happy. If money wasn't a factor in your decision, what would you want to do? What would you be? I know SO many kids my age who would love to become a teacher, but they can't because they know it wouldn't be enough pay. I know SO many kids my age who would love to be missionaries or pastors, but they're reluctant to do that.

The Lord has placed a desire in my heart to enter the field of science. Nothing makes me more excited then when I walk into chemistry and see that we're doing a lab that day. People need as much help as we can get, and my dreams entail on developing low-cost drugs and immunizations that can be easily bought by African countries to supply out to their citizens living in poverty. Malaria and sickle cell anemia are no match for what the Lord can work in me. Now, maybe someday that will change? I don't know what my path looks like, but I know that I'll be making the Lord smile with whatever I'm doing. But I just see this huge need a man of God in the field of science, because faith in science can mix! No one is bold enough to do it though, and I think God has given me a purpose that seems impossible, but is completely possible with the power of the Holy Spirit. Maybe I'll publish a couple dozen books along the way also...

But what I'm trying to say here is, do what you want to do. If you want to write, then go write. If you want to go teach, then go teach. If you want to go preach, then go preach. If you want to go into third world countries and change their lives, then by all means, don't let money get into the way of pursuing the dreams that you have for your life and the purpose that God has laid ahead of you. Don't spend the rest of your life making money doing something you don't like to continue onto doing something you don't like. That'd be silly now wouldn't it?

What I like to say is the ones who are crazy enough to believe that they can change the world, are the ones who actually do it. So go. Get crazy. Change the world. And love your life.

Happiness > Money

Your Body is a Temple.

All over Facebook, I see all these girls ranting over how they all wished they were a Victoria Secret model, and all the guys lusting over the models. In wake of the fashion show, I just want to give a word of encouragement to the ladies, and some critical criticism to the fellas. So, here we go...

First off, I would like to put out the fact that is obvious to all human beings with fully functioning eyeballs. These models are beautiful women, yes, but that's only reflecting their outer image. But does that really matter when we get down to the end of our lives? We see in Ecclesiastes, Solomon (if you don't know the history behind Solomon, he was the wisest man that ever walked the Earth. He was super rich, and had all the girls and parties you could ask for. This guy was living the "American Dream" back in Biblical times), expressing the continuance of how "all is vanity" (Ecc. 1:2) and he also adds that, "[he] has seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after the wind." (Ecc. 1:14) Anything that we could gain in this world, other than relationships with people and Jesus, will eventually go to waste whenever we die and enter into eternity. All the money, cars, clothes, houses, hot bodies, muscles, etc. Gone. None of this stuff really matters in the end, so why do we worry about it so much? Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying any of these things are bad. I love my nice blazer and my new car as much as the next guy, but whenever we start having a sick obsession over these things, or begin to boast about it, is when it begins to be a problem. This is a silent disease known as "materialism" that has become so prominent in the world today, especially in the United States.

What is there to worry about in the end anyways? Why do we live if it's not all about gaining money and cars? There are just a handful of things that will carry on into eternity. Now, I may not know of this for sure, but I'm pretty certain of it. The first of these is our mind, concerning knowledge and wisdom. The funny thing about knowledge is that once you know something, you can't un-know it. There is no digressing when it comes to what we can do with our minds. Why do you think elderly people know so much? It's really simple. It's because they're old! Life is the best textbook. Experiences can never match up to something that you could read in some book. Now, assuming that they do not have Alzheimer's (which is coming very, very close to a cure, not many people realize it yet though), elderly folks are the smartest and wisest people around. The best part about that is that it carries into eternity. You'll just be seeing everything through holistic eyes and it will all make more sense to you.

Another thing which will most definitely carry into eternity is your heart. I could do a whole post about how our hearts and how love will carry out (heck, I could even write a book about our hearts). Our hearts are the most important thing. I'm talking about your figurative heart, not your physical heart. (Because really, you're physical mind is much more important than your physical heart, because your brain tells your heart to pump, but that's besides the point) From which your heart, all else flows. Why do you think Solomon in Proverbs says to above all guard your heart? It's because it's the most essential aspect of you being you! Your heart has ZERO reflection on what your outward appearance says. Let's take the monster from Frankenstein as an example. Before he turned into this monstrous creature who killed all of Frankenstein's family, his heart was pure and clean, while still his outward appearance was ugly. Compassion, love, passion, desire, care, kindness, self-control, gentleness, goodness, etc., all flow from your heart! Your heart is what shows your true character, and there is nothing more important than having a good character. Plus, it makes it an infinite amount of times better if Jesus is dwelling within your heart.

Now for some words of encouragement for the ladies. You're beautiful. You were made for a specific reason with a specific plan for a specific purpose. Nothing is more beautiful than that. You are a daughter of God, and Jesus bought you with the highest price, death. Be content with who you are! Read Proverbs 31, and strive to be the women of God described in the Scripture. Having a perfect figure, or a perfect face, won't matter when it comes down to the end of your days. I guarantee you that you won't look the same than you do now when you're 80 years old. Never stop working on your heart. A man who will honestly love you for you will fall for you because of your heart, not your looks. My girlfriend is so beautiful, and I love how beautiful she is, but I am so in love with her heart. A man who fell in love with you for your heart would never, in the right mind, would break the sole thing that he fell in love with. That works out pretty well if you ask me, and I'm a dude.

Fellas, I realize that lust is something that is hard to conquer, but we can't keep falling into the same hole over and over again. A man returning to his folly is like a dog returning to his own puke. I don't think any of us will ever say we have 100% conquered lust, but we have to learn to control it. Start with your perspective. Rather than looking at a girl and lusting, begin to look at the girl as the sister in Christ that she is and recognize her as a beautiful woman of God that she is. It's tough to do, and it took me years to control, but let me tell ya, life is a lot easier when you have the steering wheel in full command. The most beautiful girls have the most beautiful hearts. Look how they treat people, and how much they love the Lord. A girl's heart is truly exposed whenever they are worshipping, and serving. Fall in love with that, rather than just a pretty face. Look for the beautiful soul, rather than a pretty body. A girl with a pure heart and a pure soul isn't going to want to break your heart. I'm a guy, and that's working pretty well for me. Don't focus so much on being the biggest, manliest guy out their either. Someday those muscles will fade into flab. Work on your heart, and it'll take you places.

And one other thing...
Real angels have much more beautiful bodies than those Victoria Secret models.

Rend the Blindfold?

Let me take a moment to explain to you the meaning behind this title. Don't worry, you're not alone. I was also confused when I first saw the word "rend."

When I first became introduced with the word "rend," I attended the Rock and Worship Roadshow in the Spring of 2012.  Usually when I go to these huge concerts, I have no interest in the bands who open, but one band caught my eye, the Rend Collective Experiment. A couple things stood out to me. First of all, due to my nerdiness, seeing that a band would put the word "experiment" into their name already made me interested. As they played their folkish, Scottish, bagpipe music, I fell in love. I began listening to them periodically, not even paying attention to the name, and what it meant.

One day, I had a sudden realization... I had NO idea what the word "rend" meant. I guess I just overlooked it because it was such a small word, but I just had to look up the definition. I was amazed when I read it. According to my pals Merriam and Webster, the definition of "rend" is "to remove from place by violence" or "to split or tear apart in pieces violently."

Such a small word... but such a huge meaning.

After I looked up the definition of this word, I just had to see what the Word had to do with this word. I searched the word "rend" in the ESV and I came up with 2 results.

"Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence" - Isaiah 64:1

"and rend your hearts, not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster." - Joel 2:13

How much more meaning do these verses convey just after learning the definition of a new word? I see the verse in Isaiah prophecing what happened to the veil when Jesus shed his blood. To think that the veil separating man from God was rended. The veil was split, and torn apart into pieces violently.

I often forget that Jesus's punishment was violent. It was painful. I couldn't imagine watching it. But because of his violent death, the veil that hindered us from God was torn away, violently. The temple was torn into pieces, violently. I wouldn't have been surprised if the Earth's axis decreases by a couple degrees when Jesus took his last breathe. This is so key though. We now have this opportunity to enter into the Lord's presence daily, but when the veil was up, only one man in the entire world was able to enter into his presence. It's nice knowing I serve a God who wants me to get to know him, and just sit at his feet.

This is getting back to the affect I want this blog to have though. Not only is it a way for me to have an outlet from the toil of the day, but also I want people to take off their blindfold. Not only to take off their blindfold, but to rend their blindfold; to tear it into pieces with violence. I desire for the people of my generation to see the truth of this world. The only genuine truth that I have found in my 17 years of existence is Jesus. He is the ultimate truth. His Word is truth. When Jesus came down to this Earth 2,000 years ago, he, being the truth, put on the flesh of man, and walked this world as a living, breathing truth that you could actually touch and have conversation with! He is the only truth. Everything that we see is made by him, and for him.

Rend the blindfold. Tear it into pieces, and look Jesus in the face. He's ready to embrace you. All you have to do is take off the blindfold, and run into his arms. He's not a translucent God. His desire is to hear from his children. He cares so much about you, that he would give his life for you. Talk to him tonight.

Veritas Curat: The Truth Cures.