value

Pastor at harvest said something interesting the other day:

"You have no value, but you ARE valued."

He was saying how in a world of 6-billion people, with billions who have already died in the past and billions to come (maybe lol), your life inherently does not have much value. The world can go on without you if you died right now. BUT, God values us. So despite our lack of any value (i'm pretty much a worthless sack of meat and bones), God values us enough to die for us (Rom 5).

Maybe it's my flesh saying "Hey, i do have value. whatchoo talkin' bout, willis?" but i dunno.

What do YOU think?

justified and sanctified

as of lately, i've been learning a lot about the difference between justification and sanctification (theologically, anyways). i realize that a lot of times i mix up justification (which comes from God and God alone) and sanctification (which requires us to do something through the power of God). let's define some stuff first;

justification - being made right before God, happens once, at the point of new-birth. when you are a born-again Christian, your standing with God is as if God views you with no sin. you have been saved. you are covered with the blood of Christ. you cannot do anything about this, you do not bring about your own justification.

sanctification - after being saved, each and every Christian slowly conforms to the image of Christ (until we're transformed perfectly to Christ's image when we're glorified). we rid ourselves of sin, deceit, malice, wickedness. we stop conforming to the patterns of the world and we conform to Christ's righteousness instead. all through the power of the Holy Spirit. without Him, sanctification is not possible.

so, as of late i've been mixing up the two. trying to work for my justification, and the assumption that i am already perfectly sanctified. wow ggitf. how wrong i am! trying to do things to "get saved" just doesn't fly with God. in ephesians, we see we are dead in our sins, dead, DEAD! dead people don't rise by themselves. we need God to resurrect us from the dead, to bring us back from the sin that we love so much, and to be made right before Him before we can even do anything for Him.

after that, it's not like we're suddenly perfect, sinless, and mega-holy. in God's eyes in judgment day, yes, but for now we're still humans, we still sin, we still fall. and sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives after we've been born again to conform to Christ's image. we still can't do it. praise God! but we must allow and heed what the Holy Spirit is doing in our lives and to follow what the bible teaches us. we can't just 'sit back' and 'just let God do it all', but at the same time we have to realize we can't sanctify ourselves without the Holy Spirit working. crazies!

anyways, that's just a brief. i'll try to blog more on other things i've been learning.

fight the good fight!

imma bach

OH MAN. it's been a while since i've blogged. let's go for a quick update.

this term was...pretty crap. spiritually speaking, academically, emotionally. no hollerin' that 116, depressed in my sins instead of remembering the cross, thinking i can fail God's plans, having so many idols that i was my own god. so much pride, so much lust, so much coveting, so much sin. and that's just off the top of my head. my faith was constantly fluctuating, going from highs and then straight down to lows; from desiring God to denying Him; from wanting a life sold-out to the Lord to wanting a life of my own.

yea...wasn't a fun term. i can go into more details but i don't think it's necessary. BUT, i am glad i went through these times. something that God has taught me throughout this term is that HE is FAITHFUL. my devotion to Him isn't something i can necessarily 'maintain' all the time, or something that is based on my effort or on how much i try to get closer to God because frankly, i will fall from time to time. i have no doubt that in the future i will deny the Christ, be ashamed again, doubt His promises, and just want nothing to do with God. BUT i also know that He remains faithful despite my wishy-washyness. His faithfulness out-trumps my tendencies to stray. How great is His mercy!

If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. if we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself. 2 Timothy 2:11-13

so then, knowing that God is faithful, there is no option but to just suck it up, in a sense. if i'm "not feeling" sharing the Gospel, or don't want to do something for Kingdom purposes, i still have no excuses. i am already justified, seen as righteous before God because of the sacrifice that Jesus Christ paid on the cross, and now the Holy Spirit works to crush sin in my life. and so, i can cry more about it when i'm not 'feelin' it. my faith is not based on what i feel at a given time but on what i know is true. and that is Christ, God in the flesh, came to pay for the sins of mankind that all have committed against God. so what now? gotta preach the gospel!

Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. 1 Corinthians 9:16-17

some brief thoughts. still fine-tuning them sketchy things out, still a working progress... :)

overdose

whooot it's out!

http://www.reachrecords.com/rehab/

relationships

getting too much ahead of myself. sometimes i need to remind myself that God goes before everything, including relationships (except relationship with God lol). it's so easy to be absorbed by the thought of a romantic relationship and forget why i want to be involved in the first place. i need to constantly remind myself where i'm looking for love.

LORD, let me be in love with You.

God

He is SOVEREIGN.

down llooww

poem that i shared at uwccf sharing night, fall 2010. spent the past month or so writing it, mainly hitting stuff i've been learning about this past while, especially on humility. it's intended for a Christian-cultured audience, not necessarily for those outside the church, but at the same time for those who are raised in a 'christian' environment.

and some rhymes might be pretty bad. just warning you now lest you choose to be a grammar nazi. you gotta say it with an accent.

shout out the the chil phan for inspiration :)

down low

a lot of us think we got our lives together

high marks, got a job, and now you dressed in leather

got you running the show like you darth vader,

but it's all kinda pointless if it ain't for the Maker.

so now you a baker and you make lotsa bread

but who is it made fo', yourself or your Dad?

i ain't mad but what i said ain't 'bout your dad on this earth

i'm talking about God, the one who gave you new birth.

if this new birth's for fame, mayne, you got it all wrong

cuz the glory is His', He's been King all along

these songs today are just about making that ice

but i can't, i'm reborn, too busy chasing the Christ.

no more wastin' my life, or putting myself on the throne

so when i see God i won't be defending alone.

Christ paid for my sins and resurrected on high

so while we here to live is Christ and to gain is to die.

but why do you sigh when i cry out the truth?

life ain't 'bout gettin' hitched like boaz and ruth.

now don't me wrong because that ain't a sin

it only becomes one if you put it before Him.

idolatry can come in many shapes; many forms

just cuz you go to church don't mean you've been reborn

and yeah, this committee here might look pretty tight

but that's cuz we're WEAK, that's how God shows us his might

for most of us here it might be school that's the idol

or perhaps it's being lazy, sitting still, being idle.

maybe it's 'bout being king, and your new job title

no homie, please don't assume the LORD's title.

and what's the LORD's title, anyone got a verdict?

no? well He's Holy, Righteous, Creator of All but most of all He's Perfect

so murk it if you think you got all those qualities bro

i can't compete with the Christ, i'm just dirt down below

you see the dirt that i am was at one point lost

blind, 'til God sent His Son to cover the cost

of all my lies, all my pride, all the porn that i've seen

but the blood of Christ paid for 'em just so i could be clean

and it ain't a dream, this ain't starcraft, it ain't just a game

i'll open up my life so y'all can see that i'm lame

it's only in His Name that i'm redeemed from the blame

so mayne we ain't ashamed when we call out His Name

we're the same, look at me, i'm no better than you

we've all fallen short; if anything i'm the foo'

you see, God chooses to use the foo's to shame all the wised

so that no one can boast except in the Christ

let me end off and say that we are because we're not

that we are worth-less, until we are bought

from the grip of death; now i'm snatched up outta hell

so we can bring Him the glory and rep His Name well.

so for all of us in Christ, let us pick up our cross

and deny ourselves daily, count this world as a loss

be obedient to the Word, to every whisper and call

to lead, to love, to serve, because Christ is our ALL.