Crossroads and Scorched Skies

"Reign in all the earth,
Reign in all the earth,
Jesus..."

- Hillsong : "You Alone Are God"

Today, I just don't feel up to writing a big, long blog about the wonders of a specific verse or two. I have hit a proverbial wall, so to say. I was running at a sprint and, wham!, smacked into a glass wall. "Where am I going with my life?" I asked myself. While I did indeed ponder this question, the real problem lay within me. I wanted to question. I was tired of believing and wanted to reason. Spiritual began to crumble to physical and all hell broke lose. I went the entire day with these thoughts permeating in the back of my mind. It wasn't until 11:30 at night that I finally considered taking it to God, as all those pastors so cleverly say.

When in prayer, three lines from a song we had sung on Sunday started to flash through my mind. I realized at once how minuscule my dilemma was when I began to understand the vastness of God. I remembered, specifically, the glorious ring of these lines in my ears. I remember the vision I had seen of a man just reaching the summit of a mountain and, looking over the rim, seeing so brilliant and beautiful a light that all the valleys of the earth were engulfed in it. I remember how the vision had shifted to that of me standing on that cliff and being surrounded by God's glory and falling facedown as I sang "reign in all the earth, reign in all the earth, Jesus!" I long for His presence to be with me, and surround me. I soon realized that my short lapse into my physical, animal nature, was my bodies response to a lack of "God-time."

I am trying so hard to understand the world, yet I should really just look to its creator. I pray that I will remember this daily. This is in no way a conclusion, but more of an introduction; an introduction into a much larger and deeper topic, a topic that affects me hourly.

You Complete Me

"The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;"
Psalm 138:8

There are some days when the melancholy hopelessness of the world just overwhelms me. I sit at the base of a window, laying my face in my hands, and just pray that this really isn't it. I remember, in my early high school years, a day that I climbed a mountain close to my house. When I reached the summit, I sat down and stared out over the gloomy valley. There was so much of it and so little of me. What purpose could I possibly have in the midst of all of that.
It wasn't until a few years later that I understood a little bit more of what God was calling me to do. If someone had told me five years ago that Outcry would be leading worship at events with numbers in excess of 5,000, I probably wouldn't have believed them. As the verse says, however, "the LORD will fulfill his purpose" in our lives. That is what I didn't seem to understand. Why would God have a specific purpose for me? Doesn't He have a few more important things to do than consider the life of one of five billion creatures He currently has destroying this earth of His? I couldn't get my mind around it. Hell, I still can't get my mind around it, but you know what - I don't need to.
See, that is what I never understood about faith. How could a person trust so fully in something they couldn't even comprehend? Now, however, I realize that it is not about comprehension, but just believing. If you needed to comprehend everything, there would be no such thing as faith. So, if that's what faith is, I don't need to get my mind around the awesomeness of God; I simply need to believe.
By believing in His supernatural, caring nature, I can better understand how He would have a purpose for each of our lives. I can see the fruit of this in my own life and am excited as it starts to ripen. I will not fully know my purpose in God's eyes until I am living it, but I can say with some confidence that I think I am getting mighty close to living it. When I can look out from the stage and see a multitude of youth crying out in desperation to the Almighty God, I think I may be getting close. I pray that I will embrace His plan for me, whether I understand it or not.

For His Glory,
Pete

Best Songs This Year!

Here they are:

Dreaming of Limitless Faith

"The Lord delights in those who fear him,
who put their hope in his unfailing love."
- Psalm 147:11-

I remember, as a little kid, that I had a horrible understanding of why God delighted in those who feared him. Now that I think about it, I still don't have the best understanding of this idea, but I'm getting closer. Part of the reason, I believe, is due to my lack of belief that His love is unfailing. I know, I know: How can I belittle God's awesome deistic nature? It is not that I want to, but that I have a hard time not doing it.
Now, twelve years after I first tried to comprehend this interesting paradigm of God's nature, I am almost there. I now see that his delight stems from the child-like fear we have for Him, since it shows that we truly realize the majesty of His nature. However, I still can't get over the fact that his love is unfailing. This world has scarred me and left me with such a preposterous notion of what love is, that I can't comprehend placing my hope in His unfailing love. The only way I can try to understand is if I remove my own opinions and just imagine a pure and harmless embrace, a true, natural love. It is hard, but I'm getting closer and He is helping me to get there. It is as George Eliot wrote, "...the strongest principle of growth lies in human choice." I have chosen to blot out my own understandings of God and allow for Him to change me. I have taken the first step, a step that a few years ago I didn't think I would be able to make.

For His Glory,
Pete

The Failure of Futures

"This is what the LORD says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations
or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them.
For the customs of the peoples are worthless;
...
I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own;
it is not for man to direct his steps."
-Jeremiah 10


The Failure of Futures

Often times, people plan for the future. We are conditioned for it, in a way, with formal education. We are told to do well in elementary school so that we may go to a prestigious high school. We wish to go to the prestigious high school so that we may go to an even more prestigious college. Then, we use the education we receive at said college to find a prosperous career.
Now, none of this is inherently wrong. However, we are wrong when we do not take the time to see what God's plan is for our life. Believe me, I understand when someone says, "but I just don't know what God wants me to do!" I have been there. I am often still there. The difference between me and them, is that I listen for His answer.
The reason most people do not hear God, is that they are not really listening. Wait, that sounds so trite. Well, too bad! It is trite, but it is also the truth! We must open our ears to hearing before we can follow what has been ordained for us.
Now, I am guilty of this a thousand times over. I have followed passing whim to passing whim. I have forgotten His plans and misguided these feet of mine. I have destroyed a future that I had never known was available.
In the midst of this, God knew my heart, and offered me a redemption I did not deserve. He lifted my tired, misguided feet and set them down in an ocean of cleansing water. He spoke and I listened, content at this hiatus in my life. I did not move forward, but I did not fall back. I just waited and listened, and that is what made all the difference.


For His Glory,
Pete

Hunting for Tickles? Hum...Sounds Interesting...

"I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."

-2 Timothy 4:1-5

Satisfaction

Literally, satisfaction is that which is felt to be owed or due to one, according to the Oxford American Dictionary. What I find curious about this word is that we actually think that we deserve something. We feel that some form of pleasure or ease is due to us.

Now, sad as it may sound, we are not due anything other than the fires of Hell. We seem to forget that even the fact that we are breathing is a magnificent gift from God. I love how Paul brings closure to this topic by reminding us that our purpose is to be an "evangelist," or a spreader of the good news. When we acknowledge this truth and live accordingly, we therein humble ourselves and realize how truly little we are before God. Notice that he places an interesting statement in between his edification of the believers. He does not say, do your part and they will listen. No, he eloquently describes them as searching for the tickle, i.e: satisfaction, of false truths.
I often observe this "tickle hunt" and am greatly saddened by it. Due to this, it is necessary that I fulfill my purpose and be a living example of what I know is the one infallible truth. If, by doing this task, I was able to awaken only one person to life, I would find true satisfaction: the satisfaction that comes from being welcomed into Heaven by a God who crowns me with a crown of righteousness and says, "Well done, My good and faithful servant." I want God to see the efficacious result of my life and be glorified. There is no greater act than to bring praise and glory to Him, let my life continually reflect that truth.

For His Glory,

Pete

The Wisest of the Unintelligent

"For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes's and Jambres's folly was also."

- 2 Timothy 3:6-9

Stubborn

I've seen it before, that subtle glare of the eyes; that empty stare of disregard. Why do they even bother? They, as Paul says, will never understand. They allow the lessons to be spoken over them, yet comprehend little of them. I cringe at the mere thought of such vigilant apathy. They are indeed led by various impulses. They subconsciously support the continuation of pop culture.
It is at this point that I stop and think. I used to be one of them. I remember sitting through countless sermons and just thinking: "Why in the Hell do I need to hear this? I don't care! Can't they see how bored I am?" Some people say that we study the past to prevent it from repeating itself. I wonder why, then, this has not been applied to understanding the youth of our generation. If I could simply grasp that one thing that had made me reconsider this whole "religion thing," then perhaps I could understand why they stare with that horrible glare.
Returning to the passage, I fear that I have, at times, reverted to the type of faith described. I find that I constantly have to find a quiet room and worship God with the fear and trembling that I often forget or do not care for. Is it them that is apathetic, or is it me? I say that they are stubborn, yet I stubbornly am on and off with my faith, not knowing whether or not I truly desire for it to be continuously "on".
If there is anything that brings me back to the correct understanding of Faith, it is my times of worship with God. Nothing can prevent me from remembering once I begin to worship. I feel that this is why it is so essential that the youth of my generation are led into a real, meaningful time of worship. I fear that it is not always apathetic hearts that are to blame, but the leadership and volunteer teams that fail to grasp the message as well. This, however, does not excuse those who truly are apathetic. I cannot help but feel that one of a youth group's largest problems is its misguided and ill-focused leaders. I hope, desperately hope, that the church I am currently working with will embrace this truth: that the example set is often mirrored in the outcome.

For His Glory,
Pete