I just thought I'd would share with all of you a neat way in which God has worked things out for me and another person in the past twenty-four hours.
You see, I have this friend who is like a sister to me. We have shared many things, from laughter to horrible heartache and strife. Needless to say, we've been though a lot. I have found that when you are really in tune with another person, the Holy Spirit will establish a spiritual connection between you and this person. I have a strong connection to my sister here.
Now, circumstances and callings have pulled us away from one another for a time, but we have kept in touch and in each others prayers. Our connection, however, will sometimes bring things to our attention. About three weeks ago, I was just going about my day when I felt a great sorrow come over me. I knew it was because my sister was in some kind of struggle or despair. So, after praying, I text her. No reply. I tried calling. Also, no reply. I check Facebook and find I have been deleted from her friends. This is unprecedented. I try for three weeks straight to get a hold of her, praying and asking God to let me know what was up. Three weeks, no avail.
I go to a special service last night at North Cleveland Church of God, For some reason, amongst the hundreds of people there, I knew I would somehow find her there. All that day and throughout the service I prayed that if I was supposed to find her there, I would. God would lead me straight to her. I sit though the service, then when the altar service begins, I went up to help pray for the masses of people that had responded.
I begin to move though all the people, praying only for those I felt I was supposed to. I made it all the way to the side opposite of where I was sitting. As I was wrapping up praying with a youth, I look to my left. A girl was standing there, arms raised and mascara running from where she and been crying. She looked over and our eyes met.
It was her.
After a fierce embrace, we began to pray. It wasn't until later that I heard the tale of everything that had happened to her. I would share it here, but I would be betraying confidences. I will tell you this: she is ok and everything is turning around. And I got the answers I sought. God knocked many things out in one encounter.
Isn't God awesome?
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Resistance Transmission #4.5: The Resistance and the Call to Discipleship
"Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church."
German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote Jesus said that if any ma these words sometime before he was martyred by the Nazis in 1945. His book, "The Cost of Discipleship," opens with those very words. How very true they are.
You see, the Church has allowed the doctrine of Grace to become one of Cheap Grace. Well, what does that mean? To begin with, it means that the Grace which Christ has provided for us costs us nothing when, in fact, it should cost us everything to receive that Grace. We think that we can do whatever and however we please because the Cross of Christ has taken care of everything. We have nothing to worry about and we can live our lives like everyone else, right?
WRONG.
Jesus says that whoever wants to follow him will pay a price (Luke 9:23). Grace is costly. Let me repeat that for those of you who didn't catch that. GRACE IS COSTLY!!!!! Cheap grace undermines the gift of salvation and destroys the message of Christ. Your grace DOES have a high cost. Following Christ will COST YOU EVERYTHING!!! Look at the Twelve, the first ones ever to be recruited into the Resistance. They had to leave everything and everyone behind. They gave their lives TO THE POINT OF DEATH to follow Christ.
Being in the Resistance, being a true Christian. will require you to lay down your entire life. If you aren't willing, get out. Christ said that we are either hot or cold; to be lukewarm will cause him to spit us out (Rev. 3:15- 16). Just know, friends, that following Christ means saving grace, but at a very high cost.
"When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote Jesus said that if any ma these words sometime before he was martyred by the Nazis in 1945. His book, "The Cost of Discipleship," opens with those very words. How very true they are.
You see, the Church has allowed the doctrine of Grace to become one of Cheap Grace. Well, what does that mean? To begin with, it means that the Grace which Christ has provided for us costs us nothing when, in fact, it should cost us everything to receive that Grace. We think that we can do whatever and however we please because the Cross of Christ has taken care of everything. We have nothing to worry about and we can live our lives like everyone else, right?
WRONG.
Jesus says that whoever wants to follow him will pay a price (Luke 9:23). Grace is costly. Let me repeat that for those of you who didn't catch that. GRACE IS COSTLY!!!!! Cheap grace undermines the gift of salvation and destroys the message of Christ. Your grace DOES have a high cost. Following Christ will COST YOU EVERYTHING!!! Look at the Twelve, the first ones ever to be recruited into the Resistance. They had to leave everything and everyone behind. They gave their lives TO THE POINT OF DEATH to follow Christ.
Being in the Resistance, being a true Christian. will require you to lay down your entire life. If you aren't willing, get out. Christ said that we are either hot or cold; to be lukewarm will cause him to spit us out (Rev. 3:15- 16). Just know, friends, that following Christ means saving grace, but at a very high cost.
"When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Resistance Transmission # 4: The Resistance as a Call to Holiness, or Walking the Opposite Way
Begin Transmission
Upon my return to this cyber world, I wish to bring you another tenet of our revolution.
Oh, a brand new insight?
Not quite.
Friends, know that nothing I speak here is of any real originality. I am merely a messenger for the Head of the Resistance, the Lord Jesus Christ. And today, I bring you insight from Him concerning the Opposite Way.
As Christians, members of the Resistance, we try to live a life in the World, but not of it. sad to say, most of us are unsuccessful. We do not know how to live a lifestyle called Holiness. It was a lifestyle lived by Christ and the early Church. It is with great sadness I now say that the Church as it is now is no longer ekklesia (those called out) but rather it has started to blend with the World. Theologies have broken down, the message of Christ has been cheapened, and the Church no longer looks like the Church. We have departed from Holiness.
Now Holiness is not a code or a set of rules that we must follow, contrary to popular belief. In fact, true Holiness is born from the single greatest force in existence: Love. Love of God and love for people. Walking in Holiness means seeking God's heart on every matter in your life. You don't do certain things because God's heart will break and you do certain things because it touches His heart.
Holiness is born out of love. When you are so in love with God and desire to be so close to Him that every action is done with Him in mind. Crazy idea, right? That's why it works. It helps us walk the Opposite Way. You see, being closer to God and living in His Holiness causes you, no, REQUIRES you to walk a completely different direction from everyone and everything else. There are those of you who are reading this and you are sick of normal existence. Tired of the grind, and the ridiculous notions of our wayward society. The Resistance, true Christianity, goes the Opposite Way. If you have not learned this, open the Resistance Manual (the Bible) and see the revolutionary writings and teachings of the Founders of the Resistance.
Romans 12:2 speaks of the Opposite Way. Paul tells us not to be conformed to the World, but instead to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. I challenge you, today. Renew your mind. Render your heart. walk the Opposite Way alongside Christ and countless others. Stand up and resist the patterns of this world. Join the Resistance.
In my next Resistance Transmission, I want to speak to you all of another call: a Call to Discipleship.
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."- Philippians 4: 8-9
Grace and Peace
*End Transmisson
Upon my return to this cyber world, I wish to bring you another tenet of our revolution.
Oh, a brand new insight?
Not quite.
Friends, know that nothing I speak here is of any real originality. I am merely a messenger for the Head of the Resistance, the Lord Jesus Christ. And today, I bring you insight from Him concerning the Opposite Way.
As Christians, members of the Resistance, we try to live a life in the World, but not of it. sad to say, most of us are unsuccessful. We do not know how to live a lifestyle called Holiness. It was a lifestyle lived by Christ and the early Church. It is with great sadness I now say that the Church as it is now is no longer ekklesia (those called out) but rather it has started to blend with the World. Theologies have broken down, the message of Christ has been cheapened, and the Church no longer looks like the Church. We have departed from Holiness.
Now Holiness is not a code or a set of rules that we must follow, contrary to popular belief. In fact, true Holiness is born from the single greatest force in existence: Love. Love of God and love for people. Walking in Holiness means seeking God's heart on every matter in your life. You don't do certain things because God's heart will break and you do certain things because it touches His heart.
Holiness is born out of love. When you are so in love with God and desire to be so close to Him that every action is done with Him in mind. Crazy idea, right? That's why it works. It helps us walk the Opposite Way. You see, being closer to God and living in His Holiness causes you, no, REQUIRES you to walk a completely different direction from everyone and everything else. There are those of you who are reading this and you are sick of normal existence. Tired of the grind, and the ridiculous notions of our wayward society. The Resistance, true Christianity, goes the Opposite Way. If you have not learned this, open the Resistance Manual (the Bible) and see the revolutionary writings and teachings of the Founders of the Resistance.
Romans 12:2 speaks of the Opposite Way. Paul tells us not to be conformed to the World, but instead to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. I challenge you, today. Renew your mind. Render your heart. walk the Opposite Way alongside Christ and countless others. Stand up and resist the patterns of this world. Join the Resistance.
In my next Resistance Transmission, I want to speak to you all of another call: a Call to Discipleship.
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."- Philippians 4: 8-9
Grace and Peace
*End Transmisson
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
The Great Hiatus, or Why I haven't Been Posting
Obviously, I haven't been on here in a long time. Life happened, and as usual, I have been incapacitated from my blogging duties. Rest assured, I am now in the process of returning to The Resistance with fresh insight, stories, and other random life quips. There is much to write and plenty to cover. So, in short, I am back to provide those of you who walk the Opposite Way with more fuel and drive to keep you walking in your destined direction.
See you again, very soon.
See you again, very soon.
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