Coffee Shop Encouragement

As those of you who know me, or follow this blog, know, I’ve been looking for a job since I graduated last May. I've been blessed to work part-time for a local company that pays fairly well, but I am still looking for a full time job that is in line with my major and my skills. 

I've heard many people in my position complain and worry about finding a job, but I am not doing that. I am not worried. I know that the Lord has a job out there that is perfect for me and he is preparing me for it, and it for me. The thing that gets me is that it is taking a long time. I am not the most patient person, and God knows this, thus why He is teaching me a lesson of patience these past 8 months. I’m not worried about finding a job, I'm just tired of waiting. But ultimately, I know that His timing is perfect. 

So, to avoid going crazy from sitting at home all day, I tend to visit local coffee shops occasionally. Wait, I take that back. I tend to visit local coffee shops EVERY DAY! With me, I have my bag filled with my computer, several books, and my Bible. I usually spend several hours on end at these coffee shops either reading, looking for jobs, or working on topical Bible studies. I tend to concentrate better away from home and I am more productive as well. I think its the change in scenery. 

The main coffee shop I go to is Starbucks, yes, I know, cliché as all get out, but whatever. Being a frequent customer at this place, I have gotten to know some of the baristas and even more of the other regulars. Its a bit like the old TV show Cheers. 

In Starbucks there is my friend Pierre, who is very smart and is always reading about some old dead white British Christian or Theologian. You also have Ozzy, who is a man in his early 80's who was born in Puerto Rico but grew up in the Bronx who loves to talk about the Lord. I always smile when I see his truck in the parking lot, which has a large sticker on the tailgate with a bible verse on it. In the evenings you have the former MSU Track and Cross Country star Renee. She is now a science teacher at my old high school. Her husband is in seminary and is working part time as a youth minister. They just had their first child. She too has a blog. It is amazing and encouraging. I urge you to check it out here. There is also a pair of foreign guys who always wear scarves and can be identified by their strong and liberal usage of cologne, a few 20-something-year-olds playing World of Warcraft, and a guy who sits outside and leeches off of the store's Wi-Fi. And last but not least you have Forrest. Forrest was my French professor last summer. He is currently working on his PhD while teaching both French and Spanish at MSU. I swear, whichever coffee shop I go to, Forrest is usually there. I'm beginning to wonder if he is omnipresent. I hear him downstairs right now as I am writing this in the loft of another coffee shop, StrangeBrew. 

I've gotten to know Forrest quite well in the past months talking to him at all the different coffee shops. He is a very delightful fellow. Today I was talking to him and as I got up to leave, he stopped me and said "Look man, I know I was your teacher and all, but you have taught me a lot. I’ve learned a lot from you." This kind of took me by surprise. We have discussed many things: from alcohol, his thesis, my job search, to things like theology and God. Who knows which one of those he learned from, but regardless, it is always nice to know that God can use you to have an impact on people. He went on to say: "I know your life isn't that clear right now, what with the job search and all, but I know that there is one out there for you. Maybe its just not ready for you yet, like its not opened, or things just haven't lined up yet. So don't worry." I told him that he is exactly right. God has a place for me, and His timing is perfect, Im just so doggone impatient. I explained that for some unknown reason, God has me still here in Starkville. I jokingly suggested that maybe God wants me to just talk to people in coffee shops for months on end. Forrest chimed in, "Have you ever thought that maybe you're here for just ONE person? I don't mean all the scores of guys you meet with in here, but just ONE person?" I paused and thought about it. That thought has crossed my mind from time to time. I told him that he might be onto something there. If the Lord wanted here all these months to talk to people, if something I said was able to help one person, or share God's truth with one person, or encourage one person, that would be worth it. If the Lord could use me to change one person's life, then all this waiting would totally be worth it. It reminded me of several verses. 

"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." 

-1 Thessalonians 5:11

"And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone." 

-Thessalonians 5:14

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." 

-Hebrews 10:24-25

"Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad." 

-Proverbs 12:25

"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." 

-Proverbs 27:17

"Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." 

-Hebrews 13:2

Encouragement. That’s pretty much what the Christian Life is all about. Building up one another, helping those in need, sharing the good news of Christ with those who do not know. And as Forrest suggested, if I was stuck here in Starkville for all these months for the purpose of encouraging just ONE person, that would be totally worth it. We don’t always know what God is doing while we are waiting on Him. The best thing to do is to continue to trust Him. Until God opens the next door, praise Him in the hallway. I have no doubt that the Lord used Forrest to speak those words of encouragement to me, it was exactly what I needed to hear today.

A Bad New Year's Eve Turned Around By The Lord

So, my New Year's Eve had me kind of down.

This past month I had done two rounds of interviews about a marketing job with an amazing local non-profit Christian ministry. The people told me they were very impressed with me and were planning to make a decision soon. For 2 weeks I checked my email several times an hour. Waiting and praying. Then on New Year's Eve I got a letter from them telling me that I didn't get the job I was hoping for. I was disappointed and let down. But I reminded myself that it was an answered prayer. Before I did each interview I prayed "Lord, if this is where you want me to be, open the door. But, if this isn't where you want me to be, slam the door in my face. I don't want to be anywhere unless it's where you want me to be."

This was an answered prayer, not the answer I was hoping for, but an answer nonetheless.

Later in the evening I was at a New Year's Eve party at my buddy Michael's house. I got my phone out and opened the Facebook app to show him something and the first thing I see is that a girl I went out with both semesters of my senior year of college was engaged. 

I hadn't thought about her in a while and I knew God didn't intended for us to work out, but it still upset me. After 2 semesters of going out, I approached her and wanted to make it official(meaning that we would call each other boyfriend and girlfriend). She said that she had been prayin about this and she felt like she didn't need to date or have anything official because she was still hurt from a previous relationship and needed time to focus on her relationship with God. She said that she didn't want to say that we would never work out, but that the timing just wasn't right. I too had been praying about it and I was at peace with this, and I respected her response. How can I not respect someone wanting to work on their relationship with the Lord?

The Lord gave me peace over the whole thing and I was able to move on without any problems. Well, 2 months after the conversation I had with her, I found out that she was dating a guy. It was on Facebook, therefore, it was official. Even though I was over her and was at peace with how it ended, when I saw this, I couldn't help but feel hurt and lied to. She had just cooked up that excuse so she didn't have to tell me that she just wasn't interested in me, despite the fact that we went on over a dozen dates where I paid for everything and occasionally bought her gifts out of the blue. (Gifts are my love language). She used that "God card" to avoid telling me the truth. I was ticked off that she did that. But I had already moved on and said "good riddance". 

But yesterday I found out that she is engaged to the guy. That just brought back some bad feelings.

Yeah, I know, this sounds like a sad list of complaints, but hang in there! It gets better!

That night the devil was putting thoughts into my head like: "you graduated 8 months ago & you still haven't found a job. A lot of the other people you graduated with have jobs, you'll never find one." And thought like: "you've been 4 years without an official girlfriend and out of the two girls you've dated, one is married and the other is engaged now. Face it, nobody likes you. Nobody ever has. Girls have given you nothing but lies and pain. Most of your friends are either in serious relationships, engaged, or married, but you're still single. Time is running out for you!" 

Needless to say, I was feeling pretty lousy. I left the party early so I could be with my family to bring in the New Year.  As I was driving home I started praying to the Lord asking for guidance and peace and for me to remain hopeful and confident in His plans for a job and a wife. I prayed for Him to help restore joy to my life, and for me to delight in Him rather than other people. 

After I finished praying I turned up the volume on my radio and heard these lyrics:

"So when youre on your knees and answers seem so far away

Youre not alone, stop holding on and just be held
Your worlds not falling apart, its falling into place
Im on the throne, stop holding on and just be held
Just be held, just be held

If your eyes are on the storm
Youll wonder if I love you still
But if your eyes are on the cross
Youll know I always have and I always will

And not a tear is wasted
In time, youll understand
Im painting beauty with the ashes
Your life is in My hands."

When I heard these beautiful lyrics by the band "Casting Crowns" I just smiled and said "really God?!" And I started laughing. He heard me, and that was His response to me. 

God is good. He is with you even when you feel alone. He wants us to always be seeking Him. He wants a close father/child relationship with us. It doesn't matter how far we've run away or what we've done, His loving and welcoming arms are always wide open to us....waiting. 

Take Off Your Theological Lenses!

So many different churches and pastors and priests teach different ways of getting to heaven or getting saved. Catholics teach a different way than Methodists, who teach a different way than Presbyterians, who teach a different way than Church of Christ, who teach a different way than Episcopals, who teach a different way than Baptists.
And many of these various splinters of "Christianity"teach different ways within the splinter groups of their own titles. For example, Reformed Baptist teach differently on salvation than other Baptist churches.

With so many types of Christianity that teach different ways to be saved, it begs the question: "which one is correct on their teaching of how to get to heaven?"

Well, rather than listening to what the churches, pastors, priests, and authors who hold to man-made theologies say, why not go to the Word of God itself? What does it say?

Acts 16:30-31 is one of, it not the most, straightforward verses on this matter. In the passage a jailor asks Paul and Silas, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Paul and Silas promptly reply: "BELIEVE in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!". Seems pretty simple, doesn't it?

Sadly, verses like these are either ignored or twisted to fit a certain brand of theology.

Most of these types of Christianity are based on man-made theologies and philosophies that they interpret scripture though the lens of. Most have a preconceived idea or philosophy going into reading there Bible. They approach it with certain teachings or doctrines that they believe as truths. As they read scripture they understand certain verses to mean certain things in regards to their theology. That is how they explain the verses.

Heres an illustration to help you understand that:

Lets say that you have green tinted glasses, everything that you see through them will be various shades of green because you are looking through green lenses. But in reality, most things aren't really green. Sure, there are some things that really are green and those match up with the lenses,  but not everything is green.
Its the same with theological lenses. Sure, some things seen through theological lenses match up with scripture and are true, but in reality, a lot of things don't match up with them, therefore they only see them in light of that theology's teachings. People are so accustomed to wearing these theological lenses that they refuse to take them off and see what is actually there. They are so used to a world of green that they are convinced that everything is green and everyone who sees differently must be wrong.

I realized several years ago that the traditions and doctrines I had been brought up in didn't line up with scripture. Sure, they were loosely based on scripture, but when I started studying the Bible for myself I quickly realized the truth. I could either stick with the theologies and doctrines that I was brought up with, or I could believe in what scripture says. Now, don't get me wrong, the ways I was brought up in the church weren't that far off from the truth, but they were far enough that I could see an obvious difference between them and scripture. 

I prayed about this and started seeking the Lord's will in the matter. He showed me that sticking to scripture in context was more important than what any pastor, priest, author, or church says. In Acts 17:11 Paul shared the gospel with the Bereans. They received the message with great eagerness, yet they were wise and noble enough to be cautious not to automatically believe what he was saying. Instead, these people examined the scripture to see if what Paul said was true. This is how we should treat everything we hear. 

Ive heard many times that in order to easily detect fake dollar bills, bankers study every aspect and detail of the real dollar bills. If you study the real thing enough, the things that are false will be easy to spot. 

Like with the dollar bills, we should cast off all theological lenses and pray for the Lord to speak the truth to us every time we read scripture. We should dive into the word daily and allow scripture to speak for itself. I have found that many of the confusing passages of scripture can be understood by other parts of scripture. Use scripture to interpret scripture, rather than theology. 

I am by no means perfect. And Im not saying that the church I go to is "the only correct teaching". That would be arrogant and foolish. I am simply encouraging everyone to cast aside all external teachings and look to scripture for what it is. Allow the Word of God to shape your beliefs and your life, rather than what the church or church leaders say. Trust the Lord over man.  

Nick's Review of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (Spoiler Free)

(I’m writing this SPOILER FREE review after having seen the movie 3 times within the opening week)

Growing up, Star Wars was life. I cannot think of my childhood without thinking of Star Wars. One might even say Star Wars was synonymous with my childhood, and my entire life for that matter. For me, it all started in 1993, Christmas day to be exact. My uncle, only 18  or 19 at the time, gave me an R2D2 action figure as a Christmas present. From then on, I was hooked. Like the Dark Side that Yoda warned Luke about in ROTJ, “Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.” Except that this wasn’t a dark path at all.

For over 20 years I have been obsessed with Star Wars. Starting that Christmas in 93, I was a Star Wars collector. Since then, I have collected over 1,000 Star Wars action figures. This isn’t a fact I tell many people. It doesn’t go over well as a conversation starter on a first date. Ha! I can tell you the name and back story of every single character I have and pretty much where I got the figure. Its weird things like that that stick with me.

Me and George in the mid 90s

I think back to my yard in my old house in Mississippi where me and George Bennett would have our Han Solo vests on and our toy DL-44 blasters at the ready, running around killing imaginary stormtroopers and acting out our own stories of what happened after ROTJ. Those were, as Freddie Mercury would say, the days of our lives.

If you were to ask me why I like Star Wars, I honestly don’t know how I would answer that. Its something that is so engrained into my life, that I cant think of myself without thinking of Star Wars. Like my faith and relationship with Christ, it pretty much has and always will be part of my life.

I had the privilege of experiencing the Original Trilogy in the 90s and then experiencing the Prequel Trilogy in the 2000s. Now, as an adult I am experiencing the Sequel Trilogy. And the funny thing is, my excitement and giddiness is just the same as it was growing up.

The Force Awakens. WOW! I give this film a solid 97 out of 100. I was blown away. I was very worried about JJ Abrams directing and co-writing this one, but he went above and beyond. He has been a life long fan of Star Wars and, as a fan, he knew exactly what die-hard fans wanted to see, and boy did he deliver!  It captures the great things from the Original Trilogy, but has the newness of the Prequel Trilogy. As a fan, I've been thinking and speculating about what happened after the Second Death Star exploded in ROTJ since I first saw it in the early 90s. I was very well versed in the Expanded Universe stories that continued to follow the characters after that film, but now those hundreds of books, comics, and games have been deemed non-canon. So, that left the slate clean for the new films, so, as fans, we had no idea what was coming.

I watched every single trailer and TV spot that aired for The Force Awakens, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out the storyline. I had ideas and speculations about it, but Abrams did an amazing job of keeping the trailers from giving away anything about the story. As someone who likes and analyzes movies for their story, this both aggravated and impressed me.

The tone of this film is very dark, but the characters lighten the mood and bring some humor to it. It captured tones of both A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. A good mixture of those tones story-wise.

The Actors:

The film is mainly told through the eyes of the cute little droid, BB-8. His head resembles R2, yet his body is simply a ball. He is actually a fully-functional remote controlled droid that somehow moves around like a ball while balancing the head on top. The props go to the engineers here. The thing that makes him so darn cute and loveable is his personality. You’re probably asking: how can a robot ball that beeps have personality? Well, its simply those sounds of beeping that make his personality I don’t know how the folks over there at Skywalker Sound do it, but they made it so we can tell his mood and personality through the various pitches of his beeps and boops. I was worried at first that he would end up being like Jar Jar with the way he is being marketed on everything, but he turned out to be quite a loveable ball of fun. (Pun intended).

Harrison Ford did an amazing job reprising his role of the stuck up half-witted scruffy-looking nerf herder, Han Solo. After seeing him in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I was kind of worried about how he would do as Han. In the Crystal Skull his character was very old and slower moving and you could just tell that he had aged. But with The Force Awakens, he wasn’t like that at all. He was just as we left him in ROTJ. Sure, he’s older, but his mentality and scoundrel ways are just the same. I was impressed at how well he did playing this part as a 73 year old man. Yes, you heard me right: he is 73!

Carrie Fisher hasn’t aged as well as her on-screen love interest. She has had her fair share of alcohol and drug problems over the years, and those have had their toll on her. I will admit, in this film she looked a lot better from when I saw her a few years ago in Atlanta. When I saw her, she had a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other, sitting under a sign that said “no smoking”. That’s Carrie for you. But it was nice seeing her in Character as Leia. Of all the mentalities and personalities of the original cast, she has changed the most. In the Original Trilogy we saw glimpses of her as a military leader, but for the majority, she was just being protected and rescued throughout the films. In this film we see her as a seasoned military general. She’s the leader of the Resistance, which is what part of the Rebel Alliance became. She is stern and serious. As a leader of this group of freedom fighters, she has undoubtedly seen her fair share of battles and politics, and in real life, 30 years of those two will wear you down quick. So, with all that considered, she played the part brilliantly.

Mark Hammil, poor guy. He hasn’t gotten too many acting roles since his early days as Luke. He’s done a lot of voice acting though. He is probably best known as voicing the Joker in the 1990’s Batman: The Animated Series. Which he does a fabulous job at. He is back in this film, but not in the way most of us hoped for. But I walked away from the film quite happy with his performance and how the writers chose to use him in this film. He looked amazing! His costume and apparel are very reminiscent of Sir Alec Guinness’ Ben Kenobi. I can’t say too much without giving away any spoilers, but I can say that he will definitely have a lot bigger ad better role in the coming films.

John Boyega is the 23-year-old newcomer to the series. He plays Finn, one of the film’s main protagonists. He plays his part quite well. He shows us that he is exactly what we would imagine a 23-year-old would be like in the Star Wars universe. He is fun, flirty, caring, and as rebelled against the ways he was raised. Not much different than the majority of 23 year olds here on Earth. Boyega brings lightheartedness and humor to this dark film. He is very believable and the actions and paths he chooses to take are very smart and thought out. He makes you want to have him as your best friend. I cant wait to see what is in store for his role in the coming films. I've been following John Boyega on Snapchat for months and he's hilarious! He is just as excited about being in it as I was to see it. He's just like me, a fan.

Daisy Ridley plays the orphaned desert scavenger, Rey. She, along with Boyega’s Finn, are the two main protagonists in The Force Awakens. At first I wasn’t sure how this young 23-year-old would do in the film. She is pretty much unheard of in films. I think she might have had minor roles in some local or independent films prior to this, but nothing major. But she ended up being one of my favorite characters. She blew me away with her acting skills. Not only is she stunningly beautiful, but the way she plays this strong independent young woman is fantastic. When we meet Rey, she has been living alone on this junk yard desert planet for the majority of her life. We get the feeling early on that she is quite tough and can handle and look out for herself pretty well. In many ways, she has a lot of comparisons with when we first met Luke in ANH. Without spoiling anything, II will just say that I am very excited to see how her character develops in the coming films.

Oscar Isaac plays the hot-shot Resistance pilot, Poe Dameron. For those of you that didn’t read the four part Shattered Empire comic series leading up to The Force Awakens, we find out that his mom and dad both fought in the Rebellion alongside our original heroes. His mom was an A-Wing Pilot who flew into battle with Lando during the attack on the Second Death Star, while his dad was part of Han’s strike team on the forest moon of Endor. At the end of the series, we learn that the three of them settle ad make their home on Yavin IV. Oscar Isaac does a stunning job at playing this Resistance pilot. He is the best pilot on the Resistance, yet he isn’t cocky or arrogant about it. He is a genuinely nice and humble guy. He’s the type of guy who always has your back in any fight. Isaac’s performance of Poe left me wanting to see more of him in action. He’s just a loveable character. I have no doubt that he will continue to amaze people in the coming films.

Former United State Marine, Adam Driver plays the film’s main antagonist, the evil Kylo Ren. We learn right from the start that he is ruthless and has shows no mercy. In his first scene we also get several hints dropped about his origins, that are revealed later in the film. I, for one, wasn’t surprised at those origins. His character isn’t a fully-formed villain like Vader was, nor is he the Anakin type that we see the whole scale from good to bad. He is very conflicted as to who and what he is. He mentions that he feels a “pull to the light”. That is something we have never heard of in previous films. A bad guy who is pretty much down the dark path but feels the pull of the light side of the force. Its usually the other way around. His character dynamic is very interesting. He wears a helmet that loosely resembles Vader’s for about half of the film. I prefer him with the helmet on. Im not a big fan of Driver’s face. Clean shaven, he looks like an emo teenaged boy with anger issues. But there is much potential for this character, and I cant wait to see how he develops over the course of the film.

The score is composed by America’s greatest living composer, John Williams. Ive been in love with his film scores since I was a small child. He is phenomenal. A genius. A musical god. And he doesn’t fail to deliver on this film. At 80 years old he can still write and compose just as good as he did in his early days. I went out and bought the soundtrack the day it came out, which was the following morning after I saw the premier. I cant seem to stop listening to it. Wow!

The visual effects were pretty neat too. The Original Trilogy used mainly models and puppets and masks, whereas the Prequel Trilogy relied heavily on CGI. This director deliberately chose to use a good even mixture of the two. The puppets and costumes of aliens really brought you back to the first time we see the Cantina full of all these bizarre and interesting creatures. You could also tell that the sets were real and not CGI, that was a very solid choice as we see desert, forest, water, and snow in the planets that they visit.

The pacing of the film was non-stop. There really wasn’t any time to rest as there were in previous films. The characters are constantly jumping to place to place and fighting. The action and suspense keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time.

The film didn't answer all my questions about what happened between it and ROTJ, but there are still two more movies left for those answers. It also brought up many new questions, which, again, still have two more films for those to be answered. The film did a decent job of showing the original heroes, but it is obvious that it is really paving the road for the new younger cast and their characters’ stories, which is how it should be.

Overall, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens is an AMAZING film. It excels in its story, characters, visual effects, costumes, scenery, acting, cinematography, directing, and sound design. It is everything a Star Wars movie should be.

One more year until Episode VIII comes out, but until then, May The Force Be With You…Always!

Me and George seeing the movie Thursday night in 3D IMAX

My Friend Is Going Up Against Planned Parenthood

Last night I heard some very exciting news about a friend of mine. 

As many of you have heard about and/or even seen the Planned Parenthood videos that were released by The Center For Medical Progress this year. These undercover videos show top Planned Parenthood officials admitting that they harvest and sell body parts from children that they kill through abortions. One video actually show them picking through the remains of a child; eyeballs, arms, legs, hands, and feet can actually be seen in the petri dish while the Planned Parenthood doctors make crude jokes about it. You can view the shorter official videos as well as the unedited footage that lasts several hours on my YouTube playlist. 

Well, these videos have received a lot of attention from many people. I have seen even the most liberal pro-abortion Planned Parenthood supporters change their views after seeing just one of these videos. The United States Government currently gives over a million dollars a day to Planned Parenthood. That money comes from our tax dollars. 

Many pro-life congressmen in both the House of Representatives and the Senate have brought this before the Senate and House floors with great concerns. There have already been several failed attempts to pass legislation in both houses of congress. 

According to a press release from the House Energy & Commerce Committee, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, chairman of the  "Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives" has appointed my friend March Bell as the Staff Director and Chief Counsel for the subcommittee. 

I lived with March and his wife Mariam in the summer of  2014 when I was interning in DC. They are amazing people with amazing careers. I learned so much from the two of them while living with them that summer. They have been involved with politics, non-profits, missionary work, as well as many other Christian ministries.  

Mariam has been involved in pro-life activism since the 80s. Her public stance on the issue landed her a job in Public Policy in the Reagan administration. She was also the national director of public policy for Chuck Colson's Prison Fellowship.  

As for March, his resume is equally impressive. He is recently retired from the US Department of Justice, where he was a trial lawyer for many years. One of his biggest passions is helping victims of human trafficking and prosecuting those who traffic innocent people. At the Department of Justice he served as Senior Counsel for "Trafficking in Persons" in the Civil Rights Division. He has worked with Gary Haugen in starting up the International Justice Mission. There he traveled around the world training lawyers and governments on how to prosecute people who lead human trafficking rings. He also served as Counsel for the United States Senate Subcommittee on Security and Terrorism, where he prosecuted al-Qaeda terrorists connected to the September 11th attacks. 

“With his vast experience in both federal litigation and congressional investigations, March is the right person to lead the subcommittee staff in finding the facts and gathering information. He not only has dedicated his career to defending the law, he has conducted training of judges, prosecutors and police world-wide on issues important to the protection of human beings. We look forward to his leadership and counsel.” 

- Rep. Marsha Blackburn

I rode to and from work with March almost every day that summer. It was a good hour car ride both ways. In those many car rides with him, I learned invaluable insight on how different parts of the government worked, how investigations and trials are carried out, as well as many other things. Even though he is a man of strong conservative Christian convictions, I know that he will approach the Planned Parenthood investigation without any bias and will conduct the investigation in an amazing professional manner. 

We also figured out that we are both distantly related somewhere way down the line. So, I guess that makes him my "long lost cousin" HA!

Words cannot describe how excited I am that he has been appointed to this position. I cannot think of anyone better suited for this job than him. From al-Qaeda, to human traffickers, to Planned Parenthood, it is clear to tell that this Godly man cares and has a heart to help the most vulnerable in society. He uses his gifts and experience God has given him to make a huge difference in the world. I am proud to call him my friend, former mentor, long lost cousin, and brother in Christ. 

I ask that you please keep him and his wife in your prayers as he starts this investigation.

Me with March & Mariam the last morning I lived with them

Deceitful Phrases Used To Share False Gospels

This past weekend I attended my church's annual Men's Retreat at Land O Lakes in Brooksville, MS. It was a good but rainy weekend. We had about 25 men at the retreat and our guest speaker was Dr Fred Chay. Dr. Chay is the Dean of Doctoral Studies at Grace School of Theology. He did an amazing job talking about the differences between man-made theologies that twist and distort Scripture and what Scripture actually says. It is sad to see that most of the churches in America today hold to what theologies say rather than taking scripture as it is. Whenever I listen to a sermon or read stuff from Christian authors, 9 times out of 10 a false gospel is presented. Sadly, most church laymen won't recognize this false teaching.

As I've previously written, most of these false Gospel presentations combine Justification and Sanctification.  This problem leads to unbelievers thinking they must do good works in order to be saved. Of course the teachers of this confusing false gospel messages have some type of philosophical semantic loophole that they use to explain how their conditions for salvation aren't good works, but that is simply an attempt to make scripture fit their theologies. I believe that many of these teachers of this false Gospel mean well. I think many of them are saved. I just think that their minds have been twisted by false teaching of theologies that do not line up with scripture. I pray for them and I hope that their blinders are taken off and they see the simplicity of the Gospel of God's amazing grace!

Dr. Chay gave a list of the most common phrases used by teachers that teach this false gospel.

1. "Give your heart to Christ"
2. "If any man wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me"
3. "James 4:7-10 is the clearest presentation of the gospel: "submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double minded."."
4. "May the Lord reveal to the sinners that the only way for them to be saved from their sins is to repent with godly sorrow inn their hearts to the Lord."
5. "We have the warning of Christ that He will not receive us into His Kingdom until we are ready to give up all, until we are ready to turn from all sin in our lives."
6. "Do we literally have to give away everything  we own to become Christians? No, but we do have to be willing to forsake all."
7. "Come forward and follow Christ in baptism."
8. "No one was ever saved by simply believing  without a commitment and the manifestation of righteousness."
9. "Repentance, confession, and submitting to the lordship of Christ are the intrinsic elements of gracious salvation and transformation."
10. "Believing in Christ is: believing God is the loving Father and that Jesus Christ is God and that all that He says is true and have an unswerving, unchanging, unquestioning obedience to that belief. That is saving faith."
11. "How are we saved? We must accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. That's the beginning, but then we must come to Him as Lord and commit our entire life to Him. And there must be the manifestation of the fruit of repentance."

In his book, "Desiring God", theologian, author, and pastor John Piper puts forth six conditions for salvation:

"These are just some of the conditions that the New Testament says we must meet in order to inherit final salvation. We must believe on Jesus and receive Him and turn from our sin and obey Him and humble ourselves like little children and love Him more than we love our family, possessions, or our own life. This is what it means to be converted to Christ. This alone is the way of Life everlasting."(pgs. 65-66).

Likewise, another popular theologian, author, and pastor John MacArthur lists three conditions for salvation in his book "Hard to Believe":

"It's pretty simple. Anyone who wants to come after Jesus into the Kingdom of God - anyone who wants to be a Christian - has to face three commands: 1) Deny himself, 2) take up his cross daily, and 3) follow Him." (pg. 6).

Those 11 phrases and the two quotes from these well-known authors are prime examples of how this popular false gospel of faith plus good works is presented.

Scripture tells us many places that the sole requirement for salvation is to simply believe.
Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."
In Acts 16:30-31 we read: " 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' So they said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved...'."
John 3:16 says: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

The purpose of the book of John is stated in chapter 19 verse 31: "These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name". With a book with that evangelistic purpose, you would expect for it to tell how to receive everlasting life. If what all the 11 phrases and the quotes from the pastors say are correct, you would expect to see those conditions of good works listed in this evangelistic book to tell people how to be saved, yet not once in the entire book are any of those conditions listed. On the contrary, over 73 times in that book alone the word "belief" or "faith" is used as the sole means by which one is saved.

Adding all these other conditions for salvation is in complete opposition to scripture. Don't get me wrong, all of those things are great things that we should do as believers, but they are all listed in scripture as acts of good works that we should do AFTER we are saved. We are not obligated to do these things. Yet, we should do them out of love and thankfulness to the Lord. These good works are a part of our sanctification, our Christian life, becoming more and more holy and Christ-like. These things are not automatic or inevitable for all Christians.  More times than not this attitude and living a life of good works in service and commitment to the Lord comes from discipleship and spending time in in the word and in prayer.

These things are not conditions for eternal life, but are conditions for walking in fellowship with God, sanctification, and receiving rewards in the Kingdom.

 Eternal life is given freely as a gift from God, received simply by believing in Christ for salvation. Being saved is only the beginning of the Christian life. Yes, many who have simply believed do not grow in their walk with the Lord, they remain as babes in Christ, but Scripture tells us that God wants so much more for us. Although we are saved and will spend eternity with Him, there is so much more that He wants for us. Yes, getting saved is great, and that is how we receive everlasting life, but that is not all that is available to us as believers. He loves us and wants to fellowship with us here and now in our earthly bodies. As believers, if we choose to accept His offer of fellowship, He can bring about amazing experiences for us now.

In his book, "Absolutely Free!", the late Zane Hodges describes this amazing experience that Christ offers specifically to believers:

"The Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, offers Himself to individual believers as a divine Guest. If they will respond to Him, if they will love and obey Him, He will make their hearts and lives His personal habitation so that their experience will be like having supper with their Savior. Across the common 'table' which they share, they can communicate freely and He can make Himself known to them. He can manifest Himself to them... Yes, our bodies are the temple of God (1 Co 6:19-20). But our lives—our earthly experiences—can likewise become His place of residence." 

“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ... that He would grant you ... to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith..." (‭‭Eph‬ ‭3:14, 16-17‬) 

But did not Christ already dwell in their hearts? Most assuredly He did. Yet Paul can conceive of a special kind of inner experience of the Savior, which he associates with inward, spiritual strength (Eph 3:16) and with 'being rooted and grounded in love' (Eph 3:17). "
No, love is not an automatic response which every believer inevitably gives to God. The Christian is not a robot who has been programmed to love the Lord and who can do nothing but what he or she was programmed to do. The very thought is unnatural and abhorrent. 

God did not create machines. He created real flesh-and-blood human beings. And when humankind fell in the Garden of Eden and lost the capacity to love their Maker,  God redeemed them through the cross and re-imparted this capacity to every believer in Christ. Now He calls His children to the kind of loving obedience which is rooted in a gift of life that is absolutely free. 'We love Him because He first loved us' (1Jn 4:19).
But God Himself loves us freely and He loves us with infinite spontaneity. So He obviously desires that our love for Him should mirror His own for us and be spontaneous in return. 

For that reason, in the New Testament Scriptures, God seeks our love. He encourages and invites it, and He promises to meet it with an experience of rich fellowship with Himself. He desires our love greatly, to be sure. But He will never compel it: 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock.' "