“let MY words be few”

I want to say that I am a mere simple mortal man. A vessel to be used by the God that I believe in who sent His son to die on a cross for my sins that I might accept Him and be saved. I was asked by one of my commenters on the last post to comment on the links of his blog entitled 'universalism I,II,III'. For such a young child as I am and constantly growing in my faith, I honestly had to go to prayer (as I try and do with everything in life) and ask God that HIS words be present in the message I bring to you all tonight. The short answer is, I don't believe it. As a devout Protestant Evangelical Christian (who has been Independent Baptist, Nazarene, Church of Christ in Christian Union and now attending Southern Baptist) I believe the Bible to be consisted of 66 whole books and inspired by our creator. I reviewed these sites and I have done a lot of praying. I'll be honest that I don't have all the answers, but I believe I do have something that God can use to provide some insight into truth. First I would like to reiterate that my faith is based and founded upon 66 whole books of the Bible. Many of the sites and pages I read on Universalism only offered short (if complete at all) scriptures, all throughout the Bible. This is no way to build a belief system on. It would be like taking this blog post and quoting the line "I don't believe it." Well, that's all fine and dandy but what don't I believe in? It's very vague and what we like to call 'out of context' in the English language. Much of what I read on these sites proved to be the same. Second, I believe that we have to remember that if you accept the Bible to be true as a universalism believer then you need to also remember that God created you. With this being said, where is it our place to put God in 'our box of understanding'. God is much bigger than any box, any person, can try and fit Him in. I saw a page entitled '200+ unanswered questions unless you believe in Universalism', not only did many of the questions repeat and only re-word another questions but many were trying to place God in some box of human understanding. My question for you is, please logically explain how God:
  • Is three people in one, trinity.
  • Came to earth, was born, died, and rose again.
  • Is omnipresent.
Just to name three questions. See, to explain those, we must put God in a box of human understanding. Sure, I can't explain to you in a logical sense how all three of those are true. Do I accept them as the truth, YES. Why? Because that is what we call, "living by faith". It is something that you have to do. Also, something that I found to be missing was the thing that God likes to call, "free will" or "free choice". Again, we have to think outside the box that God created us all with free will to do what we want. It is our choice to accept Him as savior, not anyone elses. If there is no eternal Hell then why can't I be like, "I HATE YOU GOD!!!" So when I die , God's going to look at me and say, "that's ok, I know you hated me, did everything you could to ruin my work and my will, but come on in to Heaven." I THINK NOT. Do you see what I'm trying to say? This thought of free-ride-to-Heaven can't be true, unless you throw out the Bible. You also can't say that only "part" of the Bible is true, because you're essentially saying that God is only partially true. It's either All or None... not some. Even if you only believe in truly a heaven, you have faith that there is one. I would treat an eternal hell like a sign I once read about God, but let's put eternal hell in place of God:

"I would rather live like there is an eternal hell and die to find out there isn't to live like there isn't and find out there is."

You see, let's go straight to God's word now as I being to help shed some light here. As I searched my Bible God lead me to Acts. According to this website with 75 verses (all of which are, out of context of the scripture) let's look at a key one: "16. Acts 3:20,21-Restitution of all-How plain can you get?" - Quoted from Do You Believe All In The Bible? Now, that whole verse REALLY says... "Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." - Acts 3:21 Let's expand this and use 'The Message' translation to better help show what this passage is really about "Now it's time to change your ways! Turn to face God so he can wipe away your sins, pour out showers of blessing to refresh you, and send you the Messiah he prepared for you, namely, Jesus. For the time being he must remain out of sight in heaven until everything is restored to order again just the way God, through the preaching of his holy prophets of old, said it would be. Moses, for instance, said, 'Your God will raise up for you a prophet just like me from your family. Listen to every word he speaks to you. Every last living soul who refuses to listen to that prophet will be wiped out from the people." - Acts 3:19-23 See, if we look at that passage in context it does mention changing your ways, turning to God (SALVATION) and 'wiped out from the people' (ETERNAL HELL). See, this is what I'm talking about, we can't lift 3 WORDS and base our whole argument on that. If I had time, I would go through all 75 and expand the entire section or chapter to see what the context of the scripture is. MOST IMPORTANTLY WHEN REGARDING WITH CONTEXT OF THE BIBLE. You have to keep the scripture in context with the verse, section, chapter, book and MOST MOST MOST IMPORTANTLY THE BIBLE AS A WHOLE. Let me throw something else out there. If there is no eternal Hell, then why should I become a Christian? Why should I love God? Why did Jesus come to this earth as a man, suffer and die and then conqueror death only to say that everyone will eventually end up in heaven? I don't believe that God would send His son down here to "save the world" if technically the world wouldn't need saving according to Universalism, because everyone eventually ends up in heaven. Now, the sins part that seems to be big. Jesus died on the cross 2000+ years ago. Was I alive then? No. Does His blood cover my sins? Yes. You see, Jesus's blood covers my sins, past, present and future. I'm a firm believer that if you're saved for real and have a TRUE relationship then you'll never leave God. You might slip, fall, stumble, but never FALL FROM HIS HAND (AND YES FOR ALL YOU OTHER DENOMINATIONS OUT THERE THAT IS THE SOUTHERN BAPTISTS ETERNAL SECURITY IN ME). God knows I'm human and can sin at any moment (and do). However, I've prayed, accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and asked for forgiveness of my sins. He's washed me in the Blood and I'm forgiven. I do on a daily basis go to God for forgiveness of what I've done. To be quite honest, I don't know the theological and technical reason why, but I do because that is what I've learned and that is how Jesus taught us to pray. If I accidentally pass out asleep before I can ask for forgiveness and then die in my sleep, no I will not go to Hell for that sin, because I've already accepted Jesus and ask for forgiveness, but remember that doesn't give me a 'license to sin' so to speak because if I'm truly saved I'll have a desire to not sin (which is very true, I try my best, and fail... but I strive every day to live a pure and holy life for God). I will also say that as a Christian who has been saved for now 15 years, if you're going to search for God, pick up the book He wrote for you (The Bible) and read it. Think of it as an Autobiography of God. Then, form your faith from there. Don't let someone else tell you what to believe. Let God show you through His Holy Word what is truth and the right way and what it means to be a follower of Christ. That my friend, mugg, is my comment on those links. I hope that I've not drove you to leave me and now consider everything I have to say total blashpemy and a mockery and only wanting to stir trouble, because I'm not. I believe that God directed me in writing this post. No, He didn't embody me and pen these words, but I believe He did guide and direct me as to what to say and gave me the words to say. Without Him, I could never have written all this. I am praying for you mugg, and you all really. Comments, are very much encouraged on this post. I hope that I've shed some true light onto this spiritual question you pitched at me with wanting my comment, view, or take on this. However, my prayer tonight was that truly I would "let MY words be few, that GOD'S WORDS might be heard." With Christ's Love I close, - J -

Jesus Freak

Well, I keep saying I'm going to post something meaningful. Lately my Christianity has played an interesting role in meeting people. If you don't know by now, here are some basic facts about me:
  • I do not drink
  • I do not smoke
  • I do not do drugs
  • I do not sleep around before marriage
  • I am a virgin
  • I do not curse
  • I do not judge
Now, that's just not really the norm anymore for young adults. So that poses the question, why am I like that? I am like that because of the relationship I have with Jesus Christ. However, from the observations I've made lately I guess it seems that many people that I come in contact with aren't used to meeting a Christian like me. I think sometimes in life I get judged by Christians for having the friends that I do. I have friends who aren't Christians however: Do I share my faith with them? Yes. Do I necessarily agree with everything they do or say? No. Do they know this? Yes. Do I shove religion down their throats in hopes that I can drag them to Jesus? No. Do I try and live a REAL CHRISTIAN life before them and represent Jesus to them by living truly by WWJD? YES. Let me explain, shall we. I'm sure you're sitting there gasping at the thought of me being with non-Christians and forming relationships with these people. Does not God love these people? Are we not to be examples of Christ to these people? Can I not be these people's friends while also sharing my faith through my life? I'm reminded of a quote that I read in my Mister Rodgers book: "Know this: You should judge every person by his merits. Even someone who seems completely wicked, you must search and find that little speck of good, for in that place, he is not wicked. By this you will raise him up, and help him return to God. And you must also do this for yourself, finding your own good points, one after the other, and raising yourself up. This is how melodies are made, note after note." - Reb Nachman of Breslov I get so frustrated with Christians who write off non-Christians when they don't make a 15 minute conversion. ARGH! For those Christians out there reading this lets remember Matthew 25:31-46. This is the passage where God says: "I was hugry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me." Then says that "Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me - you did it to me." (Message) I have to say that I try and do all those things for those in need, Christians or NOT. I've opened my home to people, I've helped others that I barely know, I've tried all I can to reach out to anyone and everyone that God's placed in my life. Now you might also want to contest me on the fact of hanging out or befriending a non-believer... let's look again at Matthew... Who Needs a Doctor? "Latter when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew's house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them. When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus's followers. 'What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and riff-raff?' Jesus, overhearing, shot back, 'Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick?' Go figure out what this Scripture means: 'I'm after mercy, not religion.' I'm here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders." - Matthew 9:11-13 (Message) I have to stop a lot of times and think about how to handle situations by trying my best to think of if Jesus was standing there, what would he do or say? The thing I remember the most is, would Jesus walk away? NO. I have to constantly remind myself that Jesus would not walk away, but in the same breath remember that Jesus would not stand for being mocked or lied about. From what I've heard lately from non-Christians regarding their view of Christians, it's not been a great image. Sadly, we've all played a part in giving ourselves a really bad name. Here is what I've found that we're known for:
  • Judgemental. 'nuff said
  • Wanting a person to change INSTANTLY to Christianity. If they don't instantly convert, then they're just a lost cause.
  • Having a very "Holier Than Thou" attitude
  • Whenever faced with a person or people who aren't Christians, friendship is not an option.
  • Did I mention Judgemental?
  • We like to judge.
  • Sterotypes and judging seem to be HUGE on the list
  • Assumptions which leads to judgements... are you getting this picture?
  • I could go on...
Sure, you might stand there and say, HYPOCRITE! My reply would be that I am only a "forgiven hypocrite". I'm human, that's for sure. I've made my fair share of mistakes and I make them from time to time. I've done a lot of praying, growing and soul searching. God's given me a heart for people and a desire to reach them. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those "Get-to-be-their-friend-so-they'll-accept-Jesus-and-move-on-and-let-someone-else-be-their-real-Christian-friend" type of person. I do love people, of all types. I like having friends and I try and make friends wherever I go. You should see the look on people's faces that after I find out everything about them, I still stand there and go... so? They stand there waiting for me to run away or go find some 'holy water' to throw on them or something to that effect. Maybe even grab a Bible and perform an exercist or who knows what they're waiting on. All I know is that they're waiting for one of those actions I mentioned before, many relating back to judging. I calmly explain to them that it is not my place to judge, but only to love. They always seem to have this expression of confusion because they're not used to a Christian having this attitude with them. Now, you may think that I'm not trying to witness to these people, but let me fill you in on something. YOU cannot change a person. Sorry, all the Bible and Christianity training in the world CANNOT teach YOU how to SAVE or CHANGE a person. The ONLY person who's going to changeĀ andĀ SAVE that person is GOD. You know, God, the one who saved you, who you pray to, who holds the world in His hands, WHO CREATED YOU... Remember Him? We seem to forget Him when we're trying to witness sometimes thinking that WE have the POWER to convert someone. WE DO NOT. FYI: REMEMBER THAT. God can use us to change a person, but if God hasn't prepared them for this change, then they won't. I pray for all of my un-saved friends for things that are happening in their life, their eternal destination and for God to be with them and minister to them. I pray that I can be the best friend I can be to them and show them what a REAL CHRISTIAN LOVE is like. I always tell my un-saved friends that it's us Chistians that give ourselves a bad name. I think sometimes we need to STOP AND PRAY INSTEAD OF STOP AND THINK. I think many times we use our mind over our heart. Just pray that God will use you and LISTEN to HIM. It's some food for thought... Well, I must end and I need some sleep. Some feedback would be GREAT. I would love to hear from Christians and non-Christians alike. God Bless, - J - P.S. Read the following song, this is what I feel: My Jesus Todd Agnew Which Jesus do you follow? Which Jesus do you serve? If Ephesians says to imitate Christ Then why do you look so much like the world? Cause my Jesus bled and died He spent His time with thieves and liars He loved the poor and accosted the arrogant So which one do you want to be? Blessed are the poor in spirit Or do we pray to be blessed with the wealth of this land Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness Or do we ache for another taste of this world of shifting sand Cause my Jesus bled and died for my sins He spent His time with thieves and sluts and liars He loved the poor and accosted the rich So which one do you want to be? Who is this that you follow This picture of the American dream If Jesus was here would you walk right by on the other side or fall down and worship at His holy feet Pretty blue eyes and curly brown hair and a clear complexion Is how you see Him as He dies for Your sins But the Word says He was battered and scarred Or did you miss that part Sometimes I doubt we'd recognize Him Cause my Jesus bled and died He spent His time with thieves and the least of these He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable So which one do you want to be? Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church The blood and dirt on His feet would stain the carpet But He reaches for the hurting and despised the proud I think He'd prefer Beale St. to the stained glass crowd And I know that He can hear me if I cry out loud I want to be like my Jesus! I want to be like my Jesus! Not a posterchild for American prosperity, but like my Jesus You see I'm tired of living for success and popularity I want to be like my Jesus but I'm not sure what that means to be like You Jesus Cause You said to live like You, love like You but then You died for me Can I be like You Jesus? I want to be like my Jesus

O-H

I-O Texas lost 24-7. Nuff Said. GO BUCKEYES! - J -

Yeah, about that car of mine…

The 2006 Nissan Altima 2.5s Special Edition is NO MORE. It has been replaced with a 2003 Saab 9-3 2.0 Tubro. :-D Pictures and more on this... later. Night, - J -

Labor Day Weekend

Greetings! I wanted to post and say hello to all my faithful readers. I'm hoping to try and get my schedule together here in September to be able to dedicate some time to my blogging. My goal is to turn this blog into not only an account of what's going on in life and what's on my mind but also to use it as a form of ministry to Christians and non-Christians alike. I think it would be nice to share some Christian thoughts each week and encourage those who read this. It occured to me during this morning's sermon in Church that I potentially have an asset to reach people and to help carry those who know Christ by "dedicating" my blogging to God. I know that concept sounds very off the wall and kind of crazy. I guess sometimes though I'm not always one to walk the "normal" path. I am working on a huge post but that will come later this week. I want to make sure I place everything in there that I can. I want to make sure that God gives me just the right words to place on this virtual page to reach the hearts of my readers out there. So, once I get the site up an running to where it should be, pass it on! Yeah, even to people who don't know me. I hope to bring some light into this dark world and maybe share my light to help other Christians burn just a little bit brighter. I'll try and write up a lot more than what's on here. Explain my life, my testimony and my calling that God's given me. So, I pray that you all (my readers, that is) will support me as I transform what started out as a simply hobby into a extension of my ministry. God bless you all, leave me a comment or send me an e-mail! - J - p.s. What do you think of the new theme?

Interesting Week and It’s only Monday

Good Evening or should I say morning. I am a diehard blogger when I am this tired but feel the need to write. As you can see my two posts below, there was some misunderstanding in my life on Monday. Let's just say it's all worked out and I've found it to be quite the blessing in disguise, but more on that much later. My good friend Bob is staying at my house while his car is getting fixed. It's different having someone else here, I've gotten quite used to being alone so another person in the house has been a nice change of pace. You know, it gets quite boring talking to the walls :-). We watched some TV tonight and he's gotten me hooked on some series, so there's more of my time devoted to watching TV :-P. Hope's birthday is Wednesday, the big 2-0. Hard to believe that soon me and my other close friends will no longer be teenagers, how strange. I talked to Shawna to let her know that "John Massie John Massie" was still around and alive. I'm trying to arrange to see her and the rest of my Marysville gang sometime in the near future. Work is going great, I'm loving my new job. I am getting settled in and I'm really enjoying some of the new challenges that I have to face. Spiritually, God's doing some work on me. I've been praying a lot for people and for myself as well. God's thankfully been showing me some things in my life that I need to improve on and areas that need some work. He's also developing a heart for people more so than I've had in the past, so that is always an interesting path to take when learning something new. Well folks, I need to get off here and go to bed, just wanted to give an updated. I'm trying to be more consistant in the updates to keep the visits regular. So, leave me some comments and let me know you all are out there! Night, - j -

It was a joke…

That's why... Life's fine now. We now return you to your regurally scheduled blogging, - J -

Why?

If only I knew why... I'll explain more later... Pray for me, - J -

Wow, what a week!

So, my week has been non-stop since Monday. It's gotten much busier as the week has progressed. It began with me working like normal in the office, then on Wednesday I had a good friend of mine buy a car so I went with him to his house so he could pick up his other car he was trading in (he was trading in two). I drove one, he drove the other, and we got the cars to the lot late that evening cleaned them out and swapped with his new car. So I didn't get to bed that night until extremely late. I was also told on Wednesday that I would be working on a server install project... cool. It was in Indiana... cool. I had to be there at 9:00 AM... NOT COOL. So this morning I got up at 4:30 AM. Yes you read that right, 4:30 in the morning and got ready and left for Indiana. It was a long drive and the job was sweet installing servers and SANS equipment, something I enjoy. I stopped at a Denny's on the way home since we don't have them in the central Ohio area anymore and had lunch. I then headed home and got home sometime after 5:00 PM. It was a great time and I enjoyed the trip, but I'm worn out. I've had friends over several nights this week, so that's been nice to not be alone so much. It also forces me to keep the house clean :-). I think tomorrow I am going to see what some of my friends are up to and/or go see my girlfriend, Beth. Then on Saturday, I might clean up some stuff in the office (paperwork and such) and then Sunday is church! Well, I need to get off here and get some sleep. Keep the comments coming! It was nice to see I still have some faithful readers out there. Later, - J -

Life Update – I’m Behind, I know…

Well, here I sit on a Sunday evening, at the iMac. I know, the last time I updated was a while back. So, I'll give you the cliff notes update on my life. The Job Well, as many of you may or may not know, I am no longer employed by Unisys at Ashland. On July 24, 2006 I officially started at Pomeroy IT Solutions in Hilliard, Ohio. I'm working in their Service Delivery department as a main lead. It's a very interesting job, meeting different clients on a daily basis (I deal with multiple companies with multiple locations). It's giving me a chance to really use some skills that were completely untapped with the previous company. It's also just nice to change up pace and what not. So, that's where I am career wise. Oh, and did I mention that I now have a 15 minute drive to and work and from work to home? Yeah, no more of that Dublin traffic to deal with! The Girlfriend Beth and I are doing great! We've been together now for about two months and I've had the time of my life. We've been to the zoo and the fair in the past month or so. Thankfully it looks like her family is moving my direction (down the street to be exact) and that will save us a bunch of time and money (driving 70 miles one way isn't cheap, even with my Altima). I know that she occasionally reads this, so hopefully she'll see that she's made me quite happy! The House I've been doing minor things here and there. I've finally gotten all the major furniture that I need so I'll have to post some pictures once I get some stuff for the walls. Nothing new really, I did finally get pictures into the frames that I've had around the house for months and got most of the crap out of all the rooms so it looks like I live here, not just moving in. My Spiritual Life A week ago I attended New Covenant church in Waverly, Ohio. My good friends Doug and Dana Campbell are the pastor (and church secretary) there. The service began by their daughter singing this beautiful song about having everything we need in our spiritual life and our desire but "What are we waiting for?". I was very moved by the song and that's where God got a hold of my heart. Then Dana got up and lead our worship service with a great song selection and wonderful commentary in-between. It inspired me to really worship God. I was lost in awe of God and His mighty power and His wonderful love, for me. Then as the sermon began Doug preached on a personal Pentecost in our lives. How we have certain traits that we need to confess and give to God and honestly dedicate our lives to Him. It is then that we begin to live at a new level with God and seek Him more fully. I know that was a bad explanation of his sermon, but that's the short version that I have time to give. Well, God had been speaking to me through the entire service and I was dying to go to the alter. I've not been down to an altar to pray since I was saved, so very many years ago. Not that I didn't want to go, but in my younger years I was scared or just didn't feel like that's what God wanted from me at that moment. This time there was no question that God wanted me down there. So when the altar was opened I was there. This wonderful man by the name of Walter came up and prayed with me. It was like God gave him the words that I needed to hear as he prayed. I was very touched by what he had to say and I was so thankful that God sent him to pray with me at that moment. Since then I've felt much different. I've faced a little more spiritual opposition, but yet at the same time I feel like I experience God at a much deeper level and that a few more doors, spiritually, have been opened for me. God has been good to me and He continues to pour out His love, grace and mercy for me. :-) To gain some more readers I'll try and post more often. I'll place it on the calendar so I remember to blog, even if it isn't thing moving and inspiring, just a simple, "hello, I'm alive and this is what my day consisted of" post. My numbers go up and down (obviously a little low lately since I haven't updated), but I'll work on raising the numbers. I'll post this post on Xanga as well to draw the readers from there over to this site. Drop me a comment and let me know you're still out there! God Bless You All, - J -