American Christianity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cncEhCvrVgQ&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1

This was not one of my devotionals, but it was a video one of my friends had posted on their wall. It's an hour long, so you probably won't have time to watch it. I had a Sunday afternoon to spare, so I watched it. I do not cover nearly as many points that he made, but I do cover a few. This man was asked to speak at an annual christian conference, just once. What he said, he knew that he probably would make people mad, and he probably would not be asked back. He talked on how "American Christianity" is way off than what was taught even 50 years ago. I have quoted some of the things he said in this blog. This man, Paul Washer, is a preacher who doesn't do alot of his work in America, but in other countries. He has seen people die for their religion. In America, you do not have to necessarily worry about being shot because you are a Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Buddist, or any other. But, this man did realize that we are being taught wrong. I watched and listened to him talk, and I am still trying to fully understand what he was saying. This is probably because I have been told my whole life that if I asked Jesus into my life, even just once, then I would go to heaven because Jesus died for my sins and he has forgiven all of them. Part of this is true, He did die for my sins, and I am forgiven. But, I have to daily walk with Him and I have to constantly be working on my relationship with Him. God says we were born sinners, we were born dishonoring Him, that even our greatest works are dirty rags in His eyes. It is not a one time thing where I ask God into my life, and it is not something that I should do again and again every summer at church camp or at a revival. You know you have God in your life when there is a supernatural change in your life. Your whole thinking is turned around. We have to want to be like Jesus Christ, not like the world or like the celebrities. The Bible tells us to examine ourselves and test ourselves to see if we are in the faith. Paul says that everyone claims to be a Christian. 85% of them do not go to church or worry about pleasing the Lord, but they are saved because a preacher somewhere told them they were saved. Many people acknowledge that Jesus is Lord, Satan acknowledges that Jesus is Lord, but the devil is unholy. The only way that anyone will be saved is through Jesus Christ. In Matthew 7:14 is says, "But small is the gate, and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Only a few find it, so of everyone who claims to know Jesus, only a few are known by Jesus and allowed to come in. In America, we like to think that anyone and everyone who has asked Jesus into their hearts, even if they did it 40 years ago, will go to heaven. But the case is, does Jesus still know you like he did 40 years ago at Bible School when you asked him to come into your life. You may know who Jesus is, but what matters is if Jesus knows who you are. Matthew 7:22 "Many people will say Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons, and perform many miracles. And then I will say, 'I never knew you, away from me you evildoers!'" You have to have a personal relationship with Him. You can't go through the motions, or conform to the world and expect to get into heaven. Most of what we know to be "Christian" is what we hear in songs, or read on t-shirts, but we don't get it from the Bible. All Christianity in America is cliches. In America, no one tells us we are wrong. We just conform and want to be accepted by everyone else. "The person who loves you most, will tell you the most truth. A false prophet will tell you what you want to hear, he will never rain on your parade and keep you so happy that you won't think about if you are truly saved or not, because he told you you were. You don't tell men they are saved, you tell men how to be saved. God tells them they are saved."
 "One of the greatest evidences that you will be born again is that God will NOT let you talk as your flesh might want to talk, God will NOT let you dress as the sensual world and the sensual church will allow you to dress, God will NOT allow you to walk like the world, talk like the world, smell like the world listens to the things the world listens to. God will make a difference in your life."

Don't Forget

Reading: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=numbers%209:4-12&version=NIV

I don't really think the reading goes alot with what I am going to talk about, but my lesson made me think of this. It told me to pick something that would make me remember to praise God throughout my day, like a picture or some friends or a rock that I had found. It made me think about how I don't take enough time everyday to really thank God for what He has done in my life. My life is very hectic and very stressful and I'm always on the go. However, whenever I am in my car, it is ALWAYS on k-love. The music on there is so uplifting and they always have something positive to say. I have decided to make a poster that I am going to hang on my ceiling that says, "PRAISE GOD." I normally fall asleep praying every night, but I find myself not talking to God when I first wake up. So hopefully this poster will make me think to do that. God does so much for me during the day, and I do not give Him nearly the credit He deserves. I pray before a quiz or test, just something simple like, "God, I know I can do this, please help me through this," but other times I don't. God deserves so much more glory than we give Him. One of my favorite verses is 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17, "Be joyful always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances for this is Gods plan for you through Christ our Lord." It says to give thanks in ALL circumstances, not just sometimes when we feel like if we are pleading for Gods help. We need to pray CONTINUALLY, not just when we go to bed or get up, but we need to constantly be in tune with God. Another thing I think about, which I am very guilty for is, if we opened our Bible as much as we do facebook or our texts, what a better person we would be. I am trying so hard to make time for God more often in my day. I am constantly checking my messages all the time. The least I can do is spend 10 minutes in my Bible everyday. 

The Offering

Reading: Leviticus 4:32-35
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=leviticus%204:32-35&version=NIV

In this time, they gave animals as sacrifices. In this case it was a lamb. Why did God was them to sacrifice a lamb for their sins? Think Jesus, Lamb of God. I think that is enough to answer the question. Jesus died so that we could be forgiven. The lambs were sacrificed to be forgiven before Jesus came. When we sin, we are requiered to ask for forgiveness. We don't have to sacrifice an animal, becuase we are already forgiven. In a sense, Jesus is the sacrifice of God. Not that he sinned, but God gave up His Lamb so that we could be forgiven. Thats why Jesus is called Lamb of God. Today, asking for forgivenss is much simpler than taking a lamb and killing it and burning it. All you have to do is talk to God.

Daily Devotional

I have decided to go a new way with my blogs. Since this is named "Ellie's Excerpts," I decided I should do something where I have to give my thoughts. I recently started this devotional book called The Message Remix: Solo. So for some of my blogs, I am going to talk about the devotionals that I had that I really liked.
Here we go...

Day 3 October 19, 2010
A Picture of Forgiveness

The readings come from Genesis 50:15-21
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+50%3A15-21&version=NIV

Think:
When I read this passage the phrase that stuck out to me was, "Don't you see, you planned evil against me but God used those plans for my good." This reminded me of the people who have hurt me in my life. The ones that I put my complete trust in and they just ran me over. This gave me a whole new perspective on how to look at those situations. Yes, I did get hurt, but I learned from it and became a better person. God takes those situations and you somehow grow or receive from them. As the saying goes, "Everything happens for a reason." God has a plan for you Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future...You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, and will bring you back from captivity." God knows what is going on in your life, but he has a plan that will be for your benefit. All you have to do is seek Him and trust Him. Let him know that He is the one guiding you. Then He will set you free from any grudges or hurt you have. You are completely free only when you are completely with Him.

Fly With Christ

Haunted Houses

I love going to the haunted houses. I think they are fun even though I freak out every time. I recently went to the haunted houses with my sister, two friends, one of their dads, and my dad. We started out with the zombie farm. I think this one by far was the scariest. Maybe it was because it was the first one we went to but, regardless, it was good. There was a teenager working outside that took our tickets. He made us laugh before our doom. We started going through and came to an open graveyard, but we didn't know where to go so we just ran in circles. This reminded me of a Scooby Doo show where Shaggy and Scooby are running around trying to find a way out. After we lived through the Zombie Farm, we went to the Insane Asylum. This one wasn't as scary, but it was still good. At one point someone was chasing us and all four of us went through a door at the same time. Then we went to round a corner, and someone met us on the other side. We backed ourselves up and rammed into a wall. So then we had ourselves cornered. We finally got around the man and ran out! Thank goodness! After that adventure, we went to the Catacombs. This is held in the basement of the old courthouse. You have to walk down these set of stairs, and before we ever got our tickets, my friend had a death grip on me. I'm not really sure who designed this basement, but it wasn't planned very well. The ceilings were  low and the had pipes running all over them. The floor wasn't even even. You were constantly stepping over mounds or squeezing through holes. It was the coolest one out of the haunted houses. I had a really good time and I enjoy going to them, even though I scream alot!

Taken

I am NOT a scary movie watcher. Unless I have someone to hold my hand and a sweatshirt to cover my face, I do not watch scary movies. Even if I don't watch the movie, I still jump when something happens. Even though most scary movies are very predictable, they get me everytime. Of the few scary movies I have actually watched, Signs wigs me out the most. This is because of its real life feeling that the alien is really going to be in your pantry or walking through my cornfield. The Lovely Bones also really really scared me. It mainly made me mad becuase I wanted to yell at them and tell them the nieghbor killed her. He obviously had something wrong with him. The one movie that scares me the most, is Taken. This is mainly because my absolute worst fear is to be kidnapped. I am terrified that someone is going to take me and I am going to be raped and killed. The whole time I watched that movie, my face was in my knees and I was jumping every 2 minutes. To make matters worse, I always seen to attract the freaky men. On more than one occasion, men at the gas station have felt the need to talk to me. One time left me in tears. I had to go at night so that I could make it home. I called my dad becuase I really did not like the idea of going to a gas station in the dark, but he told me I would be ok. So, I get the the gas station and I notice this man with long white hair across from me filling up his car. He goes inside and comes out and has two mountain dews. He continues to come over to me and offer a me one of the drinks. I politely turn it down and rush to get my gas cap back on. However, I had a gas cap that you had to have a key to get on and it was difficult to put back on. This time is was giving me heck, which probably had nothing to do with my nerves. In a panic because I notice the man in taking his sweet time washing his windows, ALL of his windows, I get my phone and call my dad. I mainly wanted someone to be a witness if I was kidnapped, but in the movies they tend not to bother you if you are on your cell phone (a trick my friends and I use all the time when we are walking to our cars.) I'm trying to be descrete about telling my dad that a freaky long white haired man just offered me a drink and was washing all of his car windows, and he tells me just to go inside until he leaves. So, I leave my gas tank open, doors locked, and I march myself (more like power walk) into the store. I walk around the store for about 5 minutes trying to kill time until he leaves. I'm sure the workers in the gas station thought I was crazy. I finally booked it out of the store, got in my car, and locked the doors. I drove off and made sure no one was following me. It was one of the wierdest things that has ever happened to me.