Humbling Food For Thought...IMHO

"How is your prayer life?"

I HATE cliches. I hate them. I hate, hate, HATE them. They grate against my ears...they make me cringe. I'm pretty sure I hate them so much that I end up using them... A LOT.

The above quote is a cliche used in the Christian realm. "How's your prayer life?" or "What's your prayer life like brother?" Such a cliche, but SUCH an important and introspective question that every follower of Christ must ask themselves.

I had a great conversation with Jake Lewis today about our daily walk, ministry, and the upmost importance of prayer. We also realized how much our prayer lives just plain suck. We're good at "arrow" prayer...random prayers here and there we shoot up to God throughout the day. Cool...good stuff. Honestly, I think that is a good practice and is effective communication with God (more on that later).

But what about our personal time...our personal prayer time with God. It's so easy to just read the Bible and say we've spent time with God. Reading and knowing what the Bible says is critical to our walks with Christ, but personal communication with Jesus is just as equally and, dare I say, even more important than reading our Bibles. Every Jewish man had the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, memorized word for word...more than you and I will ever have memorized...but so many of them who came in contact with Jesus missed Him completely.

I'm sure there are non-followers of Christ who probably know more about the Bible than I do...hell, the devil probably knows the Bible word for word...but all of that means absolutely NOTHING unless that knowledge is joined with communication with God where a relationship can be cultivated. It is in that personal time that we find who we are in God, and where I believe the understanding of the power of the Holy Spirit inside us is awakened.

So often we come to the conclusion that the things the Apostles did were reserved only for them. I don't think so...they had that power and boldness because they knew Jesus. How did they know Jesus? They spent several years with Jesus; day in and day out. They all had a relationship with Jesus. They knew who they were in Christ. But then there's the statement, "Well that's not fair. They got to be with Jesus face to face."

I don't think that is a good argument at all. I LOVE 2 Peter 1:16-19:

"We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place."

It is so plain and clear here. Peter says of how he and the rest of the apostles (James and John specifically as he is focusing on the transfiguration) were eye-witnesses to the "power and coming" of Jesus. But verse 19 is the trump card. Peter, an eye-witness to Jesus...Peter who spent years with Jesus face to face says himself that the words of the prophets...words that came hundreds of years prior...are an even more reliable source of Jesus' "power and coming" than the Apostle's eye-witness.

That statement of Peter's blows my mind. I totally believe that the conclusion can be come to that we can have just as strong a relationship with Jesus as the Apostles did. This happens with daily communication with Jesus...what we call prayer...spending, what we call in human relationships, quality time with Jesus.

What is quality time with Jesus? Well, what is quality time with someone you love?

This conversation with Jake carried over to someone I absolutely LOVE: Charity :) During our Skype conversation tonight, while talking about this subject, the analogy hit me. Remember those arrow prayers I was talking about? Those are kind of like texts that people in love send to each other: "I love you baby!", "I miss you!", or "I can't wait to see you". Now, for couples who do this I'm going to go out on a limb and say that those type of texts never get old. They would get old if that was the only way you communicated with your significant other. If your relationship consisted only of superficial, on-the-surface texts like these, then...well...you wouldn't be in a relationship for long.

Those texts work and mean something because of the time you've devoted to each other...you choose to commit your undivided attention to each other several days, if not every day, of the week. Those texts merely enhance your love, and the feeling that can come with love, during the day. Charity and I text each other all day...we love it...it's so much fun to send sweet and loving texts to each other throughout the day. But the stuff that really moves our relationship forward are our 2-3 hour nightly Skype dates. My nights are reserved to talking to her...it would take a lot for something to get in the way of that. It's awesome! I love it!

Back to prayer...

I say all that to say this...does our relationship and communication with God consist just of random texts/arrow prayers during the day? Or do we set apart time daily to communicate with God and give Him our undivided attention; time of yours that no one but God can have?

What Jake and I were getting at is this: we both have awesome dreams and visions for life and ministry...of which we believe is inspired by the Holy Spirit. There are two ways we could pursue those things: 1. try to do things on our own abilities and eventually not go as far if we had 2. spent quality time in prayer and in communication with God every day and allow what we do in life to be from the overflowing of love that we experienced during those times with God.

Ok, I've said too much and there is so much more I want to say. I am challenging myself, and hopefully whoever reads this, to devote a good chunk of time each day of just spending time with God...no distractions...no music, no cell phone...nothing. Let's give Him our undivided attention...the attention He alone deserves...and I believe we'll begin to see pretty cool stuff happen because of it.

"I don't know, I'm making this up as I go."

That is one of my favorite lines from Raiders of the Lost Ark...also one of my favorite movies of all time. Also, in my opinion, it is one of the greatest action-adventure movies of all time.

I think what sets Raiders apart from most all other action-adventure movies is not its plot, elaborate set pieces, or memorable action moments...all of which are top notch and still stand so strong to this day. What sets it apart is, you guessed it, Indiana Jones himself...the globe-trotting archaeologist. I think the character Indiana Jones is one anyone can identify with. He's rough and tough, smart, witty, he can take a grazing bullet, slide under a truck, hold his breath under water for minutes on end...but yet never does he seem to have it all together. He gets his equal share of punches to the gut, he gets stuck in the traps, and he gets caught by the enemy. But of course, at the end of the day, he escapes and gets his "fortune and glory".

The aforementioned quote embodies his character completely. He's flawed...he's never sure what's next, but is determined to seek after the treasure; be it the Ark of the Covenant, the Shankara Stones, or the Holy Grail. Nothing gets in his way; no Nazis, traps, or even snakes.

I think deep down at the core of each one of us is that desire...that dream or vision for something...something bigger than us. But none of us have it all together, just like Indy. We all have that something that we are chasing, or at least want to chase, after. Some are chasing...others are sitting around talking about it. Indiana Jones never found any treasure, or accomplished anything of much importance at his cushy professor job. Don't get me wrong, that is not a knock against teachers...but it's obvious that teaching was not Indy's passion. If what you are pursuing is teaching...then that's great!

What is your passion? What is that adventure you have been dying to go on, but never had the courage to embark on. Are you afraid to fail? Are you afraid that you don't know every step of the way? Well...you won't. That's part of the fun of an adventure...not knowing where you are going and then one day being able to look back and see where you have come from and how you got where you are.

I believe that if you are not living life as an adventure then you are most certainly not living it to its fullness. Fullness is found in God alone and living life for Him is the greatest adventure.

Coming out here to Tulsa is definitely the most adventurous thing I've done so far...I'm pretty sure marriage will be the next. After that...who knows...college degree...first church plant? I have no idea how all this stuff happens, but that's the coolest part...when I live my life for Him, God will order my steps in the most mix-matched way imaginable and all of a sudden my life becomes a GREAT and UNPREDICTABLE adventure. There is no RUSH or FEELING like it. (all of the sudden this became a Perry Noble blog with my all caps :)

Pursue that dream with all you have and until you have nothing left to give. I seriously think we confuse ourselves when we think that God doesn't want us to pursue certain dreams or visions. If God is the Creator and if we are created in His image...then we have that same GREAT creativity inside us. Too many times we brush aside truly God-given gifts, because we think it would not be honoring to God. Please...that is the DUMBEST pile of crap I've ever heard...and I've listened to it too many times (unfortunately I still do from time to time) myself. As a musician you don't have to write music that has the Jesus stamp in every verse, chorus, and bridge. Just listening to music will not bring people to Christ. What about writing music that the secular crowd wants to listen to and then you, the artist, can stand strong for Christ. Write music...write, write, write, and then stand for what you believe in. I believe that is honoring to God...music that could eventually lead them to its creator, who could then turn them on to the gospel...not music that turns them off from the gospel.

Anyway...

Just think, if Indy didn't go after the Ark...then we would be in a world controlled by Nazis...melted, imploded, and exploded Nazis that is...

Live life to its fullest and most adventurous!

My New Home

This is the first entry in my prolifically popular blog in eight months! Ok, that's not all entirely true...you know...the popular part. Maybe if I were more diligent with my blog it would be more popular. Maybe...

Anyway...

So what has happened over the past eight months? A LOT! Like, a whole butt-load of stuff. Yes. Nine months ago I was just beginning Gettysburg Master's Commission. My original intention of going to GMC was to basically get my head back on straight. Nine months ago I was really not liking life at all. I thought I had dug myself a hole that I could not get out of. Sounds so dramatic I know...and in reality I wasn't even close to being at that point. But at the age of 20 it was a place I did not want to be at all. Keep in mind, this is not one of those "I gave up on God" stories. No, my faith was strong enough and knew enough that these rough patches hit every single person on this planet....born again or not....it's called LIFE (this has been a recent revelation to me by the way...the living life part).

So I went to GMC with a, what I thought at the time, very vague idea of what I wanted to do in life. I felt the call to ministry when I was in 9th grade. Nine months ago, that's still about all I had...the calling...just not sure where. At the time I was leading my youth group back home. God did some really cool stuff during my tenure there, but I saw it as more of a starting point...not something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. So I went to GMC expecting a clear-cut vision for ministry by the end of the program (which is right now).

Has that happened? Yes and no. Ambiguity ensues. Let's just say so much more happened to me. All freakin' crazy and awesome.

I came to GMC with a humbled and broken heart (various reasons that ate away at me for too long a time, but that are, praise God, no longer relevant in my life). My expectations were that God would fix all those things, the way I wanted, and then send me back to Pittsburgh. It's a funny thing when you pray, "God, Your will be done in my life", but then proceed to ask that it happen this way and that way. Sometimes I have to wonder that God hears our prayers and goes, "Que?". James 1 talks about this...doublemindedness (that might be a word). Know what you want...your way or God's way.

Fortunately, I'm pretty sure God sifted through my humble ramblings and made sense of them in the only way that God can. I think His way won out (which is a good thing :). My goals, my expectations, my views, my pre-conceived notions about almost everything were turned upside down on its head. Long story short, I started to actually receive dreams and vision for ministry and more importantly...life.

So what is my vision? I guess the short and simple answer is church planting. It's kind of funny because I don't know if there is a long answer. There are, I believe, a million details that are a part of that vision, but I'm just not sure how they all fit together right now. That was a scary thing 9 months ago (ok, so it's still a little scary...not knowing exactly for sure what to do), but I've learned a little more about faith. Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Now, I've had this verse memorized for who knows how long. But I guess my heart really didn't soak it all in until a short time ago. Let's face, I don't know how it all pans out. Nobody can ever know. But I hope and believe in God's promises especially Romans 8:28: "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

Pretty cool huh? Yeah! So cool! But what does it mean to obey God? According to the Bible, to love God is to obey Him. There are several passages that point to this, but my favorite is 2 John 6, "And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it." So how do you obey God? Read, pray, and find out for yourself :)

So put it all together, you can place your faith on the fact that if you obey God...then you are loving God. And if you love God, He will direct your footsteps.

This truth and finding confidence in who I am in Christ are probably the two greatest things I got from GMC and Freedom Valley Worship Center...ok...I'll tell you in a minute about a third HUGE thing I took away from these past nine months....:)

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A side note on vision and faith. Like Hebrews 11:1 says, if we knew everything about our vision and how things were going to play out...where does faith come into play...ultimately leading to the question, "Where does God come in?". I think Oswald Chambers said it perfectly in one of his devotionals when he said that (and I am probably bastardizing what he put so beautifully) we are never ready to receive all of our vision. God will reveal the details we need as we go along...nothing more and nothing less....just what we need. And that when God initially gives us the vision, it is not our own yet. We have to pursue God and that vision to grasp it completely.

So I am relying and know that God will reveal more and more nuggets of information along the way

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So back to church planting...

When I initially caught the bug for church planting my thought process was this: "Church planting? Cool. Pittsburgh?...plant a church in Pittsburgh!" It sounded perfect. But it was more like the fall back plan...Pittsburgh was all I knew.

Jumping way ahead to late February of this year, God opened the door (and by door I mean it was the Red Sea being parted and I could see all the way across to the other side) for me to go to Tulsa to be a part of the Freedom Valley Tulsa church plant. I more or less was sold instantly.

I was basically beside myself to know that I was going Tulsa...I felt such great purpose in my life. Way cool stuff.

About a month later in March, something else MAJOR and SUPER AWESOME happened in my life. I fell in love with a girl. I won't say that her name is Charity. She would be especially unhappy if I told you that her name was Landis.................her middle name is Joy

ANWAY

It was during a time that I was completely content in being single. I guess I was living the 1 Corinthians 7:32 life...and I was totally cool with that. I was following God to Tulsa and I couldn't be happier. But this was totally a God thing. I believe God told me, "You really like this girl"...this girl that I had admired much about but never really thought much more than that. My response to God, "You know what? I really DO like this girl." But wait....I was going to Tulsa and she's firmly set at FVWC...this couldn't possibly work.

Well...we talked... and we found out we were both CRAZY about each other. But we were questioning the whole thing and how it could possibly work out. But after much prayer and wise counsel we both trusted...we realized if this is truly a God thing...it will work out. Remember that Romans 8:28 thing? So we took the approach to take things just a day at a time and trust that if we were obeying God...He'll put it all together.

Let me just say that the short journey I have had with Charity has been, for a lack of a better word....AWESOME! It's so cool being with someone with such a passion for God and ministry and one who listens for God's voice first and not someone else's....like mine! I'm so excited for what the future holds for us :) And we are so excited to build our relationship long-distance by building on God's rock solid foundation. I'm pumped for that!

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So flash forward to right now...7:26 PM Central Time...at a Panera Bread on Lewis Avenue in Tulsa, OK. You want to know something? After all that I said above...I have absolutely NO idea what's going to happen to me during this year at Tulsa. Not a clue. I'm going through the phase of settling in...that super uncertain stage with mixed thoughts...was this the right or wrong choice? I miss Charity so uncontrollably much (so it's only been since Saturday since I saw her...don't judge me haha).

Do you want to know something else?

I'm really not worried. Not at all. I love her SO SO SO much, but my faith is not in Charity...we will fail each other over these next 12 months and many times after that. No...my hope, faith, and trust is in God alone.

Psalm 18 says, "I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.........For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God? - the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze."

A year ago at this time I was confused, uncertain, and pissed beyond belief. What has a year of seeking God first (never, ever, ever forget Matthew 6:33) changed? Everything. You may ask, "Aren't you still uncertain?" My answer is that I am 100% certain in God. And that is enough to sustain me through the good times and the bad times that will come again.

For the next 12 or so months my home is Tulsa, OK and I am so excited...in fact SUPER excited...for what God is going to do in me this year. He changed so much in me over the past year, I can't even imagine what He is going to do in me this next year. If hope like that doesn't get you excited....I'm not sure what will.

And to answer any questions of what do I do after this year? Haha, who knows. That's for God to know and me to find out. Charity and I have gone with the open-handed approach. We love each other very much, but it's God's to do with as He pleases. I'm trying to take that approach with my whole life in general...so no promises!

So, until next time...I promise it won't be eight months :)

My rant...

Hey everyone, I'm sitting here at the church (Freedom Valley Worship Center) wearing my prized Roethlisberger jersey ( ;) ) and Terrible Towel around my neck patiently awaiting the Steelers vs. Chargers game.

Anyways, there's been a rant going on inside my head for the past few weeks and it was re-kindled today...I have therefore decided to share it with the world. This rant is completely my opinion, so mind you some of my comments may seem a bit rash. But it's ok...because this is Schneetown and I can say whatever I want! yes

So today after church I was talking with a fellow music fan about the band "Delirious?". Basically we just talked about how awesome they are and how unfortunate it is that they are on their final tour. I am kind of unsettled about this as they are one of the very few Christian rock acts for me to listen to.

What I think makes Delirious? such a great Christian band is that their songs have awesome production values, yet also write excellent lyrics with great theological depth that are used in places of worship the world over....but it is music that I could recommend to a non-believer because I also think their stuff just sounds good. Do they have the space/art/glam/arena/progressive rock (haha) sound that Muse (hands down, in my opinion, the band putting out the best stuff) has, of which I love ? Not necessarily, but if you listen to their entire discography you'll hear a band that is consistently pushing their envelope and embracing musical trends of today and writing thought provoking music...which is such a cliche thing to say, but I said it anyway :).

Call me ignorant, but I think the majority of everything else in the Christian music scene (besides specifically worship groups) is garbage. Yikes.

Casting Crowns? Eh, no.

Christ Tomlin? nope

MercyMe? please

Don't get me wrong...these artists have and, Lord-willing, will continue to write great, inspirational worship songs...but these songs sound INFINITELY much better when I hear another worship leader/team lead them. I want to hear Christian music that isn't cookie cutter crap. Take a band like Delirious and the way they arrange songs and I dare you to re-capture that sound. I don't know, there's just something about the combination of their lyrics, production values and creativity that for the longest time has had them way above everyone else in the Christian scene.

I want to hear more bands like them. In the secular realm you have the aforementioned Muse that is just tearing up the music scene. There's the always reliable Coldplay that just produces results. You listen to theses bands and they ooze with creativity. Now don't get me wrong, there are plenty of stinkers in secular music, but there is just so much more to choose from. However, that should not be a reason to be satisfied.

This rant also extends to the movie industry. I love movies. Let me say that again. I. LOVE. MOVIES. I love them so much so that I rarely call them movies; instead I call them filmsbecause it makes me feel sophisticated (haha). I consider myself to be a connoisseur of sorts when it comes to film. If I wasn't called to full-time ministry I'd either be at Berklee School of Music for...music, or I would be at USC or UCLA for film. Anyway, I pride myself on my taste in film and I'm sure I can seem kind of arrogant when friends recommend movies to me and I'll just say, "no". Because you can tell when a movie is going to be TERRIBLE.Transformers....woohoo right? No. Michael Bay should have his credentials for the DGA (Director's Guild of America) revoked. It's highway robbery the way he steals money from people via eye candy with no substance. You can spot a sappy, melodramatic "chick flick" from a mile away (yes there are good "chick flicks" out there). It's unfortunate how movies are churned out by the masses; quantity over quality. It's unfortunate how one of the greatest films of all time Star Wars, my personal favorite, started what is now the summer blockbuster season...an endless wave of mostly effects-laden, shallow films that look bright and sound loud. It's unfortunate that a brilliant film like No Country For Old Men comes about and the majority of the viewing audience is upset over the ending. Come on it makes perfect sense. That was Tommy Lee Jones' movie...not Josh Brolin's and not Javier Bardem's. Those two just happened to be taking place in Jones' world where he, an old man, is struggling to find a place in the world he lives in....hence the title.

There was a point I was trying to make here...

Oh yeah...Christian movies! That's it!

So what about them? They're garbage. They're awful. There is nothing good about the Christian movie industry...if you want to call it an industry. Left Behind? Come on. Facing the Giants? Come on. Garbage.

What's with all the hating? Call it hating if you want, but I'm calling it how I see it.

Compare Left Behind and Lord of the Rings. How can you? One is crap...the other is gold. One had no budget the other definitely had a budget. One had Cloud Ten Pictures (who is that?)...and the other had New Line Freakin' Cinemas. It seems like an unfair comparison...in fact it is. But I pray that one day we can compare a Christian film to The Godfather on an even plane (Luke 1:37).

Where is the point? I promise you, there is one :) .

The point is, I'm tired of how awesome and amazing worldly music and movies are and how much, for the most part, Christian music and movies just suck. Where is the Christian Muse? Where are the Christian Spielbergs? Where are the Christian Kubricks? Could you imagine a Christian David Lean (director of Lawrence of Arabia and Bridge on the River Kwai) painting a beautiful canvas of a movie for the Kingdom of God?

Come on how awesome would that be? Before you say, "That couldn't happen"....IT CAN!

The Blair Witch Project was shot on 8mm for under $1 million....and it was huge. Where are the Christian creative minds that have a passion to make great movies or great music?

This extends beyond film and music. Christians should be the best at whatever they do, they should be the best musicians, the best filmmakers, the best accountants, the best journalists. Christians doing their best does not pertain to just those who are pastors or evangelists.

Believe me, I'm not perfect at this...far from it. I struggle with giving my all in everything I do. Those who have served with me in ministry and those who have been under me know this first hand. So this is as much a charge to me as it may be to someone else.

Mediocrity sucks. I paraphrase General Robert E. Lee when he said, "anything worth doing is worth doing right." Kingdom work is worth doing...it's worth doing right. If you have a passion or gift for music...be the best freakin' musician you can be. If you aspire for filmaking...be the best freakin' filmaker you can be for the glory of God.

I'm challenging myself to do this. To be the absolute best God has called me to be...and not be mediorce

/rant

DISCLAIMER: The beauty about music is how subjective one's perception of what "good" music is. Again, the statements made above are my opinion, but I hope they somehow stir up in you the drive for excellence in everything you do and to do it for Christ...because that's what our gifts and creativity are for.

My First Musing....

Hey everybody! Right now when I say everybody I am saying "Hey" to myself as I am the only person in the world that knows I have a blog...that will change, though it will not change just by itself, but by me telling others "Hey I have a blog, you should read it!" Circumstances won't change by hoping for change....circumstances change by actively doing something about them. But that's for another day...

What I would like to muse (muse - to be absorbed in thought...and also a great band) about today is inspired by Jason Fitch's sermon from yesterday (9/28/09) on the fear of the Lord. His preaching was based around Acts 5:1-11 - the story of Ananias and Sapphira. The gist of Jason's sermon was this: don't trifle with God. To trifle means to treat someone or something with little respect. Ananias and Sapphira trifled with God by lying, saying that all the money they were giving to God was all they had received from selling a piece of land. But really, they were only giving a portion of the money. The wrong done here is not that Ananias and Sapphira did not give all the money...the wrong is that they lied about the amount they were giving. If they would have told Peter that they were only giving a portion, there would have been no harm done. There were other points that Jason made which were excellent, but the moral of the story is to not try and lie to the One who knows all things.

So why am I blogging about this? Well, while Jason was preaching I asked myself a question; a question I always ask when I read this story: why was this happily married couple struck down dead back then for lying to God and yet when people lie to God now (we all do) they live to see another day? Let me make a note by saying that if I were a betting man I would bet God has struck someone else dead in their tracks over the last 2000 years. But why this exclusive event?

While I asked myself this question yesterday I believe the Holy Spirit answered me with this, "The answer to your question is the same answer to the question 'why don't we see miracle healings today?'...it's a lack of faith and spiritual maturity in the church "*

That really made me start to think. You may be asking, "So if I had enough faith I could choose to strike down dead whoever I wanted to?" That's not the point I'm trying to make, though that would be pretty sweet... :) Look at the first church in the Book of Acts. It is the model for how church should be. We haven't improved church by adding Powerpoint presentations or videos...the last time I checked we haven't seen thousands come to Christ in a matter of days. Without a doubt the people of the first were a faith-filled people. Through the Holy Spirit, the Apostles knew who they were. Without arrogance they new they were bad dudes. One of my favorite passages in the Bible is in Acts 4:19-20 when Peter and John are before the Sadducees who are telling Peter and John to stop preaching about Jesus. Peter's response in verses 19-20: "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen or heard. "

Only a person that has faith in God knowing that He has their back says something like that. Who else besides me thinks they might melt under the same circumstances? Definitely not the apostles and I believe that this great faith wore off onto the members of the first church as well.

So how does that happily married couple that was struck down dead come into play? Here's how: The church in Acts had something special going on...they were a unified body. Acts 2:42 "And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need." The church was operating as a unified body. From what we read everybody got along and the Spirit was able to move freely because of this unity. Never since has the Holy Spirit moved in a body of believers as it did here. Three chapters later come Ananias and Sapphira who lie to God. BAM! They're dead. Why? Because that lifestyle of lying could have crippled this great, unified body. I believe that Ananias and Sapphira served as an example to the people and that for the greater good of the church it was better that the couple be removed from existence than potential fission...makes sense to me.

Now look at our church today. Where are the miracles? Where are the great workings in the church? Before those questions we must answer these: Where is the faith? Where is the body? The church standard of today is set a lot lower than in Acts. I believe that in Acts with the great power and unity that was in the church came an even greater responsibility to maintain purity and righteousness; hence the death of the happily married couple.

What if we truly desired to go from faith to faith and chose to become more like the church in Acts? I think we would see a great increase in signs and wonders, but I also think there would be a smaller room for error within the church.

So yeah, that's what's going through my head and it may have sounded better there than typing it out, but there it is. Please don't see this as me being dogmatic, it was just a new revelation to me.

Until next time...

*Miracle healings are taking place today, but too often they are not found in the modern luke-warm church...they are found where people are desperate for God and relied on Him for all their needs, just like the people in the Book of Acts were.

It's about time!

So I finally joined this part of the social network we call the internet (I will NEVER use twitter). For those who decide to indulge themselves in reading my exquisite blog (ok, I'm not that egotistical), I hope you can somehow benefit from my thoughts and reflections of life and what the Holy Spirit is teaching and leading me in...as well as some crazy stuff as I can be a very random person.

That's all for now!

God Bless!