Welcome aboard the cruise ship called Life!

This past Sunday, we visited Calvary Church here in Charlotte; and the pastor, Dr. John Munro, gave an interesting sermon about why the world is the way it is when God is supposed to be so good and loving. He basically covered two basic truths:

1) God is soverign - meaning He does what pleases Him...after all, He did create the universe right? Daniel 4:35&37 say, "He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him: 'What have you done?'...Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything He does is right and all His ways are just." God does what He wants, but His will is never sadistic...He is a just God...

2) We are responsible for our actions - You learned it in school: every action has a reaction. Galations 6:7 says, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. " It's a simple truth...for every act, there is a consequence, good or bad. We make choices in this life, and those choices we make affect our lives and the lives of those around us. Things are often bad on this world because...well...we mess it up!

But Dr. Munro put these two items together into a very awesome illustration, in my opinion: a cruise ship. Now think about it: a cruise ship is MASSIVE...a city on the sea, so to speak. But that ship is controlled by a Captain...and that Captain is in charge at all times. A passenger can't go up to give their opinion on which way the ship should be going...that's the Captain's job. But within the ship, there is freedom: if you want to eat, you can eat. If you want to catch a show, you can do that. The same goes for swimming, catching sun, working out, or just taking a nice nap. You're free to do it all on the cruise ship. Get it? We run around this planet doing as we please...but God is still in control. He's still the Captain of this cruise ship we call life. I think we need to put those two points together: God's control and our actions. Instead of making blind decisions, we need to make them based on what God wants. That way, all things will work in harmony in the Lord...and He will bless it! I think you'll find that if you do things within God's will, it'll all work out well. Just listen to God's instruction (aka the Bible) and heed what Proverbs 16: 20 says, "Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is He who trusts in the Lord."

A Person on Whom One Relies....

Yup, that's dictionary.com's definition of trust. And even better, the example it gives does all the work for me: "God is my trust." Awesome!

Proverbs 16:25 says, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." Wow...that's heavy stuff...but it's oh-so-true. How often in our lives have we said "I wish I didn't do that"? Too many times, in my experience. So why do we insist on doing things our own way? Well simply put, I think the issue is time. We live in a society of instant gratification, where time is money and quick results are key. Trust in the Lord, however, requires faith...and faith requires a lot of patience because God's timing is perfect...and God's timing is definitely NOT our timing! Just put everything in God's hands and everything will be ok. Yes, I know it's easier than it sounds, but here's one of my experiences:

Over a year and a half ago, I made the decision to attend graduate school, however at the time I was the type to stay near home, so I didn't entertain the thought of leaving Connecticut at first. The search process eventually became frustrating because there wasn't much offered, so I asked God to show me His will for my life, and as I conducted my search, I put my trust in Him that He'd show me where He wanted me to go. One evening I was looking through a list of schools and UNC-Charlotte came up, and there was a stirring in my heart...I knew that's where God wanted me! Oh my campus tour, our guide was from Campus Crusade, a group I was affiliated with as an undergraduate. God isn't the God of coincidences! ;) So to Charlotte I went. It wasn't easy, but I absolutely love it here....I love my school, my friends, and God has blessed me with the most amazing girlfriend who is not only a joy, but supports me in my walk with the Lord as well. Now imagine if I'd stayed in Connecticut or had gone elsewhere...yeah, not so good eh?

So remember, ask God to guide your decisions and don't let your shouting pride get in the way of God's leading voice. Pray hard and God will show you His will for your life and I promise you it'll be awesome....after all, Jeremiah 29:11 says, " 'For I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' " What an amazing promise! Proverbs 16:3 offers more advice, "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."

For further reading, Boundless.org has published a three-part article titled "God's Will for My Life" so check it out: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

Now for some participation: leave a comment and tell us your story about trusting in God and how it turned out for you. Got any questions? Leave em there too. God bless, y'all

~Chris

Jeremy Camp Unplugged!

This Sunday Bekah and I traveled down to Lexington, SC to see Jeremy Camp in concert. It was awesome to finally get to see him because he cancelled his performance at Sonfest due to personal reasons. When I got the tickets in the mail, I found out it was an Unplugged performance and not his usual rock show. I was down with that, because his Live Unplugged CD is very cool. The drive was not bad at all, we stopped for some dinner before going to the church to get in line. There was maaaaybe 400 people at the show, so it was a small, intimate concert and Jeremy came out and played for two whole hours with his band! Great stuff, I tell ya! I'd post some pics from the concert, but while they look fine on my laptop, they look horribly dark on my computer here at work, so I need to work on lightening them even more. Needless to day, Jeremy Camp really loves the Lord and it shows in his music and his performance. He took the time to give his testimony and to share the gospel with those in attendance. The highlight of the evening, in my opinon, was the impromptu southern gospel jam they played...it was hilarious. I definitely encourage everyone to check out Jeremy Camp if he's in your neck of the woods and he's got a new CD out on Oct 31st, so get on that too. It's a relief Jeremy embraces his faith and is more than willing to share the gospel message with others, even if it eats up some concert time. After all, that's the most important thing!

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek."
~Romans 1:16

I commend Jeremy for sticking to his beliefs and sharing them...far too often do artists want to distance themselves from the "Christian label" and unfortunately, The Message gets lost in the process.

So this brings me to ask this: what constitutes a Christian band? Do they have to have a Christian message? Do the members have to just be Christians? Are bands like POD, Lifehouse, and U2 Christian bands? Tell me what you think! Leave your comments!

Bienvenidos!

Hey all,

Welcome to my new blog! I'm gonna try my very best to update it regularly and post things that are - in my opinion - insightful, thought-provoking, and fun. I absolutely encourage commenting, but please keep it clean, polite, and civil. Remember the golden rule...if you don't know it, read Matthew 7:12! Our faith is something we shouldn't keep to ourselves, and our walk with the Lord is a learning process, so I hope we all share and enjoy life together!

God bless,

Chris