Be Strong. Be Courageous.

Tonight I was challenged to be strong. and to be courageous.

I cannot count how many times in my life I have made mistakes because I wasn't strong enough or courageous enough. There have many many opportunities when I have said too much and sometimes not said enough. There have been opportunities when I did too much, didn't do enough or did nothing at all.

Joshua 1:9 says "Have I not commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

I feel like there are many instances where Christians are criticized for doing what we are all called to do. Society tells us it isn't cool to be a Christian and to live the life that God has called us to live. There have been COUNTLESS times when I have given into societal pressures just because I got tired of hearing people comment on how I was behaving. I wasn't behaving in a bad way or an immoral way. It was actually when I would give in to these societal pressures where my morality should have been questioned most.

     Why has it become so wrong to do the right thing?

         Why is it that we think its okay to live an ungodly life?

             To live a life that goes against the exact kind of life God has called each of us to live?

 Why is it that it's so wrong to (be in) love (with) God?

 And why do we feel like we have to live an unauthentic life? Why is it that some of us spend our entire lives lying, pretending we're something we're not? Is being popular and accepted really that big of a deal? Psalm 139:1 tells us that God has searched us and knows us. So why do we continue to live a life full of lives? Why do we continually wear these masks hiding who we really are? Is this life so much more important that we want to throw away our chances of spending eternity with the one who created us? With the one who loves us more than anything else in this world?

When I was in high school I never really had a group of people I fit in with. I was more or less friends with most everyone, but I didn't have that ONE group that I really fit in with. Not at school anyways. See, I fit in best with people who i went to church from and who were usually in their 30's or 40's. I guess some would say I have an old soul.  I like to say I was just mature for my age. In a way, I was set apart. Sure, I gave in to things I didn't necessarily want to do but as a whole I did what I thought was right and what I thought I should do--not what I was told to do or what "friends" pressured me to do. I caught a lot of crap for my "Jesus shirts" and no one really understood why I wanted to talk about this Jesus guy so much or why I wanted to show people that I was a Christian. I wasn't ashamed. Maybe I was a little stubborn, but I wasn't ashamed of my Christianity.  Until my mindset began to change. I got tired of hearing the crap. It was bad enough that people were talking about what I'd say, but they were talking about the choice of clothing (my Jesus shirts I had  mentioned earlier). I wasn't concerned with the latest fashion (plus, I admit I was overweight and couldn't fit into most of the "latest fashions"). This changed my junior year in high school. I began to change. I had become a "two-faced" Christian. I had one face put on when I was with church people and a different "face" put on when I was with school folks. And honestly, my life was a lot easier. A lot happier.

Or was it?

Now that I look back on it I realize I was actually more miserable being accepted by those who I thought I wanted to be my friends than I was being tormented and made fun of by those same people. They didn't provide for me the kind of love that God had provided me with. I left Jesus in my car when I arrived at school and met him back at my car when I got out. I wasn't strong like I needed to be. I wasn't courageous and didn't stand up for what I knew was right.

The truth is, I didn't have to wear t-shirts to tell others I was a Christian. And I probably could have never said anything to anyone about being a Christian. How I acted, how I represented Jesus at school is what really matters. I can wear Jesus shirts all day long, but if I'm swearing and cussing and living life the wrong way--my actions aren't worth anything. (You have to walk the walk as well as talk the talk, you can't do one without the other--I hear this in the back of my mind constantly).

the way we live our lives IS important. I know you've all heard the saying "actions speak louder than words" and the truth is they REALLY do. But both are important. It's just as important to share the love of God verbally as it is to show the love of God in the way you live your life.

It's a life that takes both strength and courage. God gave us the ability to stand out and to stand up for Him.

"...If any want to be my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me" -Luke 9:23 (NRSV).

Jesus commanded it. So go do it!

As I sit here and write this post my heart is heavy and hurts.

I'm constantly searching for more than what I have--more answers, more questions, more desire, more knowledge, more experience...

The more I learn about Christianity (in America) the more my heart breaks. Did you know that there are over 30,000 different denominations of Christianity? And that's probably a low number. Some of you may ask why there are so many Christian denominations, and the simple answer is because of disagreements within churches. If someone disagreed with an idea or doctrine within the church, they simply split (and continue to do so--the number of Christian denominations is not decreasing). I'm not going against denominationalism because, with people, there are going to be a varying amount of differences.  But when did Christianity become about competing with the church down the street for better and bigger membership? When did church become about who can raise the most money? When did church become about making bigger hypocrites of ourselves than we already were? And when did Christianity become a battle within itself--bashing other denominations because of differences that we all have ( some we see even within our own churches).  What if we Christians put aside the differences for a minute--a second? Put aside the "correct" way to be baptized. Put aside the issue of women's roles in the church. Put aside homosexuality and abortion. Don't get me wrong--these things are important BUT there are bigger issues in the world than the issues we're currently fighting about. Issues of homelessness, malnutrition, disease and of hopelessness.

What are we doing to address these issues on a daily basis--or are we too caught up in fighting with one another we can't see the true needs of the world?

In Matthew 5:44 Jesus commands us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us. To not simply love our neighbor, but to love our ENEMY.  How can we do this if we can't even love our neighbor; our brothers and sisters in Christ? "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:34-35). There it is in the BIBLE, commanded for us to do and we're not doing it!! If we can get past the differences that separate us how much more of a positive impact could we be? Don't we all have the same basic goal in mind?? To glorify and honor the Lord. (I guess it's what that means and how we do it as to why we've gotten where we're at, huh?!)

Maybe this post makes total sense to you, I'm not sure it makes any sense to me at all but I feel like maybe I'm on to something (I just wish I wasn't so -all over the place- right now so I could concentrate and put more thought into my word, but it works for now, I guess.


GP&L,
Core

"be the change you wish to see..."

For those of you who don't know, or might not live in Arkansas, we were graced with snow last night all across the state. I live in Jacksonville, where we got between 4-6 inches. Other parts of the state got less and some parts got more than us. Now, we've been preparing for the snow for a few days now, listening to weather reports wondering how much we were going to get, wondering how road conditions were going to be--worrying about things we had no control over. However, yesterday after church and a meeting at church I was driving along the access road across from Walmart--my gosh was that parking lot FULL. That's something we could take control of--making sure we had enough groceries/supplies to last a few days JUST IN CASE. Making sure we had batteries for flashlights and candles on standby-just in case the electricity went out. Last night, before going to bed, I was honestly dreading the snow. See, being stuck inside the house with my family isn't exactly my IDEAL way to spend a day stuck anywhere , but that's another story. So as I was laying in bed last night, dreading the day that I was going to wake up to I couldn't help but start thinking about my life and how unhappy I am with it. Not in a depressed kind of way (although I did feel a bit depressed about it) but in the "I feel so unaccomplished" kind of way. I feel, in a way dead, stagnant, unmoving, STUCK.  I just don't feel like I've made a big enough of a difference in the world I'm living in (Jackonville-LR area) to matter.
So I went to sleep with a lot of stuff on my mind and on my heart.
My first thought when I woke up this morning was "great, a day at home. with my family. with really nothing to do. awesome." I wasn't too excited. After getting up, getting a shower and getting dressed it hit me how selfish I was being. I had just taken a warm shower. Just before getting the shower and waking up, I had slept in a warm bed, in a warm room. And I was putting warm clothes on my body. And hen I sat in my room and looked at the many clothes I have, the several jackets, coats and hoodies I have-not to mention all of the means of entertainment I had (computer, iPod, iPhone, games, crafts, a room that needed cleaning, books, etc). And I started thinking of those who may not be inside a warm building or have taken a (warm) shower this morning. Of people who didn't have weather appropriate clothing. --people who don't have BASIC HUMAN NEEDS.

...I was talking to a friend yesterday about Facebook statuses and what people put on him--how offensive and ridiculous they can be and how ridiculous people can make them when there's really nothing to be made of them.. Anyways, I asked her (she's not a Christian) if the posts that I posted dealing with God or bible verses offended her in anyway. My intent is never to offend or upset anyone, I simply am sharing with everyone on my friends list a Joy that I have in my life--it'd be selfish not to share it, no? She of course said it didn't offend her, but in our conversation about Christians and people of other religions she made a comment about what I call "Sunday only Christians" and how there are many people who only want to be a Christian on Sunday (morning). I think it's interesting the kind of perspective and opinion that is being given to Christians based on a certain group of Christians. Kind of like how because the 9-11 terrorists claimed to be Muslim--therefore all Muslims must be terrorists. Doesn't really seem to be the same does it? But it is. A small percentage of a certain religious group, in both situations, are representing a larger group of people who don't agree with what they're doing either. I do agree, it's time to become more than just "Sunday Christians" or "CEO's" as my pastor calls them (Christmas, Easter Only)...it's time to start living every day in a way that reflects Christ's love and the commandments He laid out for us.

The issue of people not having what they need isn't a "Christian" issue--that's not the point of this post. It's a basic-human-needs problem. It's a human problem. Not something that a certain group should be responsible for, but instead a problem that we, simply as humans, should be concerned about.
I don't want to say that I have been Blessed or that I am lucky to have all the things that I have because that would imply that those who don't have what I have aren't Blessed and are unlucky. I have been very fortunate to have parents that have provided a roof over my head, clothes and food and a job so that I can provide for myself more than I need.

I somewhat have a plan. And I encourage and challenge you to come up with a plan to change the World, one person at a time. it doesn't mean you have to have a million dollars to do something. It doesn't have to be giving away clothes or food. It could be volunteering your time at a food pantry..but it could be as simple as smiling at someone, because you never know who you might run in to--sometimes you never know the lives that you can change by something so simple.

I hope this post finds you well.

Grace, Peace & Love,

Corey

(unedited)

New Blog. First Post.

I've decided to start a new blog. Not because it's 2011 and it's a new year thus the need for a new blog. I've made a new Blog because I'm a new person than was in my previous Blog. Plus, it has been a while since I have blogged and I couldn't remember my username or password or even the email address I used (this is the true confession) But for those of you who want to check up on my last blog it was corety.blogspot.com :).

I want to keep this Blog, not for the purpose of telling you all what's going on in my life, but of ways to share with everyone different ways in which I experience God. For some stories, I'm sure it will be a more intimate experience that I share and for others it will be less intimate and less serious.  
I do ask that if you are offended by anything I say to not be. It is not my intention to offend anyone or to hurt anyone's feelings. But if for some reason I say something, then send me a personal message (if you are offended and reading this I take it you know me).
I hope and pray you find most of my postings encouraging or that you learn something from them--either about yourself or about me.


“... Let us love, not just in word or speech, but in truth and action.” - 1 John 3:18


Grace, Peace & Love,
Corey