Merry Christmas!

So, I feel like most of these posts so far have been super in-your-face, and for the holiday season I just want to use this space to glorify God! You see, Christmas comes earlier and earlier every year. It used to start on December 1st. It started creeping up, moving to the day after Thanksgiving, and now the beginning of November for many stores and some families. At some point we will literally find ourselves knee deep in wrapping paper, bows, name tags, and ribbons--sound familiar? Our normal driving playlists are replaced by Christmas music like Trans Siberian Orchestra, renditions of the Nutcracker, and classics like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman. The tree is decorated, lights are on the bushes, we're ready for Christmas. Bring it on. But are we really completely ready yet?

Our brains are flooded with words like "gifts". Shopping. Stockings. Tree. Decorations. Family. Parties. Turkey. Cards.

In the midst of the holidays, even if you're in a heckuvarush like the Whos in Whoville, we all need to make time to think about words like "Christ." The first half of "Christmas." Peace. Hope. Savior. Joy.

It's a little sad that we're so incredibly busy with all these earthly things that it's seen as taking a break from the holidays to make time for the real reason for the season. But that's the way it is, and you simply can't miss your office party, and school party, and team party, etc. And that's great. Go to all of these things, have fun, Christmas only comes once a year. Just remember why you're doing all these things, why the chill in the air is somewhat tolerable for one more month before winter becomes tiring, why the smile on your face is a little bit warmer.

"In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while^[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.
⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told." 

I can't sum it up much better than Luke 2:1-20. 

Merry Christmas and God Bless!

"I'm not a Christian because I hate church."

"I mean, I don't know if I believe in Jesus or not, but the times I've been to church I've hated it because it's just a room full of self-absorbed judgmental people pretending to worship to make themselves feel good about themselves."

That's in quotations because I can't tell you how many times I've heard this.

First thing's first. I totally understand that some people in church were partying into the early hours of the morning. I understand that some of them may be whispering about how they don't like the way you dressed. I understand that they do things they shouldn't be doing. But church isn't for perfect people, and it's not a place where people go to feel perfect. It's a safe place for sinners, it's where people go to ask for forgiveness and to ask for help dealing with things that maybe you can't even imagine having to deal with. You see their pictures on Instagram where they're holding red solo cups, but you don't see the thoughts inside their head, or when they break down because they don't know how to turn their lives around. So, when you say, "Why do they even go to church? They're not true Christians", you're stooping to their level. Below their level, even, because who are you to decide who is worthy of Jesus? The Bible itself says, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord" (Psalm 150:6.) Let EVERYTHING praise. That means you can worship how you want, that means a man in prison can worship however he wants, that means anyone can worship however they want. It doesn't matter if you think they're good enough to step in a church. What matters is that they came. If you choose not to go to church, that's fine, it's not for everyone, but don't feel all high and mighty because you choose your sins differently. We are all sinners, we are all equally loved, and we all have a right to come close to God in our own timing and our own way.

The most common complaint I've heard about church is that it's full of judgmental people. You know what? It's true. Church is full of judgmental people. So is school. Work, too. The restaurant you go to on Saturday nights to watch ball games? Also full of judgmental people. So is the movie theater you went to last Friday, the airport you'll be flying out of for Christmas break, and so is the prison on the edge of town. The night clubs, too. We are all judgmental people. We're all guilty of the above paragraph--looking at someone and wondering why they would bother going to church. We've all looked at someone on the beach and thought they could have picked out some better swimwear. We've all been annoyed beyond repair with someone because their personality just clashed with ours. We've all felt really good about ourselves walking through Wal-Mart. So once again, if church isn't your thing, there's nothing wrong with that. But stop using this as an excuse, because you are just as judgmental as every one of them.

"Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" -Matthew 6:26

God feeds every single one of us. Don't try to assume his roles and decide who deserves His love. He's got it all figured out.

"I owe it all to [insert band name here]."

It's something you hear a lot. We all have our indie playlists that play on repeat on sad nights, our rap playlists when we need an energy boost, and our country playlists for when the sun is out and the sky is bright blue. Ask someone if a particular song or album has made an impact on their life and they'll probably say yes in a heartbeat. Ask someone if there's an artist that saved their life and they might again say yes. Yes, that they were going through a super hard time and the only thing that got them through was that band. They were at the end of their rope until they heard that one song. And then their life finally started to turn around.

That's great and all. Amazing, because in today's society if someone is feeling really down on themselves it's a miracle if something has the power to change their mind. The thing is, though, that if you are literally putting your life in the hands of the world, if you're relying on something materialistic like a Spotify playlist for your happiness, hope, and sense of purpose, while it might be bringing you temporary joy, you're going to end up right back where you started, or worse. The only thing out there that can really save you is God. The only one out there that you owe anything to is God. Because whether you ever knew it or not, whether you choose to believe it or not, that band was not getting you through. God was. Get to a place in your life where you trust in Him so much that He can get to you directly--stop putting up barriers. Stop making God use all these materialistic things that you, for some reason, have invested yourself in, to speak to you. You don't think He cares enough about you to help you? If you simply get rid of all these distractions for just a moment, you'd be surprised what He had to say if you were just quiet enough. You'd also be surprised how much your outlook on life would change if you'd click on a happier playlist for once.

While it's totally okay to have your favorite music artists, and to go to their concerts and buy their t-shirts and stalk them at the airport, don't let your priorities get out of order. Because God is something you will always have to fall back on. That new album is only going to be of any use to you until the next one comes out, and you move on, and you start letting those songs control you instead. Let go and let God. 

"In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." -Mark 7:7

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." -Romans 12:1-2

"The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them!" -Psalm 135:15-18

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." -Ephesians 2:8

"School leaves me with no time for God."

It's sad but true. Some of us are waking up at 5:30 am or earlier to get to morning practice for sports or attend help sessions, then we spend 7-8 hours in a desk, mindlessly copying notes from the board and trying to keep our eyes open, and then we get home from school anywhere from 3-9 pm depending on how long our after school practices and club meetings go. Then what? We sit down for another two hours to do even more school work, because the entire day we just spent on campus obviously wasn't enough. Our parents talk about how they miss seeing us. Coaches get mad if we have to skip because of a big test the next day. If you participate in athletics don't even think about a social life on the weekdays--save it for the weekend. Or, of course, you could technically go hang out with your friends on a Wednesday night, as long as you're okay with not doing so well on your test on Thursday. But your parents wouldn't be, so you stay in. And instead of focusing on your homework you kind of end up sitting thinking about the things you could be doing instead, the things that would better you as a person, introduce you to new people, teach you real life lessons, maybe even give you the chance to spread Jesus's light to someone else. Your endless pile of math worksheets can't do that. It won't, and it never will. Because nowhere in the Ten Commandments does it say, "Thou must fully understand the Pythagorean Theorem." The thing didn't even exist back then. It didn't need to. We as humans are becoming so self absorbed that instead of doing what we came here to do, to spread God and live for Him, we're living for ourselves. We're "educating" ourselves on material things that won't make a difference when we get where we're going, when we should be educating ourselves on life--people, places, relationships, how to work with others, how to love others, and how to love God. We're trying to use numbers and scientific terms to "fix" things that were never broken, and we're trying to put a quantity on something limitless.

You always hear these quotes about how you don't know how much time you have, and how you need to act while you still can because God might need to call you home tomorrow, or even ten minutes from now, as morbid as that probably seems. We don't know what's going to happen. We don't know His plan for us. So, why are we acting like we have all the time in the world, spending hundreds of thousands of hours with our noses stuck in books full of "facts" and "rules" written by humans created no more superior than ourselves, when there's a book called the Bible with the only information we've ever needed to know all right there in front of us? Why are we developing hypotheses about how the world works when it's all right there in Genesis?

This is today's world. I'm not going to be able to come up with some life changing solution in this post, because there isn't one. We're required to go to school. It's near impossible to be employed without a degree these days, anyway. However, when you're studying a subject that means less than nothing to you, or maybe your brain just isn't grasping the concept and you're way low on sleep, just remember that God comes first. Make Him your priority. It doesn't matter how much homework you may have, or how busy you are with practice. You need to take time for Him, for prayer and thoughts and conversation, truly taking a moment to listen to Him, or you're just going to keep getting lost over and over again. You also need to make time for you. I don't care how important your tests are; if you're not getting enough sleep, close the books and turn out the light. Wake up early enough to eat a healthy breakfast. Something like school, something so far from our true purpose, isn't worth wrecking your mind and body over. You'll never be able to focus on God when you're stressed on worldly things. So, while it's important to try your very best, because God gave us talents and potential and it is indeed a sin to not even give reaching that potential a shot, never feel like your best isn't good enough. Because when you're standing at the gates of heaven, your GPA won't matter, but the way you went about it will. It's a fine line that you don't want to cross on either side. Work as hard as you can. Get the highest grades you can. They may not matter in the grand scheme of things, but they are what's in front of you, and there's nothing you can do about it, so be the best student you can be. However, know when to stop. Respect yourself and respect the body God gave you. Your health comes before your homework. Leave yourself time to let your light shine onto others. Help people out when they're having trouble. Smile at someone in the hall. Compliment a girl's outfit even if you may not be caught dead in it. Tell someone they look beautiful, because no matter what they look like in your opinion, they are beautiful. Do all of these things and live like Jesus would.

Don't let anything get in the way of what God has planned for you. Not even the one material thing that's supposed to be "guaranteed to give you a future." Because I can tell you right now God is the one holding your future, not a college admissions board member.

"I feel purposeless."

This is something that I've been really struggling with for the past year or so, and lately it has really been on my heart, and after praying about this a lot I think I finally have enough of a grip on it to write about it.

Ever heard, "Faith in God includes faith in His timing?" Probably. By itself, it doesn't really help anything. Most people already know that you're supposed to be patient in God and understand He does things on his own time, not yours, but restating that does nothing. It doesn't help that the fact that maybe your life feels like it has stayed the same for days, months, or even years.

Something that might change the way you look at it is, "God never says no. He only says yes, soon, or I have something even better in mind." We have a loving God who has these amazing plans for us, and the most stressful thing in the world is wondering if you've missed your shot, if you had one chance and you blew it and didn't even know it, if you completely looked over the opportunity that was supposed to change your life or if you already met the person you were supposed to be with and kept on walking. So when you get your heart set on something, you start to really depend on it, and you are for sure that that is God's plan, and there's no other way, and you won't be able to go on without whatever it is. But it may or may not be His plan. And if it's not? Don't expect it to be easy. So many people expect their lives to become perfect when they come to God, but that's not exactly the way it works--nothing gets easier, you just become stronger. When you truly love something or someone and it doesn't work out, it's going to be hard. This is so important: when it gets hard, keep your faith, because when it gets hard, you're desperate, and it's tempting to stray away from Him to get that thing you wanted. Even if it's not right for you. You're going to hate it, and it will hurt, but He has such an amazing purpose for you that give it a month, or several, or even a couple years, or however long it takes for you to fully devote yourself to Him, you'll find yourself in a one hundred percent better place and realize how far off you were. And you'll be thankful, and you'll trust Him more than ever.

This ties in with, "Why does God let bad things happen to good people?" Simple. You don't learn when life is running smooth. The worst thing you can do is get in the mindset that when everything is going your way, you don't need God--that you've got it under control and can do it on your own. But, you do learn from the hard times. You realize that dreams come and go, and jobs come and go, and saddest of all, people come and go, but it doesn't break you. You start to lean on Him, and He really will lift you up, and once you can give your life to Him everything else has a way of falling into place.

I've had such a hard time learning to trust His timing. I would push things and become so down on myself when they didn't work out. I'm still so young, but already I can count a larger number of experiences than I wish I had, and every single one of them has either a) worked out later and turned out infinite times better than it would have because of the time I had to grow or b) ended up out of my life but led me to something so much happier and worth having. We all forget to have faith in His timing. Impatience is a part of being human. But it's not a part of a relationship with God, and it gets in the way of a true Christian life, and the faster you can learn this, the better. I wish I could learn it sooner. It seems like you have it all figured out, until yet another thing comes along and makes you forget all about His plan for you, and you're back where you started. But I think that's normal, and I think that's just something we have to overcome as followers of Jesus Christ. And I know we can do it.

"But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31

"For there is a time and a way for everything, although man's trouble lies heavy on him." Ecclesiastes 8:6

"The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." Lamentations 3:25-26

"But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”" Luke 18.27

"But he's weird..."

August. For the south, it's basically one big giant "Monday." For the north, it's more like the Sunday of the year. School is starting back. If you have a job where you get summers off, first of all, lucky you, and secondly, you're about to have to start work again. And August, unfortunately enough, is here. For kids and teens everywhere this means going back to school, and reuniting with friends that they lost touch with over the summer, meeting new people, and seeing those people that they probably wouldn't be complaining if they never saw again. And that's the problem with school, and people, and how we approach other people.

It's happened to all of us, no matter which side you happened to be on. Maybe you've been seated next to the weird kid in class, and he/she won't stop talking to you, and they've decided you're going to be the absolute best of friends. And you don't want to be seen with them in public. Or you said one nice thing to the kid that no one ever compliments and now you're seriously regretting it because now they won't leave you alone. But, maybe you feel like everyone's always judging you, whether you think it's because of your hair, or your clothes, or your personality. If that's you, remember this: even the most confident of us feel awkward all the time. It's just how you choose to deal with it.

For starters: ignore them. Don't care what other people think. I know this is probably engrained in your brain from parents, and teachers, and who knows who else, but it's true. You'll never grow in Christ and be a better person if you're focusing on living up to someone's standards instead of those that God has set for you. You do you, and let them do them, and you'll find it makes you a whole lot more confident. Fast.

Second of all: don't judge other people. It's not your place. So, when that weird kid starts talking to you for the millionth time, be nice. I don't mean invite them to your house or walk down the halls with them between all of your classes or anything, but if they ask you a question, don't ignore them, as badly as you might want to. Your friends won't care. It won't ruin your reputation, and you never know how much good your kindness might be doing for someone.

So, God bless as everyone heads back to school, and keep in mind that He loves us all equally, so you probably should, too.

"Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." -1 John 4:11-12

"What do I say to Atheists?"

It's such a hard question, and it's one that I can't give you the answer to. This is such a common problem in today's world, and a lot of times, instead of trying to find a solution, we give it up, saying, "Eh. There's no hope. It's not like I can change someone's mind."

So, maybe you're right. You might not be able to change their mind. It's hard to accept, but we can't make anyone believe anything, and it's asking a whole lot of someone to get them to believe in Jesus when they haven't grown up with Him and have no experiences. It's a lot to swallow. Unfortunately, "It's too hard" and "I can't" aren't really good excuses when you're dealing with the big guy himself. While one little thing you say may not change their entire outlook on life, it could. It's happened before and it'll happen again. So, it's worth a little extra effort on your part to try, and if it doesn't have any immediate effect, that's fine. Pray for them. God might have a better time for them. Consider this: You mention how thankful you are that God got you out of a bad situation, and you talk about how much better off you are now. They might laugh at you, or disagree, or even not say anything at all. But if they find themselves in the exact same situation you were in, and they remember what you said, and see how God is working in them? Be patient. Something you say may end up sinking in their thoughts, way deeper than they're ever going to delve, but then resurface at the right time. Trust His timing.

Something else to remember: Christians can seem like a pretty exclusive group from the outside. Don't be a part of that. Practice what you preach- don't be that person who parties on Saturday night and goes to church Sunday morning. There's no such thing as "I'm sorta Christian" or "I mean, I believe in God but I don't really live like that"- you're either in this or you're not. When it comes down to someone who is Atheist or from a different religion seriously looking at the Christian faith, hypocrisy is going to be the first thing to turn them away. You individually are the only one who can change that. The way you live, whether you go around quoting the Bible or not, can make such a huge impact on someone, and you may never know it. So when you think, "Atheists- how do I talk to them?" remember that there really isn't a them to it. God doesn't love them any less than He loves you. He created us all, we're all brothers and sisters in Christ. Accept Atheists as you would accept anyone else. The smallest gesture can make the biggest impact.

The smallest gesture can make the biggest impact.