more troubles.

So, today on my way to work, i decided to pick up where i left off in Francis Chan's Crazy Love. i read the end of the lukewarm christian part and then the chapter after that dissecting what a lukewarm christian is.

i'm really shocked.

it kinda shattered my whole view of salvation. and this is the debate of Christianity.

i've decided there are two types of followers of Jesus. christians and Christians. little c christians believe in God, Jesus etc, but their life doesn't reflect what they believe. big C Christians prove their beliefs with actions. little c christians are lukewarm and it Jesus says he'll spit out lukewarm people. big C Christians are hot (in more ways than one ;) ) and they are treasured by God.

I am a little c christian.

i don't really care about God, i just like the idea of a second chance. i like the idea of Heaven with out working. maybe that's why i'm so lazy, because what should be the most important part of my life is completely unimportant. it's a side note, an addition. something that makes me look good to my church friends. i don't enjoy reading my Bible. mostly because i kinda know most of it already (general, not specifics.) i can put up a good argument when i need to and i can, more or less explain what (i think) God meant, and how it should affect our lives. i am great at finding the spec of dust in someone else's life and ignoring the plank i know i have in mine.

i was asked the question over the summer.

"If you had Heaven, with your friends, etc, but Jesus wasn't there, would it be worth it?"

the obvious answer is no. it wouldn't. but i couldn't say no. i had to say yes. and i knew it was the wrong answer. but i had to be honest.

heaven is what drives a lot of christians. but Jesus is what drives Christians. they want to love like Jesus loved, not for Heaven, but to Glorify God.

i kinda wish that Christianity didn't have heaven as a benefit, because then it would weed out the christians from the Christians.

back to a previous topic. what happens to those Jesus spits out of his mouth?

there are two answers. they still go to heaven, or they don't.

let's go with the first one.

exibit A. they have excepted Jesus into their heart (what that actually means is for a different time ) and they have been saved.

to be saved also needs a defenition.

see how confusing Salvation is? it's crazy.

anyway, option B, not saved.

james says faith without action is dead and the opposite is also true. thus, if you don't act like a Christian, are you a Christian? i know this is like the debate of the century, but i think we miss the point.

God wants you to be a hot Christian, not some looser lukewarm christian. he want's to change your life, and for you to glorify him. and that's what a Christian is. that's what we should all strive for. so, help me and i'll help you.

and i'm speaking mostly to myself here: release your grasp on your life. forget the control you want. forget the things you like, and let God take over, let him consume you.

yeah, that's it. enjoy!

let me slap you with jesus...

so, here's a brief synopsis of 2 Kings 13-whatever. a whole lot of kings live and get assassinated and they're all evil. so, in a few words, the book of kings isn't that fun of a book. as soon as i'm completely finished, i'll give some more updates on what i learned, but nothing stuck out to me specifically. any ideas for other books of the bible to read?

actually, i have been kinda trying to figure out my life this past month or two.

i keep seeing places in the bible and in other peoples lives that complacency is a pretty bad thing somethings. especially if you're a Christian. I know that Jesus calls us to higher things than doing well in school and having a cool group of friends on facebook, but sometimes i just don't want to do what Jesus says. i feel like since i'm a Christian, i can have a little break from ministry every once in a while. but, of course, i never really get back on the band wagon. so, i'm really struggling.

another thing that happened that kind of slapped me was...well, my first quarter of college. i failed 2 classes. that was a wakeup call because i had no one to tell me what to do, and i'm not a disciplined person, so i kinda watched a lot of hours of netflix every day.

i think God is trying to teach me that a good life is not an easy life. the only good life possible on earth is one where we are fully commited to God and give our all in all we do.

so, if you guys could keep me in your prayers, i would appreciate that. i still have 2 weeks of break left before school starts up again, and i'm working 3 days each week for a little molah, but i'm anxious to see what God does.

the Bible!

so, i know that i mentioned i would provide updates of my Bible readings. i haven't. so, here's about 2 weeks of them. maybe.

2 Kings 8.

Elisha tells the woman whose son he raised to get out of the land because a famine is coming. Next, Elisha meets with Hazael, theh advisor to the king Ben-hadad. ben here is really sick, so he sends hazael to ask Elisha if he'll recover. Elisha says yeah, but he's going to be killed. then he starts weeping prophesying that hazael reap great destruction on the people of Israel, and that hazael will be king of syria. later that day, hazael kills Ben-Hadad.

next, Jehoram, son of Ahab reigns for a while. then his son,, Ahaziah takes over. both are pretty evil. but God didn't take out their family because of David.

9.

Jezebel dies because she was stupid. (she must have been blonde ;) just kidding)

she disobeyed God's direct instructions. she died a horrifying death. she was thrown out a high window. tough. should have listened to God. and they did not honor her with burial either.

(i learn that it's probably a good idea to listen to God's Word. it might save your life.)

10.

Jehu kills a ton of people. it's pretty epic. basically, anyone from Ahziahs family (in israel, not judah), 70 people, another 40 relatives, and hundreds of baal worshipers. then, he turns the temple of baal into a latrine! ha. this guys's good.

however, even after all of this commitment, he still falls short of following God with his whole heart. it's tough to give your life to God. you feel as if it's yours, and you should have some time. it's really hard for me. it's hard to let go. to, in essence, give the steering wheel to God. get out of the drivers seat and let him do it. and then, it's even harder to be a back-seat driver. cause we all know how much God messes up. not.

11.

Athaliah, some relative of Jezebel destroyes the royal family, save for Jehosheba, daughter of King joram and sister of Ahaziah. they took Joash, her nephew, and they hid him for 6 years. he became king at age 7. this shows us that God does not favor people due to their age. you, the newborn baby can share the gospel with your nurses! but seriously, don't think that because you're too young that God can't use you in incredible ways. after he became king, he destroyed the house of ball, i mean baal in judah, and killed Athaliah.

12.

Jehoash begins his rule well. and it says that he followed God all of his days, not just for a short period. however, he didn't quite finish, there were still some alters and such left over that he didn't destroy. but that's still pretty good. he also rebuilds the temple.

and that's a wrap for tonight.

this week, again, has been a hard week. a few classes not going so well, but i guess this is the best quarter to fail a few classes. now, i have all three main classes ending on tues the 7th. if you happen to think about it, i wouldn't mind the extra prayer or two.

thank you,

Peter