LOVE REMINDER
BY ERIC DARSIE
Once upon a certain time, we were told to love one another if we want to follow JESUS CHRIST. For me, it was a checkpoint, I would continue in the pain if I truly love my men. Then a promise I had to make with myself. A promise to CHRIST as well, and that’s to love my men like I love GOD.
Dear Love,
Why do you suck?
It seems like when I try towards you,
I always get burned.
The madness always comes thorough,
It always begins each time I get rid of you.
Could you do me a favor,
Please,
And just leave me…
For good?
A hard promise that I need to maintain. Oh LORD, my GOD, I need YOU now. I made a promise to myself, but more importantly to YOU. Why is it hard for me to let go fully and rely on what is true, which is YOU?
Dear Myself,
Why don’t you surrender everything to HIM?
It would be that much easier for you,
Really!
I know things aren’t going your way lately,
But do you think GOD has something to do with it?
I bet HE does!
Then just simply shift control over…
BABY!
“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” Easier said than done, but why? I cannot wrap my mind around it! Why is our human nature so idiotic? And why I have to question every single thing?
Dear Mind,
Why do you question everything?
Why did you let philosophy corrupt your mind?
It would be much easier, you see,
If we all quit questioning everything that comes our way, right?
Then why don’t we do that than?
Once I surrender it all to God above, life would be simpler. Yes, I will go through some hard times, like now, but I need to remind myself that if I truly love my men, I will go through this heart-ache and all these troubles for them. Do so, and love them. Fulfill the promise you made, to yourself, and to GOD.
Showing posts with label Jesus Christ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus Christ. Show all posts
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Mi Dacie—A Non Fiction Story Turned Fiction
Mi Dacie—A Non Fiction Story Turned Fiction
When I walked off the metal bird, I stepped into a sea of humidity, and I easily stood out like a sore thumb, but being the inverse of all the naturals. One of the weirdest feelings is coming in on a rollercoaster and stopping on a bumpy, dusty, redish-brown dirty snow called African sand as a driveway for all metal birds. Walking into the airport from the all-dirt landing strip where we landed (by chance, there was only one landing strip for the whole airport, and this is in the capital city), we all were welcomed by a bunch of “Akwaaba’s” and hearing people holler out “a bruni! A bruni!” And when we got our luggage, we all had a chance to feel the read caulk in our eyes from us landing and had a chance to really taste the red caulk. I wish it would have tasted like pizza sauce. Sadly enough, it didn’t. I almost started to cry in pizza sauce. That would have been super tasty. That would of also been the best food I had there.
But one of the worst feelings there is that everything sweats. My toes sweat. My body sweats. My food sweats. I sweat in the shower. Heck, even sweat sweats. We couldn’t go anywhere to escape our sweat. We tried covering our sweat with our sweat, but that didn’t work. So we just slept in our sweat, with the air conditioners going at 60 degrees. Whatever that makes out to be in Celsius.
One of the weirdest things when I was there was when I walk outside and down the street, I hear a loud “psst!” and look over and see someone waving at me. My first several days of such, I thought they wanted to tell me a secret across the street. Afterwards, I find out that they were they were trying to get my attention. Sorry.
But at the end of the trip, stepping back onto the metal bird, sitting down, and flying off, I wish the time could of lasted a little while longer. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll come back in a few years. Or this all was just a simply dream. If a dream, help us all God! But if it’s reality, if so, I may challenge one of my future “guys” to do what I did for a summer. And if this is reality, I may challenge one of those pretty smelling ladies with the seatbelts up front to a pose down! Oh yeah!
When I walked off the metal bird, I stepped into a sea of humidity, and I easily stood out like a sore thumb, but being the inverse of all the naturals. One of the weirdest feelings is coming in on a rollercoaster and stopping on a bumpy, dusty, redish-brown dirty snow called African sand as a driveway for all metal birds. Walking into the airport from the all-dirt landing strip where we landed (by chance, there was only one landing strip for the whole airport, and this is in the capital city), we all were welcomed by a bunch of “Akwaaba’s” and hearing people holler out “a bruni! A bruni!” And when we got our luggage, we all had a chance to feel the read caulk in our eyes from us landing and had a chance to really taste the red caulk. I wish it would have tasted like pizza sauce. Sadly enough, it didn’t. I almost started to cry in pizza sauce. That would have been super tasty. That would of also been the best food I had there.
But one of the worst feelings there is that everything sweats. My toes sweat. My body sweats. My food sweats. I sweat in the shower. Heck, even sweat sweats. We couldn’t go anywhere to escape our sweat. We tried covering our sweat with our sweat, but that didn’t work. So we just slept in our sweat, with the air conditioners going at 60 degrees. Whatever that makes out to be in Celsius.
One of the weirdest things when I was there was when I walk outside and down the street, I hear a loud “psst!” and look over and see someone waving at me. My first several days of such, I thought they wanted to tell me a secret across the street. Afterwards, I find out that they were they were trying to get my attention. Sorry.
But at the end of the trip, stepping back onto the metal bird, sitting down, and flying off, I wish the time could of lasted a little while longer. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll come back in a few years. Or this all was just a simply dream. If a dream, help us all God! But if it’s reality, if so, I may challenge one of my future “guys” to do what I did for a summer. And if this is reality, I may challenge one of those pretty smelling ladies with the seatbelts up front to a pose down! Oh yeah!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
"Go and Radiate My Glory"
“Go and Radiate My Glory”
Hello everyone again, it’s another blog written by me, for my blog site, for you to read. Hope ya’ll enjoy this blog this time around. The last time I did a blog thing similar to this was almost a month ago, Sunday, December 6th, 2009, with “December to Remember to Forgot to Remember to Forgot that it’s December.” So this will be an update, in ways, since then.
Schools done. Failed my metaethics class, but that’s expected. The professor wanted more from me in the class than I had to give, and with me having a bad memory and it’s difficult for me to memorize the handouts for the exams, I had no chance. Not trying to make an excuse, but wanting to state a fact. And having a couple of classmates from metaethics with me in epistemology, I talked to one of them and he memorized the handouts and the best grade he got on the exams were an A-, because, something along the lines of “you pretty much spat out my handout, I wanted your own work.” That’s sad, and which is why I got a hardcore metaethical fail in that class.
My epistemology and social and political philosophy classes (my other two philosophy classes for the semester), I got B-‘s in that class, and I’m super excited for that, I was expecting C’s in those two classes. Thank the Lord that I got B-‘s in those two classes.
The poetry class I took, I got an A. Pretty happy with that. Thanking the Lord for getting an A, two B-‘s, and an F. Weird that I am thanking Him for an F, but I could have got even worse grades for my other three classes.
Besides finals week for me for classes, been writing for CamelClutchBlog.com. Been one of the “regular” bloggers/writers for Eric Gargiulo. Good stuff, I guess. I don’t like to brag about my wrestling writings. All I will say is check them out. I have them linked out on my facebook page. So if you’re reading this through following my blogs/writings with CamelClutchBlog.com, add me on facebook. Mention in the message that you read my articles on CCB and you read this blog.
Writing for CamelClutchBlog.com is something I always wanted to do, I guess. Well, writing about professional wrestling. It’s been my passion since forever. I do it for free, which surprises a lot of people, and I do it for free because if it’s God’s plan for my life after college to bring Him most glory, this could be a step in the door for me into getting a paid job doing this. And if this isn’t what God’s plan for my life after college, and He wants me to stop doing this, I can officially say I wrote for a professional wrestling site writing about professional wrestling. Finally fulfilling my lifelong dream.
Talking about God’s plan and will for my life….
TCX. Twin Cities Xperience. Monday, December 28th, 2009, to Friday, January 1st, 2010. The three speakers were Millie Welsh, Dr. Crawford Loritts, and John Piper!
Mellie Welsh talked about Heaven (first talk) and Letting Go of Idols (second talk).
Dr. Crawford Loritts (who a friend and I met in the elevator’s, just chilling in the morning in the elevators, doing our “Breakfast with Aaron and Darsie Show,”) talked about the 5 Value Statements of Solomon (first talk), Prayer without Ceasing (second talk), and Life Lessons from a Samaritan (third talk).
Then it was John Piper. His two talks were God’s Passion for His Glory (first talk) and Holy Ambition (second talk).
Piper’s quote that I love that he mentioned was:
“God is most glorified in me when I'm most satisfied in Him.”
But one thing that I took out of the whole thing was it’s time to grow up (John Piper’s second talk—the Holy Ambition talk), and to be fully surrendered to what God wants to do with me, which was His intent for my creation. Over TCX, I finally was obedient to serving with Campus Crusade for Christ after I get done with undergrad with St Cloud State University in the May of 2011. What would I do with Campus Crusade for Christ? I don’t know. That’s the beautiful thing. I am open to either stinting over in Ghana for a year (a yearlong placement overseas as an intern helping reaching college students in foreign countries) or interning with Crusade on my campus for at least a year, am open, and am thinking and praying about interning at SCSU for two years. Reasoning for two years is the guys who I have in mind to disciple/lead in a bible study, I want to be there for them for most of their college career and help them grow in Christ. That’s kind of weird, but I feel like God has put them on my heart for a reason and if this is what He wants me to do, I will do.
And one of the things I want to do this year is being nicer to people. That may sound weird if you haven’t seen or experience this side of me, but I can be a jerk to people, especially when I joke around with people. I want to stop being a jerk.
But yes. I was able to connect with two of my bible study dudes at TCX, and had a two and a half hour conversation with one of them at TCX and it seemed to only be an half hour and both of us didn’t want to end the conversation. That meant a lot to me. You know who you are, if you read this, and again, thank you for that. That conversation meant a lot to me. Thanks, and I love you bro.
To wrap this blog up, thanks ya’ll who read this. I appreciate it. It does amaze me that people do want to read what I have to say. It really boggles my mind. I even question myself on why do I write, and I have a passion for writing [which explains me writing for CamelClutchBlog.com, my major being Philosophy, and my minor (not officially yet) being Creative Writing]. God could very well use that to bring Himself glory and honor. And if so, that would be awesome. But to end it, I want to leave you guys with a verse. Jesus prayed this for us all. It’s John 17:24-26. This verse comes from the first talk John Piper gave during TCX. Thanks everybody!
John 17:24-26:
“24-26Father, I want those you gave me
To be with me, right where I am,
So they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me,
Having loved me
Long before there ever was a world.
Righteous Father, the world has never known you,
But I have known you, and these disciples know
That you sent me on this mission.
I have made your very being known to them—
Who you are and what you do—
And continue to make it known,
So that your love for me
Might be in them
Exactly as I am in them.”
[The Message]
“24Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them."
[English Standard Version]
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Trials, Emotions, and a Yellow Note Pad
Trials, Emotions, and a Yellow Note Pad
After listening to a sermon by John Piper today after class covering John 6:1-15, I wanted to go and have a quiet time over those fifteen verses, as well as the whole chapter, John 6. The reason why I wanted to do that is because of a few reasons, but they are as follows: idols in my life (professional wrestling, my iPod, podcasts, etc.), sin, being content in sinning, a deceitful mind, anger, philosophy, and other people’s words. Why am I bringing this up, and why am I putting this out there, in the public eye? I hope this may help you guys as well as it helped me, reading John 6, reflecting it with God, and now on my computer screen, being read by you.
But before I go further, directly below is a link to the John Piper sermon I listened to today. I highly suggest you all to take time, download it and listen to it. It helped me out on seeing things not with my own eyes that can be blind, but more with God’s.
“The All-Providing King Who Would Not Be King”—John Piper
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/2009/4376_The_AllProviding_King_Who_Would_Not_Be_King/
John 6 discussed several different things. It covers as follows: verses 1 – 15 (“Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand”), verses 16 – 24 (“Jesus Walks on the Water”), verses 25 – 59 (“Jesus the Bred of Life”), and verses 60 – 71 (“Many Disciples Desert Jesus”).
Verse fifteen strike me to be kind of odd. Here it is: “Jesus, knowing that they tended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself (NIV).” Why did this verse strike me as odd? That even Jesus left to go spend time alone with God the father. This pops out to me, asking me this question: Do you take time out for God, alone, away from everything? And in words of Chris Sligh:
Empty me
Of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition
And the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me
So I can be
Filled with you
Great song. Go out and buy that song, if not the whole album! The song is “Empty Me.” But to the point I was making, we all should go and take time, along with God, for He can help us empty us of ourselves. For He can kill off all the things that isn’t of Him for we all can be filled with Him.
Another passage that spoke to me is this, John 6:43-51: 43"Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. 44"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world (NIV)." The reason why this passage spoke to me is Jesus is laying it out on the line that he is the only way to see God, that he is the only way to receive eternal life. Jesus said all he needed to, there’s nothing for me to comment on.
The last section in John 6, verses 60 to 71 spoke to me. Here they are:
60On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
61Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? 62What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."
66From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
68Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
70Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" 71(He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
Wow. Why just one word? Jesus calls people to come to Him, and only people He calls come. One may ask then, at the end of the book Matthew, why did Jesus call us to “go out and make disciples” if only people who He’s called comes in? To me, I believe it because through going out and sharing the greatest gift we received in the world, why shouldn’t we go and share that with people, especially if people’s eyes aren’t opened yet to the love of Jesus Christ and the gift He’s given us with His death upon the cross.
My ministry outreach…
Or I should say; I feel like the lack-there-of. What do I mean, you may ask? Yes, I am co-leading the men’s bible study in Case Hall on St Cloud State University campus. But to be dead honest with you, I feel like nothing is coming out of it. Yes, I was able to get to know a couple of new freshmen, who I enjoy each time I am able to spend time with them and get to know them. I was able to meet another guy who’s coming back to Christ, which is huge to me that he’s coming to the bible study that I co-lead. That’s really awesome. And the two other guys who come I absolutely love. I’ve known them for years but this year is the first year that I’ve been able to get a better chance to get to know them. Names don’t matter for these five men, but it wouldn’t be hard to figure out whom I am referring to.
But still, I feel like the time I spend for those men, nothing’s coming out of it. Yeah, two freshmen come and three upperclassmen. Shouldn’t it be all about their growth, as well as mine and the other co-leader over numbers? Yes, that is what should be the key, and it is, but the thing that is discouraging is this: feeling unable to connect with those men that God has placed in my hands to help them grow in their faith. I told myself this year that I need to spend time with my men that God gave me over last year when last year I didn’t care outside of twice a week, at bible study and at Cru. And to be honest, I really don’t know what I can do. I’ve prayed about it, I’ve talked to Godly men about this, and I still don’t know what to do. Feelings and emotions sucks. Greatly.
One song that I never really liked at first but grew on me, and each time I hear the song and each time I read the lyrics, God speaks to me through the song. What song am I referring to? “By Your Side” by Tenth Avenue North. Here are the lyrics I like:
Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away
Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
The reason why I love this song is because the band reminds me of the promise God made to us through His son and what His son did for us that Friday in the Middle East. That song reminds me that no matter what, no matter if I choose to sin, no matter how I feel, no matter what, God wants me to go to Him for everything. He’s awesome, and it’s neat that He is.
I don’t know. I don’t know if this helped any of you out there. I know it has for me. I am in a better mood after doing this, reviewing scripture, listening to a sermon, and listening to worship music. I don’t know if any of you out there go through the same things I am going through, but if so, I hope somehow that this helps.
After listening to a sermon by John Piper today after class covering John 6:1-15, I wanted to go and have a quiet time over those fifteen verses, as well as the whole chapter, John 6. The reason why I wanted to do that is because of a few reasons, but they are as follows: idols in my life (professional wrestling, my iPod, podcasts, etc.), sin, being content in sinning, a deceitful mind, anger, philosophy, and other people’s words. Why am I bringing this up, and why am I putting this out there, in the public eye? I hope this may help you guys as well as it helped me, reading John 6, reflecting it with God, and now on my computer screen, being read by you.
But before I go further, directly below is a link to the John Piper sermon I listened to today. I highly suggest you all to take time, download it and listen to it. It helped me out on seeing things not with my own eyes that can be blind, but more with God’s.
“The All-Providing King Who Would Not Be King”—John Piper
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/2009/4376_The_AllProviding_King_Who_Would_Not_Be_King/
John 6 discussed several different things. It covers as follows: verses 1 – 15 (“Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand”), verses 16 – 24 (“Jesus Walks on the Water”), verses 25 – 59 (“Jesus the Bred of Life”), and verses 60 – 71 (“Many Disciples Desert Jesus”).
Verse fifteen strike me to be kind of odd. Here it is: “Jesus, knowing that they tended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself (NIV).” Why did this verse strike me as odd? That even Jesus left to go spend time alone with God the father. This pops out to me, asking me this question: Do you take time out for God, alone, away from everything? And in words of Chris Sligh:
Empty me
Of the selfishness inside
Every vain ambition
And the poison of my pride
And any foolish thing my heart holds to
Lord empty me of me
So I can be
Filled with you
Great song. Go out and buy that song, if not the whole album! The song is “Empty Me.” But to the point I was making, we all should go and take time, along with God, for He can help us empty us of ourselves. For He can kill off all the things that isn’t of Him for we all can be filled with Him.
Another passage that spoke to me is this, John 6:43-51: 43"Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. 44"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world (NIV)." The reason why this passage spoke to me is Jesus is laying it out on the line that he is the only way to see God, that he is the only way to receive eternal life. Jesus said all he needed to, there’s nothing for me to comment on.
The last section in John 6, verses 60 to 71 spoke to me. Here they are:
60On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
61Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? 62What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."
66From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
68Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
70Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" 71(He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
Wow. Why just one word? Jesus calls people to come to Him, and only people He calls come. One may ask then, at the end of the book Matthew, why did Jesus call us to “go out and make disciples” if only people who He’s called comes in? To me, I believe it because through going out and sharing the greatest gift we received in the world, why shouldn’t we go and share that with people, especially if people’s eyes aren’t opened yet to the love of Jesus Christ and the gift He’s given us with His death upon the cross.
My ministry outreach…
Or I should say; I feel like the lack-there-of. What do I mean, you may ask? Yes, I am co-leading the men’s bible study in Case Hall on St Cloud State University campus. But to be dead honest with you, I feel like nothing is coming out of it. Yes, I was able to get to know a couple of new freshmen, who I enjoy each time I am able to spend time with them and get to know them. I was able to meet another guy who’s coming back to Christ, which is huge to me that he’s coming to the bible study that I co-lead. That’s really awesome. And the two other guys who come I absolutely love. I’ve known them for years but this year is the first year that I’ve been able to get a better chance to get to know them. Names don’t matter for these five men, but it wouldn’t be hard to figure out whom I am referring to.
But still, I feel like the time I spend for those men, nothing’s coming out of it. Yeah, two freshmen come and three upperclassmen. Shouldn’t it be all about their growth, as well as mine and the other co-leader over numbers? Yes, that is what should be the key, and it is, but the thing that is discouraging is this: feeling unable to connect with those men that God has placed in my hands to help them grow in their faith. I told myself this year that I need to spend time with my men that God gave me over last year when last year I didn’t care outside of twice a week, at bible study and at Cru. And to be honest, I really don’t know what I can do. I’ve prayed about it, I’ve talked to Godly men about this, and I still don’t know what to do. Feelings and emotions sucks. Greatly.
One song that I never really liked at first but grew on me, and each time I hear the song and each time I read the lyrics, God speaks to me through the song. What song am I referring to? “By Your Side” by Tenth Avenue North. Here are the lyrics I like:
Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away
Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run
And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
The reason why I love this song is because the band reminds me of the promise God made to us through His son and what His son did for us that Friday in the Middle East. That song reminds me that no matter what, no matter if I choose to sin, no matter how I feel, no matter what, God wants me to go to Him for everything. He’s awesome, and it’s neat that He is.
I don’t know. I don’t know if this helped any of you out there. I know it has for me. I am in a better mood after doing this, reviewing scripture, listening to a sermon, and listening to worship music. I don’t know if any of you out there go through the same things I am going through, but if so, I hope somehow that this helps.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
What is Life?
What Is Life?
While on a walk this past summer, summer of 2009, I often stopped and wondered many different questions. One question that hit me hard and a question that I asked a lot of my friends is this: what is life? I got answers from them, but one friend challenged me to sit down and write out my thoughts on the question. When I did think more on this question, I couldn’t give it justice on an answer. So I had to break down the question into two new questions, after which I was able to give it justice and answer the new two. I answered the question what is life? with the answer what is a life with Christ? and what is life without Christ? I will break this article down into two parts, each part answering each question.
(1) What is life without Christ?
To be dead honest, absolutely nothing. I’ll clear this more in the second part of the article. But to backup what my answer, let’s look at Deuteronomy 30:20:
“…20loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. (ESV)”
What the heck is “…for he is your life and length of days...,” one may ask? If you make God your focus of your life, then He’s going to be the center of everything you do, say, etc. But what if someone doesn’t want to choose God as their center in their life, proverbially sent Him in a box and up on a shelf? One could do that then, but wouldn’t be truly following God if they do that. If that doesn’t make sense, let’s evaluate what’s center of your life. For me before I came to Christ, I was (and still am) a huge professional wrestling fan and one can say I was worshiping that day-in and day-out. I did go to church every week and even went to youth group every Wednesday night during my tenth grade year and part of my eleventh grade year. I wasn’t following Christ. I didn’t know that to follow Christ I had to pick up my cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24 and Luke 9:23 )and not doing so, I wasn’t truly a Christian. How can we be a Christian? I’ll answer that in the next paragraph.
In John 1:4, it states:
“4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. (NIV)”
Okay, what does that mean? What John means by this verse is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, our God, is life, and anything out of Him is absolutely not a life worth living, heck, really nothing when it comes to the end of days. Honestly, I am surprised that I have given this much time to this question, but hey, it needs to be answered right the first time around and it’s a great question, so it deserves a great answer, which I hope I’m giving. If you have more questions about this, feel free on asking me or any Christian that you know to help answer any question(s) that you man have, we’re here to help you out.
(2) What is a life with Christ?
A life with Christ is a life glorifying God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I believe a Christian has resources that God provides every day of their life to help glorify Him, if they notice it or not, and if they do notice it, it’s their choice how to use it for His glory. For instance, using myself as an example again, I am a Christian, and I currently work at a copy shop at campus and have my own blog site on the internet. After finishing this article up, editing it, and making sure all sources are correct, I have those two sources to bring glory to God through this article that I am writing. If I put it up online at my blog site (http://www.jericholoic 2009.blogspot.com/), I didn’t bring full glory to God that I could by printing it off at work. And vice versa. My intent is to do both, print it off and put it online for people have different ways to get to this article.
There have been debates if Christians are elected by God or Christians have free will to come to Him for salvation. That’s another topic for quiet possibly another article from this philosopher, but either way, through Jesus is where we find life.
John 5:21 states:
21For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. (NIV)
21For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. (ESV)
What does this verse state? And yes, before you ask more, I did put this verse twice in two different versions, I like how these two versions differ on the verse. It’s up to Jesus to give us life (eternal life, quite possible another article for another day from this philosopher) and we have to come to believe what He did here on Earth and what He did upon that cross for us 2000 years ago. Here’s another source to that. John 11:25 states:
25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies…” (NIV)
What does Jesus mean that “…He who believes in me will live, even though he dies…?” Good question deserves a good answer, and this quote is great. What Jesus means by this, I do believe, personally and philosophically, that we will live with Him up in heaven after this life. Our bodies originally came from dust and He breathed life into us through Adam (Genesis 2:7 ) and made Eve from Adam’s rib (Genesis 2:22 ).
You may ask, what about the people who lived before Jesus’ time or after His time and never got a chance to make the decision to live for Him or not? Let’s jump into John 5:25-26. John 5:25-25 states as follows:
“25I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. (NIV)”
Okay. What does this passage mean? Another great question and here’s another great answer. Meaning that when Jesus was here on Earth, everyone dead before hand had the chance to hear Him speak and were able to make a decision to either follow or not. What a huge claim that doesn’t make sense. I cannot reason that. I really can’t. I cannot think of use any logic that would make that statement make sense. That’s what great about the God I love and the God I follow, we cannot fully understand. And if we fully understand, then we become God, and that’s impossible, even though we’re filled with Him (the Holy Spirit—Yeah!).
But to conclude this article, I hope that I was able to come through for the challenge that my friend challenged me to, on writing out what I believe is right for the question I posed several weeks ago at the college group meeting that we had. I am up to hear other people’s opinions about such a topic. I hope this also helps answer people’s question on “What is life?” or “What is the meaning of life?” or whatever comes out of the main question. I gave a lot of thought into this topic and enjoyed being able to spend a Saturday night during my summer break of college in trying to answer this question. I do hope I get more time to answer more questions that may arise while fellowshipping with one another. But thank you for your time on reading this, have a great day. This is Eric Darsie from Minnesota, jamming out to Randy Travis’ Glory Train: Songs of Faith, Worship, and Praise, goodbye!
While on a walk this past summer, summer of 2009, I often stopped and wondered many different questions. One question that hit me hard and a question that I asked a lot of my friends is this: what is life? I got answers from them, but one friend challenged me to sit down and write out my thoughts on the question. When I did think more on this question, I couldn’t give it justice on an answer. So I had to break down the question into two new questions, after which I was able to give it justice and answer the new two. I answered the question what is life? with the answer what is a life with Christ? and what is life without Christ? I will break this article down into two parts, each part answering each question.
(1) What is life without Christ?
To be dead honest, absolutely nothing. I’ll clear this more in the second part of the article. But to backup what my answer, let’s look at Deuteronomy 30:20:
“…20loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. (ESV)”
What the heck is “…for he is your life and length of days...,” one may ask? If you make God your focus of your life, then He’s going to be the center of everything you do, say, etc. But what if someone doesn’t want to choose God as their center in their life, proverbially sent Him in a box and up on a shelf? One could do that then, but wouldn’t be truly following God if they do that. If that doesn’t make sense, let’s evaluate what’s center of your life. For me before I came to Christ, I was (and still am) a huge professional wrestling fan and one can say I was worshiping that day-in and day-out. I did go to church every week and even went to youth group every Wednesday night during my tenth grade year and part of my eleventh grade year. I wasn’t following Christ. I didn’t know that to follow Christ I had to pick up my cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24 and Luke 9:23 )and not doing so, I wasn’t truly a Christian. How can we be a Christian? I’ll answer that in the next paragraph.
In John 1:4, it states:
“4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. (NIV)”
Okay, what does that mean? What John means by this verse is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, our God, is life, and anything out of Him is absolutely not a life worth living, heck, really nothing when it comes to the end of days. Honestly, I am surprised that I have given this much time to this question, but hey, it needs to be answered right the first time around and it’s a great question, so it deserves a great answer, which I hope I’m giving. If you have more questions about this, feel free on asking me or any Christian that you know to help answer any question(s) that you man have, we’re here to help you out.
(2) What is a life with Christ?
A life with Christ is a life glorifying God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I believe a Christian has resources that God provides every day of their life to help glorify Him, if they notice it or not, and if they do notice it, it’s their choice how to use it for His glory. For instance, using myself as an example again, I am a Christian, and I currently work at a copy shop at campus and have my own blog site on the internet. After finishing this article up, editing it, and making sure all sources are correct, I have those two sources to bring glory to God through this article that I am writing. If I put it up online at my blog site (http://www.jericholoic 2009.blogspot.com/), I didn’t bring full glory to God that I could by printing it off at work. And vice versa. My intent is to do both, print it off and put it online for people have different ways to get to this article.
There have been debates if Christians are elected by God or Christians have free will to come to Him for salvation. That’s another topic for quiet possibly another article from this philosopher, but either way, through Jesus is where we find life.
John 5:21 states:
21For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. (NIV)
21For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. (ESV)
What does this verse state? And yes, before you ask more, I did put this verse twice in two different versions, I like how these two versions differ on the verse. It’s up to Jesus to give us life (eternal life, quite possible another article for another day from this philosopher) and we have to come to believe what He did here on Earth and what He did upon that cross for us 2000 years ago. Here’s another source to that. John 11:25 states:
25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies…” (NIV)
What does Jesus mean that “…He who believes in me will live, even though he dies…?” Good question deserves a good answer, and this quote is great. What Jesus means by this, I do believe, personally and philosophically, that we will live with Him up in heaven after this life. Our bodies originally came from dust and He breathed life into us through Adam (Genesis 2:7 ) and made Eve from Adam’s rib (Genesis 2:22 ).
You may ask, what about the people who lived before Jesus’ time or after His time and never got a chance to make the decision to live for Him or not? Let’s jump into John 5:25-26. John 5:25-25 states as follows:
“25I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. (NIV)”
Okay. What does this passage mean? Another great question and here’s another great answer. Meaning that when Jesus was here on Earth, everyone dead before hand had the chance to hear Him speak and were able to make a decision to either follow or not. What a huge claim that doesn’t make sense. I cannot reason that. I really can’t. I cannot think of use any logic that would make that statement make sense. That’s what great about the God I love and the God I follow, we cannot fully understand. And if we fully understand, then we become God, and that’s impossible, even though we’re filled with Him (the Holy Spirit—Yeah!).
But to conclude this article, I hope that I was able to come through for the challenge that my friend challenged me to, on writing out what I believe is right for the question I posed several weeks ago at the college group meeting that we had. I am up to hear other people’s opinions about such a topic. I hope this also helps answer people’s question on “What is life?” or “What is the meaning of life?” or whatever comes out of the main question. I gave a lot of thought into this topic and enjoyed being able to spend a Saturday night during my summer break of college in trying to answer this question. I do hope I get more time to answer more questions that may arise while fellowshipping with one another. But thank you for your time on reading this, have a great day. This is Eric Darsie from Minnesota, jamming out to Randy Travis’ Glory Train: Songs of Faith, Worship, and Praise, goodbye!
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