Month: December 2013

Merry Christmas

/ brianhilton9 / 1 Comment

The word “finished” can refer to many things.  Almost anything can be finished…a meal, an exam, a book.  Since it is Christmas time, it is pretty much guaranteed that many people across the world felt compelled to spend a little more than their means this year, sending them into debt.  The word “debt” is like that too, it has many meanings.  You can be in debt financially, or you can be indebted to someone because of something they may have done for you. 

                Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, coming down from an incomprehensible paradise to our world; a mess to say the least.  Now a days most agree the true meaning of Christmas isn’t about getting gifts, but we still don’t get it right.  People say things like “It’s about being with family, and giving”.  While being with family, and giving from the heart are amazing attributes of Christmas, it still is so much greater.  So back to the first sentence, if this Jesus does exist, why would he do such a thing?  He did it for all of us, personally so that we may be saved from our messed up souls and come to know our creator in order to spend life with him eternally in that very paradise he descended from.  He knows everything about you already, he created you after all…but he wants a personal relationship with you.  You and Him.  He died and rose in order so that this could happen! 

                Christmas is about the coming of our savior, a God man who came down and FINISHED our DEBTS.  Hanging there upon the cross, having just drank vinegar from a sponge, Jesus says “It is finished”, or in the Greek teleō.  What the heck does that mean?  Well, the Greek form is the vernacular of what was said since the New Testament is written in Greek.  This form of the word finished means to fulfill a payment, to discharge a debt, to complete.  So we must remember that if we’ve accepted Christ as our Savior, IT IS FINISHED!  Our sins have been cleansed, and nothing can separate us from his love.  May your peace come from the knowledge that your savior came, and finished the task before him, all for you.  That is what Christmas is about. 

Merry Christmas everyone, and God Bless

Brian

The Right Alternative

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Across America today, college, high school, and sometimes even middle school aged kids are being introduced and induced into the alcohol, party, and drug scene.  Being in the midst of this phase of life right now, I understand what it is like to be on the other side of the fence.  As questions surface from friends as to why I don’t drink and “party”, the response I usually get is a nice nickname like “soft” or “religious”.  Who cares, though?  I’ll take the nickname over a hangover any day.

The truth is that very few kids in these three age groups have a mentality that sees drinking before 21 as not cool, and getting drunk as an absolute no-no.  Not everyone has the same reasons for not doing these things, but I believe the reasoning behind participating in this stuff really isn’t thoroughly thought out.  On the surface, most people just feel that it is what it is…kids do stupid stuff.  It’s universally accepted, so why not take advantage.  Why, though?  How is it hardly ever questioned, even by the people who participate??  I don’t know if any of my old high school peers are reading this, and if they started, they’ve probably stopped already but I challenge all who drink before they’re 21, drink to get drunk, and use drugs to objectively ask yourselves, what is behind this appeal?

To be honest, it furies me to see people drawn to these things.  I’m not mad at them, and I’m not mad at the alcohol.  I’m angry at the deception, people thinking the only way they can have fun is to get wasted and not remember any of it.  Or people feeling so desperate, they look to a bottle to find answers.  It literally makes me sick, because everyone deserves so much better and has an opportunity for something that won’t devastate their liver, brain, or relationships.

Now, if you have read any of these posts before, you probably know where I’m going but if not just hear me out before you make any judgments and close the page.  Answers are not found in the things of this world, and neither is true pleasure.  That “hilarious” party the other night where Bill got toasted and made a fool out of himself might bring you a laugh, or a “good” memory, but how good is that memory?  The self-pleasure being sought out by these sorts of things always comes up short, and ALWAYS will beg more questions.  So where are the answers found?  The truth is found in Jesus Christ.  I know what you’re thinking, “How can some dude that was written about in a book thousands of years ago give me answers, or a happiness better than chilling with my friends getting hammered?”  I used to ask the same question.  There is this thing called the Holy Spirit.  Once you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, it enters you and changes your life…all for the better.  It might sound ridiculous, but this thing, The Holy Spirit?  It’s what you were designed to have, and the only path we have to achieve and maintain freedom.

“Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” Psalms 100:3

There are most definitely some misconceptions about Jesus and those who truly follow him in today’s day and age.  One being that Jesus was some lame guy in sandals who just walked around and preached at people then died and rose again for some reason.  Well, Jesus was and is the furthest thing from lame, or “soft” as some of my friends would say.  He performed many, many miracles (not all are documented in the Bible), healed people from binding illnesses, NEVER sinned, and suffered the worst death ever when his Father turned his back on him only to rise again having defeated sin all for people he knew would never be able to live up to his standards.  He loves you more than anyone on this rock ever could, and all he requires is that you admit you’re a sinner in need of grace and direction, thus turning your life into his hands trusting in his love for you and the redemptive Spirit that now resides inside your heart.  EVERYONE needs this.  The last thing he wants for you is to harm the very body he gave you by going out there and getting hammered, and breaking the law.

*One more thing, Jesus drank wine.  However, he did so when he was of age in the time period and never became drunk.

Another misconception is about the people who believe in him and live by his hand.  Living for Christ is the most fun thing ever, much better than a liquid.  Based on ignorance, today’s culture views Christians as these small weak little, fear-filled hypocrites whose idea of fun is playing Go-fish while eating rice cakes.  I have been blessed to meet some solid guys who love Jesus as their Lord and Savior over the years, and we have LOTS of fun.  Good clean fun, though.  You’ll never catch us eating rice cakes, that’s for sure.  Seriously though, what is more fun than complete freedom and complete satisfaction in knowing who you were designed by and to know?  It’s absurd.  Christians are strong because they are made strong by the king of the universe.  Much stronger than any physical strength.

I would absolutely love to talk more with anyone about this, from anywhere.  Before you talk to me though, try talking to Jesus.  Ask him into your heart, to take over in your life, and to forgive you of all the lies you have been believing.  He welcomes all with open arms.  He is a gracious, and loving God who wants to know you more than anything and comes through no matter what.  You WILL be changed, made into the man/woman he has designed you to be.  It is actually impossible for him to lie, so we can have faith in him and his promise.  The righteous live by faith, not by sight.

God Bless,

Brian

Email: Phillysportsfan18@verizon.net

Work In Progress

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For anyone that lives west of Philadelphia and commutes on US 202, they know that the road has been under construction for what seems like forever and no end seems to be reasonably close.  While this road work can be extremely inconvenient and flat out annoying it definitely helped me to realize something recently.  We are always under construction as Christians. 

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ”- Philippians 1:6(KJV)

                In Philippians 1:6, God speaks through Paul saying that the good work started in you will be carried out until completion by the Lord…but how come when the work is going on we forget that it will be completed?  The first part of this verse is extremely important, “being confident of this very thing”.  What is “this very thing”?  The work that is going on in our hearts, and the knowledge of who is doing that work and why!  Confidence that no matter what we are going through, God is using it to construct a person who is better able to love, serve, and honor him gives us the motivation to seek and thank the Lord no matter what, and to get through both the good and bad times in a way honoring to him.

                Observing the construction process on 202 has taught me a little bit about construction…It is a very slow process, experiencing many set-backs along the way.  It isn’t pleasant.  Driving to work this summer, there was a week where a new lane was being paved…that entire week, all I smelled on the way to work was the rich, poignant stench of fresh tar being laid down.  As the aroma of distilled organic chemicals filled my nostrils, my car was shaken up and down by the incomplete road.  Eventually however, a new lane opened up and even though the complete project on the road is not complete yet, driving on that freshly paved road was a pretty spectacular feeling.  This can be related to another verse…

“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (KJV)

                Day by day, we are “renewed”.  Renewed in this sense means to be completely made new.  In the Greek the word is anakainoō.  God promises to makes us a new creation in him through Jesus Christ.  So after we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, the renewal process isn’t completed…it is just beginning!  Those bad days when we wonder why we are even here, and those awesome days when you are happier than you could explain; they all are days where GOD puts work in and continues constructing his new creation.  The pains and noise created by the work done on our hearts isn’t always pleasant, but we can be assured that it will lead to a beautiful final product, the product that only our creator has the design plans to.