The new Lecrae CD is coming out tonight at midnight.

If you do not know who Lecrae is then you should purchase some of his older music off of iTunes now, but if you want to wait then I am sure you will be impressed with the message on his newest album Rehab which drops tonight at midnight. 

I do not follow very many people closely.  I follow Christ.  My life is solely based off of how he lived while here on Earth.  However, I also study the patterns of one man day to day in person.  As mentioned, I have made a stand to only follow Christ, but I feel it is also necessary to have someone in my life that is chasing after Him as well for a real hands on reference point.  After studying under, being adopted by, and living with John Barnes I have also come to follow two other people, but the difference is I do not know them personally. 

Francis Chan and Lecrae are both men of God who impact me on a daily basis.  Lecrae is obviously the less known of the two, but I really don’t believe he minds.  Since around the age of 17 I have had the urge to minister in the city.  I never really knew how to put my thumb on reaching the inner cities, but since then I have come into contact with Lecrae’s ministry.  He has shown me a very impactful way to do so.  Even if you hate rap you can not help but to love the message that this man is preaching to a forgotten people.  Do yourself a favor and support this album.    

He is real...

God is real that is.  This transformation that is taking place in my life is only explained by a loving, holy, righteous, amazing, and real God.

For me to show you how real God is, I will first have to show you the opposite me.  I will simply do this by writing a detailed list of who I am not.  The list is as follows:

• I am not an older brother
• I am not a 8-5 business employee
• I am not concerned with others
• I am not a good boyfriend
• I am not a rapper
• I am not confident
• I am not forgiving
• I am not honest
• I am not happy
• I am not free
• I am not going to amount to anything
• I am not focused
• I am not stable

When I turned 17 I started to realize that this list existed.  I would not consider this a list at that time, but rather I would have considered it a lifestyle.  Also, I would not have considered these things negative in anyway.  In fact, I would have been drawn to, looked up to, and idolized people who thought they were a good thing.  I made a lot of friends who felt the same way, and we journeyed through life together throughout most of our teenage years.  When I think about how I ended up flat on my face I often wonder if they have been there yet.  I wonder if they found love in the same place I found it. 

You see, I started following Christ around the age of 17.  I would have told you I was a follower before then, but I was not.  I sit back and reflect on all of these things that I most definitely was not back then, and now I look at that list and say WOW!  God has done so much in my life!  I never once thought that a 20 year old pot head could live life like I am.  This list started to shift from the words you read to a new list when I turned 17.  This new list is who I was made to be, and who I enjoy being!  The only thing is that God made me to be this way!!!  God wants me to be:

• an older brother
• a 8-5 business employee
• concerned with others
• a good boyfriend
• a rapper
• confident
• forgiving
• honest
• happy
• free
• something
• focused
• stable

Luke 22:42

It is very weird to me that Christ wanted something different than God while he was praying this prayer.  As I sit here and think about Christians who will tell you that the Trinity is a lie, I finally have an argument that I don't believe can be matched.

When Christ is praying He does not pray to God as if referring to Himself.  He goes beyond that and even admits to not desiring the same thing that God desires.  I feel that if you are the same person as who you are talking to and you (the one talking) want a different thing than what you (the one you’re talking to) wants then that either makes you insane or else a different person.

Now since I feel this way, and I do not want to call Messiah insane, crazy, or schizophrenic I will instead say that I feel as if Yeshua had a separate desire than God at this time.  These two different desires make him a separate being in my opinion.

Do I feel as if Christ is God, yes!  Do I feel as if Christ is God the Father, no.  Do I feel as if His impact in any of our lives is lessened by him disagreeing with another part of the Trinity, no!  Do I feel as if Christ was wrong to disagree with God, no.  Christ never once showed an inkling of disobedience while here on Earth.  If he would have not taken the cross like They had planned sin would have occurred.  However, He would not have started disobeying when His mission was almost fulfilled.

I don’t know how theologically sound this argument is because I do not know that much about theology, but I am open to suggestions, ridicule, love, hate, or any type of conversation on this topic.  Let’s chat…

Luke 22:42 "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."

Idols (A post from one month ago at diedaily.tumbr.com)

I guess some days are easier than others.  I never really have bad days, but today has been tough walking through because of a list of reasons.  The list entails being ministered to by a homeless 16 year old girl last night, all the way to having very minimal communication with my girlfriend. 
The detailed list is as follows:
1.      Not living close to Heather (girlfriend)
2.      Walking through not being the YA intern anymore
3.      Having a brother get out of jail and not knowing how to handle it
4.      Curious and praying about attending a church plant in Keller, TX
5.      Meeting a 16 year old homeless girl
6.      Not being able to talk to Heather (dumb cell phone)
      Now, if I could change just one thing on this list it would be number 6.  You see, if I could just talk to Heather about 1-5 then I think that her voice could help soothe my emotions.  This presents a problem for me though.  If Heather can be the solution to my life whenever I am in need of some type of restoration, then what do I need Christ for?  I am not saying that I would ever sit at Heather’s feet and proclaim her to be equal or greater than Christ, but what I am saying is in the 2 short months of Heather and I falling in love I have made her an idol.  I have made it to where she can fix problems in my life, and I not only made her capable, I have entrusted her to do so on a few occasions. 
     
      God is very clear on what He thinks about His children worshiping idols.  I have taken a step back and feel as if I need to put my hand over my mouth.  The uncreated God who I have sworn my allegiance to handles idol worshiping with severe consequences.  Not only that, there is no way that Heather could ever “fix” anything in my life.  Please hear this: Heather is the best thing that has ever happened to me outside of salvation, and I plan on loving her and marrying her if that is what God has planned for our lives.  However, if I place her among the company of a God who breathes out stars, then I am setting her up to fail. 
     
      Now this is a hard day to walk through like I said before.  I will choose today to walk with my problems in the hands of a God that demands my worship.  It is not as if God is up in Heaven saying “worship me or die”, but His faithfulness, love, and power are so great that the only reaction to them is our surrender and obedience.  When we live a life based on surrender and obedience to Yahweh then I think we are living a life that worships God.  When my problems are surrendered to a God that breathes out stars then I start to realize that He has my best interest in mind.  Also, I start to realize that my day is getting easier. 
I have not said anything that is life changing, mainly because I have not shared any scripture.  What I have shared is a basic concept that we as Christians try to make difficult.  Sure, we can acknowledge Christ as our savior, but until we lean on Him for all of our needs we are actually worshiping idols, and we have not been saved from anything.