Started From The Bottom

I will admit Drake’s song “Started From The Bottom” does appear on my workout playlist. Maybe it's a guilty pleasure of some sort and, if you have never heard the song, I don’t necessarily recommend it unless you are fond of four-letter words and that one “N-word” that seems to be replacing a lot of my generation’s vocabulary.

BUT every time I hear that song during my workout, one phrase sticks with me:

            “Just as a reminder to myself,

I wear every single chain even when I’m in the house,

            Cause we started from the bottom now we’re here”

It hit me how true this is for Christians and their testimony because the remembrance of God’s mighty hand should drive our response in worship in light of our deliverance and what God has brought us through.

If we don’t remember what God has brought us through, we forget redemption.

Now I know some might be thinking, “um, doesn’t the Bible say, If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation? The old has gone and the new has come?” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Yes it does, but being saved and redeemed doesn’t mean taking a spiritual amnesia pill so we forget the past like it never happened. Doing this can lead to pride and an upturned nose.

What I like about the song is that Drake remembers.

He wears every single chain even when he’s in the house.

The difference between the chains of sin and chains of redemption is that chains of sin bring shame, and chains of redemption bring glory.

What are some areas of your life that Christ has worked his redemption?

What are some areas of life in which you need to let Christ work his redemption?

Are you remembering these?

Are you driven to worship because of it?

 We must not forget that we did not save ourselves. We must put away our chains of shame, and put on our chains of glory. In doing this we are driven to worship God because of all the great things he has done and will continue to do in our lives. If we simply move into the House of Salvation indifferent and forgetful, we forget redemption and we forget the Gospel.

Vans Warped Tour 2014

This past weekend, for Father’s Day, my dad bought my brother and I tickets to the Vans Warped Tour. If you have never heard of Vans Warped Tour, basically it is a huge tour of a ton of bands that travel the country and take over parking lots and fields around the country over the summer. It’s a huge event with multiple performance stages that host everything from alternative to metal to techno and even some acoustic duos. A large number of non-profits also attend the tour and set up tents along the border of the venues.

This year the Dallas tour date was set up at the Gexa Energy Pavilion, near the Texas State Fair grounds. We arrived when the gates opened, scoped out the schedule and made plans to see the bands we wanted to see and found the stages they were going to be playing at.

We camped out at the Monster Energy stage to see a band called “The Word Alive”.  We hadn’t  really listened to the band much, but their set was pretty awesome and included a backflip from the lead singer. After some F-bombs during the show and after looking up some articles on the band, it is clear that the band isn't a Christian band.

They ended their set with one of their songs called “Life Cycles” off of their 2012 record Life Cycles.

The song really captured my attention when the lead singer “Telle” screamed over the crowd:

“I’d rather die for what I believe, than live a life without meaning!”

Then “Telle” held the microphone out to the crowd and the crowd busted their lungs screaming:

“I’d rather die for what I believe, than live a life without meaning!”

As the song went on, the band played their hearts out as we jumped around and moshed, officially breaking the first of many sweats to come that day.

What was so awesome about that moment in the song was that I realized how we are wired and created to crave something more. We crave purpose whether we know what will ultimately fulfill our purpose or not, there is no getting around how we were created to be. These kids are so close to realizing salvation, meaning, and purpose in Christ!

Praise God there are some Christian-counseling type organizations that go on the tour like “Heart Support”, started by Jake Luhrs (lead screamer for August Burns Red) and “Steal Kill & Destroy” (a.k.a SKAD).

There needs to be more Christians who are stepping up in to darker places.

Paul says:

                       

            “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them…I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings” 1 Corinthians 10:19-22

I am not saying that the hardcore metal or punk music scene is for every believer in Christ. But there are plenty of Christians I know that do enjoy that type of music and attend Warped Tour on a regular basis.

I am also not saying you have to have a ton of tats or gauges and only shop at hot topic to reach people in that music scene that need help.

I am saying that I think Christians need to be smarter and more aware of the ways we try and reach people with the Gospel.

Gone are the days where walking door to door in dress clothes, or simply handing out gospel tracts is effective. We, as believers in Christ, are called to make disciples.

I believe this is only done through relationships and genuine love and care.

It’s time to become smarter evangelists, to more effectively engage our surrounding culture, hold fast to true teachings, let go of secondary issues, and win some for Christ.

Why This Blog Isn't Enough

Get on Twitter, get on Facebook, get on any other social media and search your favorite pastor or Christian- cause group and you can keep up with all the activities they are putting on or where they are going.

Search any “churchy” topic in Google, and in .00049319819 seconds you will have a page full of blog sites run by Christ-followers giving their say on the subject matter.

There’s no doubt that now, more than ever, Christian’s are overloaded with online resource sites, blogs, video sermons, podcasts and whatever evangeli-fad is going to pop up next.

(Yes, I am including this site in this blog-phenomenon)

((Oh, the ironing))

(((Wasn’t that punny?!)))

But these things aren’t enough.

This blog isn’t enough.

This semester at A&M I have been meeting up with a group of guys to go over the book of 2 Timothy.

2 Timothy is a letter to Timothy (shocker) from Paul in which these guys clearly have an intense discipleship-relationship:

“I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers nights and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy.” – 2 Timothy 1:3-4

In chapter 2, Paul even calls Timothy his “child”.

“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus” 2 Timothy 2:1

Let’s just cut to the chase.

You aren’t getting the community you need from your podcasts.

You aren’t being “led” by the pastors you follow on Twitter.

As Disciples of Christ, we are called to make disciples.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

-Matthew 28:19-20

We are so blessed to live in an age of technology where we can get our hands on eBooks, podcasts, video-sermons, and blog posts.

But you are never going to get the Paul-Timothy relationship, discipleship and growth from a screen or an audio-track. I realize now, I was beginning to be trapped in this mindset myself.

The Internet is great for the transfer of information, but don’t let the transfer stop there.

Engage people.

They’re closer that you think.

Anchor

What shall I say when the anchor seems to give way?

What shall I feel when I crumble under the bend and the sway?

Where is my hope found?

What will I say when I don’t cross the finish line?

What will I say when I don’t even start?

Where is my rest?

You are my anchor.

You are my hope.

You will finish what you start here.

If my joy is fleeting, it is not found in You.

For nothing of yours ever fades.

If my hope is secure, I know it is found in You.

For everything of yours, you deliver.

This is what I’ll say under the bend and sway:

My God is the same day after day.

Eternal, is my God.

Deep, is the anchor that holds me.

I’m not going anywhere.

Shake 'Em Up

I might be the only one who remembers these, but here goes nothing.

As a kid, I remember going to Burger King and being so excited to get what they called “Shake ‘em up fries”. 

Now just imagine you receive your grease-bag of fries and you frantically search for a crucial ingredient.

Your heart skips a beat because you think they forgot it, but then you see it:

The packet.

A little packet of cheesy, mass-produced…well, whatever that stuff actually was.

You empty your bag of burger content and toss the fries in along with a heavy dose of the shake ‘em up dust, close the top and shake your way into the fast-food dream kingdom.

I will admit I thoroughly enjoyed these fries while they lasted. And if you’re reading this and happen to work for Burger King, I would definitely buy them again!

Now I honestly don’t know how this thought occurred in my mind, but it happened a couple weeks ago when I was thinking about God’s goodness and being gospel-centered.

We often treat Jesus, like some optional packet of fry-enhancing dust.

Paul tells us in Corinthians, we are “bought with a price” (1Cor. 7:23)

Ok, so remove Christianity and all things gospel and imagine you buy a CD.

You want the new Beyoncé album, cause it has “yo new jam” on it and so you put in your hoop earrings in and pop the disc in and it starts playing college business calculus lectures.

That’s not what you bought it for.

It’s not like the CD has the right to change its content.

The CD didn’t buy itself.

The CD didn’t make itself.

You didn’t create yourself.

God has purchased us, with blood.

No paper contracts, just nails.

He knew that we would sometimes play the wrong tunes and serve the wrong purpose but he still bought us.

Therefore, we owe our lives to him.

If you understand the Gospel, you understand how critical it is to realize you are not your own.

“Adding Jesus”, to your daily life isn’t a choice if you have a relationship with Christ.

He’s not a bag of flavor-dust; He is King.

He’s not an add-on: He’s IT.

Our lives are not to be “Jesus-involved”; they are to be “Christ-centered”.