Cardboard Testimonies

I was watching some of these Cardboard Testimonies on Youtube. I am going to warn you, you may cry. But it shows how great our God is! 

Soli Deo Gloria

2,000 Years Ago-My Savior Lives

"My Savior loves, my Savior LIVES, my Savior is always there for me..." My Savior conquered death, securing my salvation. He suffered, He died, He rose. If He did not rose, my faith would be in vain, but He did rise; and my faith is not in vain! I can place my trust in Him, and He will not fail me! 

Jesus fulfilled prophecy from the Old Testament, even all the way back to Genesis 3. God said to the serpent that the woman's offspring will crush his head, but he will bruise his heal. Christ heal was bruised 2,ooo years ago; but 2,ooo years ago, the serpent's head was crushed! Satan no longer has any power over me, because JESUS CHRIST IS RISEN!!!!

Soli Deo Gloria

2,000 Years Ago

Two thousand years ago, a man was executed, a man who had truly done nothing wrong. And while people have been executed throughout history, and not all have been guilty of the crime they were executed for, He was the only one who truly had done nothing wrong. That man is Jesus Christ. However, on that day, He did not die alone. On either side of Him was a thief. These men were guilty; but only one saw his own guilt. Jesus died for that man, and for all who will believe. He took the guilt of that thief, so that the thief can spend eternity worshiping God! 

Jesus came to this sin-cursed world, was surrounded by sinners, died surrounded by sinners, why? So that God can be glorified! That is why we are saved, so that God can be glorified. So, what do we do with that, we put Christ on display and point others to Him!

Two thousand years ago, my savior came, my savior died, so that I can glorify God! Isn't that an amazing thought. I need to put my savior on display, and I fail everyday. But one day, I will not fail, I will be able to put Christ on display without any sin! I can't wait for that day!

Soli Deo Gloria

What is friendship?

What is true friendship? We say we have friends, but do we? Here in America, we use the term "friend" almost too loosely. We say "Oh, that is my friend." But, what do we know about that person? Do we know their likes and dislikes, do we know their struggles, their passions, what makes them laugh, what makes them cry? Are we there for them when they need someone to talk to, or just someone to listen? Are we willing to die for them? Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." So, do we have friends. or just acquaintances?

In French, the word for friend is "ami," and a French person will not call a person, "mon ami"-"my friend" unless they were really close and knew each other well. I am happy to say that I do have several friends I can call "mes amis." Friends are a gift from God, it is only by His grace that we can have friends. And in having friends, we have a great responsibility to point them to Christ, and to make sure that the friendships are bringing glory to God.

So, those are just some things I have been thinking about recently. Sorry about not posting in a while, every time I would go to post, nothing came to mind, now something has :).

Soli Deo Gloria

Reflection on James 1:5-8

Okay, after not posting anything for a while, I decided to continue my reflection on James 1. So, verses five to eight:

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."

What is wisdom? According to dictionary.com, wisdom is "knowledge of what is true or right coupled with judgment as to action." So, wisdom is applying knowledge correctly. As Christians, we have a great responsibility to apply the knowledge we have in a way that will bring glory to God. 

So, where does wisdom come from? From God. And the amazing thing is, God love to give it freely without chastising us for asking. Now, it is easy to know that academically, but actually believing it, that is the hard part. That is why James says to ask in faith. When we ask God for something, we must have faith that God will give it to us. Now where does faith come from? According to Ephesians 2, it comes from God. So, if both wisdom and faith comes from God, we need to ask Him for both. However, God has given us enough faith and knowledge to be able to ask for wisdom without doubting. I would go as far to say if we ask God for wisdom, but doubt, we are sinning. When we doubt that God will do good, we are double-mined, a person with with two minds torn between God and the world. 

Now, why would James talk about wisdom right after talking about trials? It can almost seem like a complete change of subject. However, part of getting through trials is having wisdom to know what to do with those trials. So, when we are going through a trial, let us ask God to give us the wisdom to properly apply the knowledge gleaned from that trial; because it is part of counting it all joy when we meet trials of various kinds.

So, those are just a few thoughts I had about these verses.

Soli Deo Gloria

A Really Cool Music Website

For all of you music lovers, I thought you would like to know about http://free.napster.com/.

It is an awesome site where you can stream a whole lot of music and can choose to look them up my artist, album, or track. For me personally, they even have Hillsong, Chris Tomlin, Steven Curtis Chapman, David Croward, Celtic Woman, and many, many more.

Soli Deo Gloria

A reflection on James 1:2-3

Recently James 1 has been a big part of my life, so here are some thoughts I have on the chapter.

Verses two and three

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

Something someone told me recently when I was venting about something, "Congratulations, God won't give you more than you can handle." We need to count it joy when we face trials. Facing trials is part of the Christian life. And why do we face trials? To refine our faith. Recently I heard the illustration of trials being like the refining process of gold. In order for gold to be refined, it must be heated; however, if it is heated too much, it will evaporate. That is how God is with us. He will not allow us to go through more trials than we can handle. 

An example we see is Job. When Job was tempted, Satan had to ask God permission to tempt Job. So, in order for us to be tempted, Satan must first ask God. And when Job was tempted, what was his response? "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, Blessed be the name of of the Lord." We need to rejoice in trials. Now, that is easier said than done. But, God grace is enough!!!

Now, another reason for trials is to produce steadfastness. And steadfastness, or it could also be translated "perseverance," is so that we can be more like Christ, perfect. Now, we will never be perfect; however, we can, as Paul puts it, "strive for the masteries." Also, so we can be laking in nothing. Christ needs to be our everything. He needs to complete us, so that we are complete. And trials bring us closer to Christ.

So, those are some random thoughts on James 1:2-3. In future post, I will continue my thoughts on the rest of the chapter.

Soli Deo Gloria