A Desperate Need for Change

As Christians living in America, we don't have a whole lot to worry about. We have the freedom to believe in what we choose, and not live in constant worry of being hunted down and tortured for calling Jesus our savior. We have very little to fear as well. No fear of death for the sake of God. We don't even have to think about where our next meal is going to come from (except for whether we're going to have steak or chicken for dinner). According to the Voice of the Martyrs, the Bible is illegal in 52 countries (not including hostile nations). The persecution rate since Jesus' time has drastically increased; more people die for their faith in Jesus today than they did during apostolic times. In some Islamic countries, parents kill their children if they become Christians. Daily, Christians refuse to deny Jesus, and because of it they are brutally tortured and killed. I am proud to call those people my brothers and sisters in Christ.

However, I've been a bit concerned about the American church recently. When I look at the Christian population of America, I mostly see a lukewarm church. A church that doesn't really get what being a Christian is all about. I wonder how many people would continue to call Christ their savior if their lives were on the line. Sadly, my guess is not many would. Christianity has become watered down from what it used to be. More and more people just think that Christians are idiots because we don't know how to defend our faith (and we don't let God defend it for us), and since they don't see anything incredible happening (miracles), they conclude that the Christian faith isn't real because it isn't powerful.

     This doesn't make sense. As Christians, we serve the most powerful Being of all time. He has the greatest love, mercy, patience, kindness, grace, wisdom, peace…the list goes on for eternity. The Holy Spirit (the God I just described only in spirit form) lives in US, and as a result His power should be shown through US. We should have a growing passion- a burning inside our hearts to follow and serve God. We should be prepared to die for His sake, and not have an ounce of fear about it in us. We should be the craziest, most on fire people in the world. When people see us, they should be blown away by our boldness and our hearts for God. We should be seen as different, set apart from the rest of the world.

Instead, the passion that we found at the beginning of our relationship has withered into apathy. Instead, we are a people full of fear for what will come tomorrow, how to pay for college and where to get a job rather than trusting God with everything. Instead, we are driven by worry and success (ie earning as much money as we can as quickly as possible). Instead, we are an indifferent, lukewarm church. Instead, non-Christians just see normal people living for the same things that everyone else is living for. Drinking, alcohol, premarital sex (a whopping 3% wait until marriage), gambling, addictions- they're just as common within the church as they are outside it. In fact, we indulge in the exact same things that the people of the world do- there's almost no difference from them to us except the fact that we paste a title on our Facebook pages that claims we believe in Christ. No wonder people don't buy our faith and opinions.

    Essentially, something has gone wrong. Maybe we're not reading the Bible and interpreting it in a literal sense, because it says that the Lord will spit the lukewarm out of His mouth. Or perhaps we've lost faith and stopped trusting in God to give us the power not to fear, to love unconditionally, to be utterly devoted to Him, to trust and rely on Him. It's most likely something different for each one of us, but whatever it is, I hope we find it and let God fix it.

    When people see Christians, I want them to know and experience the God of power. I want us to rely and trust in God alone. I want us to welcome judgment and persecution for Christ's sake. I want to see God's power bring us into one body so that we can be the hands and feet of Christ. My desire is to see change; a revival in our hearts that will change our lives and especially the lives around us. But nothing is going to happen if we don't make some drastic changes in the way we live our lives.

I'll be praying for you all this week!

Mya Grace

Check out the websites below. Try putting yourself in their shoes; they couldn't survive without trusting wholly in God for strength.

http://www.persecution.com/

http://www.persecution.org/

Substance Abuse and Religion

Hi guys. Sorry that I haven't posted in a while; no excuses besides that of AP tests keeping me busy.  For lack of a better topic, I'm going to do this post on what my youth group discussed Sunday.  Remember, feel free to suggest or email me topic ideas or requests.

Does smoking weed/cigarettes make you less of a Christian?

First of all, I'm going to break this down into a two categories - cigarettes, and all other substances.  This is pretty much because cigarettes are legal.

Common conceptions in our culture today is that Christians don't do stuff like swear, smoke, drink, etc.  And indeed those go against the teachings of the Bible (well... not drinking but since this is a blog for TEENS and drinking is illegal for teens then...).   

So why not? Well, the Bible says that we are supposed to treat our bodies as a temple. 1 Corinthians 6:19 - "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. "  And again in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 - "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple."

These verses are saying (I think) that we need to treat our bodies as holy as possible.  Now, by that interpretation, we also need to avoid junk food, excercise a lot, etc. I'm not saying that we need to be fanatics - just treat our bodies with respect and care.  Substances like cigarettes, excessive drinking, pot, crack and the like isn't exactly the epitome of respecting our bodies.

Then there's that fact that all of these substances are illegal for teens (and the others - crack, weed, etc.- illegal for everyone outside of California lol).  The Bible also tells us to respect the local law in Romans 13:1-2 and in 1 Peter 2:13-17.

And then, finally, there is the fact that these substances become addictions.  The Bible tells us not to have idols before Him and an addiction is the very definition of an idol.  It's inexcusable to put something like a drug (or anything) before our Lord.

So what does this mean for Christians?  It means that yes, illegal substance abuse is a sin.  The use of cigarettes and alcohol in excess is probably a sin too but, I mean, I'm not an expert on that.  Does sinning make you not a Christian?

Of course not.

It's like any sin - heck, it's like what I said about homosexuality earlier.  A sin is a sin is a sin - that is, all sins are equal in the eyes of God.  However, if we accept God and ask for forgiveness and work against, our petty sins can never seperate us from him.

I'm going to be honest - I have friends who smoke. I have friends who smoke who call themselves Christian.  I honestly don't care and I let them do whatever they want.  I have never smoked, for a few reasons.

Go with God this week guys :) Good luck to everyone with your AP Tests! Sorry for taking so long.