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.

Confusion.

Yesterday was Easter. I went on facebook and I saw a bunch of statuses about Jesus, and I was so happy that everyone was praising God and rejoicing in the Lord. The confusing part was when I saw my non-Christian friends putting their statuses about Easter, and when I saw people saying how happy they were about the Easter food and gifts. After thinking about it for a while, it really didn’t sit right with me.

Easter is about Jesus. It’s about believing that Jesus died on the cross and rose again two days later. We gather and celebrate that our savior redeemed us from sin and destruction. It confuses me when people who don’t believe that Jesus is their savior celebrate Easter. It would be like me taking a pilgrimage to Mecca, an Islamic tradition. That wouldn’t really make sense, would it? I’m not a Muslim.

And yeah, I get that people who don’t even consider themselves a specific religion celebrate Easter too, so it’s “not the same.” But how is it any different? Wouldn’t it still be weird if someone who isn’t Jewish started celebrating Jewish holidays? Or if an atheist went on the Hajj? Or if someone who is Hindu took part in Kwanza? I mean…excuse me if I’m wrong, but these things don’t really make sense to me. Frankly, I don’t see the point of celebrating Easter if you don’t believe that Jesus rose on that day, just like I don’t see the point of celebrating any of the other traditions if they’re not according to your beliefs.

I’m not saying that I dislike you if you celebrate Easter and you’re not a Christian, and I’m not saying that people can’t celebrate holidays that aren’t a part of their religion. I just wish people would think about the holidays that they’re celebrating. I wish that people would know what Easter is REALLY about. I can assure you, it is not about the food or gifts or games. My guess is no one will want to read all this scripture about what Easter is really about, but I really encourage you to. I can say tons of stuff on here, elaborating and making clever analogies and using fancy words, but none of my words even come close to being as powerful as the Bible is.

Here’s Mark chapter 15:

“¹ Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate. ² “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate. “You have said so,” Jesus replied. ³ The chief priests accused him of many things. ⁴ So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.” ⁵ But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed. ⁶ Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. ⁷ A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. ⁸ The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did. ⁹ “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, ¹⁰ knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. ¹¹ But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead. ¹² “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them. ¹³ “Crucify him!” they shouted. ¹⁴ “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!” ¹⁵ Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. ¹⁶ The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. ¹⁷ They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. ¹⁸ And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” ¹⁹ Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. ²⁰ And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.  ²¹ A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. ²² They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). ²³ Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. ²⁴ And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get. ²⁵ It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. ²⁶ The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. ²⁷ They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left…²⁹ Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, ³⁰ come down from the cross and save yourself!” ³¹ In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! ³² Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him. ³³ At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. ³⁴ And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). ³⁵ When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.” ³⁶ Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.  ³⁷ With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.  ³⁸ The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹ And when the centurion, who 

 stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

Mya Kubik

The second homosexuality post

Well, I'll be honest, I underestimated the ripples that this would cause.  This post is a clarification, a conclusion, and even partially an apology.

I'm going to frame this post on a series of numbered points.  It's more organized.

1.  I have never and do not hate homosexuals.
2.  I do not believe that homosexuals are lesser people.
3.  I am totally opposed to persecuting homosexuals.
4.  The Bible states that homosexuality is a sin.
5.  Yes, I believe that homosexuals are sinners.  However, I believe that every human being is a sinner. Calling someone a mean name is probably a sin.  Everybody sins. Including, perhaps especially, me.  God does not hate homosexuals and the idea that he does is very mistaken.  God loves homosexuals.
6.  God created sex to be between man and woman.  To distort God's invention of sex is wrong, according to the Bible.
7.  A few days ago, I did not believe that one can be a practicing Christian and be a homosexual at the same time.  Right now, I don't even know anymore.  I don't know if homosexuals can go to Heaven or not, I'm sorry.  I do still believe that they need to realize that it's a sin, however, and that they need to ask God for forgiveness.  Just like every sin.
8. I still believe that homosexuality is wrong.  But maybe I was too harsh.  I am trying to do the best I can in understanding issues like this and one of the reasons that I created this blog was to learn in the process.  I make mistakes just like everyone else and it's possible that I was too blunt in my post.  So for the people that I offended, I sincerely apologize.
9. After I publish this post, I'm done on this issue over the internet.  You'll have to talk to me in person.
10.  Tomorrow is national day of silence for gay rights.

11. Think of it like this: I'm against abortion, you're for abortion.  I believe that abortion is wrong but I don't hate people who get them.  You assume that I hate everyone who gets an abortion so you get really mad at me. 

If you are a homosexual, then it doesn't influence how I interact with you or what I think of your character.  I just disagree. 

Homosexuality

One of the burning issues in today's Christianity is how to treat and interact with gays.  It's an issue that has opened up Christianity to a lot of criticism for a view that many view unfair or judgemental, especially in the last couple of decades as gays have become more a part of society.  Honestly, I believe that many in the Church are at a loss with how to teach about Christianity.  The age of today, especially here in America, is possibly the most sinful and permissive that the world has seen.  Promiscuity is flaunted and allowed over a larger area than ever before.  It bombards us in the media and voices itself in sexual slurs ("that's what she said!") at school.  Our society has taught us, as young Christians, that homosexuality is acceptable and even natural, and that it should be accepted as part of American society.  This is one reason that Christianity has taken hits on it.  However, one cannot be a Christian and endorse homosexuality, any more than one can be a Christian and endorse murder, rape or stealing.  All of these things, including homosexuality, are expressly declared sins by the Bible.  It is unacceptable to follow the brainwashing of society over the word of God.

A question that I am faced with most often is, why is being gay bad? People can't help the way that they are - they're born like that.  Isn't it wrong to "persecute" (lol) people for something they naturally are? 

First of all, I personally do not believe that.  No baby is born homosexual.  Often, when boys and girls approach puberty and are still at a slight loss as to what is going on with their bodies, experimentation occurs and young people can be easily decieved into thinking that homosexuality is natural.  If one is kept out of the contact of the other sex or is merely a late developer sexually, that can also lead to experimentation.  Several clinical studies have shown that there is an increased chance of being homosexual if one has a nonexistent or distant father-son or mother-daughter relationship, which can lead to craving of a member of the same sex.  Not only is there absolutely no scripture saying that a person could possibly be created homosexual, but the idea is scientifically unverifiable and the concept is slowly fading away.  If homosexuality was genetic, it would be almost impossible to change.

But for the sake of argument, let's pretend that somehow people can be born homosexual.  Well, all people are born sinful.  Everyone struggles most with different sins - for many, it is being too judegemental.  Some are envious.  Others lie or steal.  Being born with the tendency to be that way is not an excuse for any sin.  Let's imagine someone who was born with a special enzyme, which is inherited genetically.  It's called monoamine oxidase-A, also known as the "warrior gene".  This particular enzyme often reduces the person's ability to feel remorse or merciful, and sometimes results in an increased level of violence.  Let's say that, because of this gene, which renders the carrier much more violent, the "warrior" kills a person without remorse.  Is this action wrong? After all, they were "born that way".

But, many would argue that homosexuality can't be compared to my example because it's "not hurting anyone".  As I have stated before in this blog, God always has a plan.  To be honest, he knows what's best for the human race far better than the human race does.  He doesn't make rules for the fun of it.  In the Bible, God specifically forbids foods such as pork or shellfish to the Jews.  Turns out, at that time, the methods of cooking and preparing those foods were less than adequate and often resulted in food poisoning.  God forbids certain molds to remain in the house - the same molds that we now know to be pretty harmful to human beings.  In Romans 19:4-6 Jesus says "Haven't you read that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female, and said 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'?"  In this case, it's not that hard to see consequences that have already taken hold.  Although AIDS was not caused by homosexuality, "gay sex" is commonly agreed to be the factor that has most advanced its spread.  Now there's something that I wish we had avoided.  When people say that sexual immorality is permissible as long as "no one gets hurt", they are tricking themselves.  Sin hurts people in the long run, and often in the short run as well.

God created Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, male and female.  He meant for them to have sex together and it was holy.  The idea of homosexuality is an unnatural perversion upon something that God created for us.  It's an idea that came not from the Lord, but from the sins of man.  Before the homosexual can turn from this perverted lifestyle, he must recognize that it is wickedness and plea to the Lord for assistance in freeing himself.  Leviticus 20:13 says ""If a man also lies with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them".

So where does this leave us, as Christians in an atmosphere of homosexual acceptance? First and foremost, remember that homosexuals are objects of God's love just as everyone else.  Although they are sinners, we are ALL sinners.  Romans 5:8 says ""But God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us".  Hate the sin but not the sinner, and pray that they realize the truth.  The homosexual has to realize that what they are doing is not natural, it is wrong.  Only then can they move forward under the instruction of the Gospel.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 :  "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be decieved: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And that is what some of you were.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God".

By Grace through Faith

            Ephesians 2:8-10 NLV “⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. ¹⁰ For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

            Grace. To many, believers and unbelievers, grace is a confusing concept. But what is it really? Grace is an unmerited gift. Grace is favor and mercy that cannot be earned. Grace is a wholly undeserved blessing. A lot of the time I find myself working for my salvation, trying to be good enough for God. Recently though, the Lord revealed to me that I am wrong in doing that.

            Here’s the gist of it: Jesus was the only one (and is going to be the only one) to live a blameless and sinless life. He did not deserve any punishment, but he was sent as the ultimate sacrifice to the cross. When his blood was spilled, he paid the price for our sin. He paid the ransom that sin was holding against us.

            It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. We, who have sinned against God a countless number of times, are the ones who deserve death. We deserve destruction. But Jesus, who had done nothing wrong against God, took the blame for our mistakes. He took the punishment for the sin of the world upon himself. He felt the shame that we should have felt by carrying His own cross to the place of His execution, a public humiliation. He felt the pain that we should have felt by being nailed to the cross, painfully beaten, whipped, and mocked (Mark 15:16-32). Jesus made a selfless sacrifice because of His love for us.

            If it was possible to earn our salvation, we wouldn’t need a savior. We could have given offering, volunteered, prayed, attended church regularly, acted like “good” Christians, and done a number of good works in order to be saved from our sin. But it was impossible to be saved by our own strength and by our own doing. God gave us an undeserved gift, grace, through our Savior Jesus Christ so that we can have salvation and be considered right with Him.

            Romans 3:23-26 NLV “²³ For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. ²⁴ Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. ²⁵ For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood…God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.”

            This week my prayer is that we would know and experience God’s unending grace. I encourage you to look deeper into the scripture that I’ve left at the bottom of the post. If you have prayer requests, questions or comments, you can email me at myakubik3@yahoo.com or just leave a comment.

 Mya Kubik

Titus 3:4-7 – New life found through God’s mercy and grace

Romans 4 – Justification through Faith alone

Romans 5 – Faith triumphs in trouble

http://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/crucifixion-of-jesus-christ.htm - Gift of Salvation