A New Direction

After much thought and prayer, I’ve decided to change the focus of my blog.

Rather than just being a nonsensical rambling monstrosity, I’m going to attempt to focus my writings on the relationship between Christ and Culture and the impact that it has on the Church both locally and globally. With a topic in hand I think I’ll be more able to keep up with blogging, because writing about my life becomes boring quickly since I live a pretty boring life.

Sometimes I will throw in some other topics and every once in a while you’ll get a dose of random nonsense, but I look forward to sharing some of my thoughts and having some good discussions.

What I Did On My Vacation

Just because people keep asking me, on my vacation I:

Actually slept very well, which is surprising because I NEVER do that.

Went to Frostop and had the world’s best cheesburger, along with cheese fries and a root beer in a frosted mug.

Spent Thanksgiving with my mom, brothers, and my grandparents. We didn’t have turkey, which was LAME! But we did have Oyster dressing, which was incredibly good!

Watched multiple episodes of House during the Thanksgiving Day marathon. Hadn’t ever really watched that show before, but I like it.

Got to hang with my best friend C1, who came down Thursday night and hung out all day Friday.

Found out that C1’s girlfriend doesn’t want to talk to me, because she’s mean.

Spent Friday morning playing Rock Band. We made a band. The name? Jefferson Moustache. Outstanding, I know.

Got to eat at Raising Cane’s. So stinkin’ good!

Went to Guitar Center with C1 and my brothers. Here’s what we did there:

• Made fun of C1
• Listened to all the 15 year olds attempt to play Metallica and Led Zeppelin
• Checked out some drum hardware
• Made fun of C1
• Went to the keyboard room, where we pretended like we knew what we were doing
• Watched some drunk guys come in and play the keys pretty well. It was entertaining.
• Had Evan refer to Scratching by its proper name “When you go ‘wikki wikki woo’”
• An employee passed much too close to Daniel
• We lost C1
• We found C1
• We made fun of C1

We also went to Petsmart and checked out the cats, birds, and assorted lizards they had there. 

Wanted to see the new Bond movie, but nobody seemed very interested in that.

After C1 left, my grandparents, my aunt, and her mother in law came for a visit. 

Watched the SpongBob movie.

Visited my good friend Angela on Saturday. 

Came back to my mom’s house, where lots of people had gathered. My aunt, my cousin, and some family friends were all there. 

Got to meet my youngest cousin, who is only 18 months old.

Went to my mom’s church. Finally got to meet her Pastor. Good guy.

Had Applebee’s for lunch with the family. Had a really rude waiter.

Listened to the end of the Saints game on my drive. They break my heart sometimes.

Drove. And drove. And drove. And drove some more. 

And now I’m back. Excited?

Undefeated (Pt.2)

Well, I played 8 games last night, but I did lose once. Kip (one of our seniors) managed to pull out a win, but we had to go to extra points for him to do it (and he got about 17 lucky shots that barely grazed the edges of the table), and his win was sandwiched between me beating him twice. 

So there, my Ping Pong record for the past three weeks is 22-1. That’s pretty spiffy if you ask me, but I’m still ticked that I lost. 

Oh, and for all those who think they can take me…bring it on!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Undefeated

Over the past two weeks at Burn (Our Student Ministry’s Midweek Service), I have been undefeated in Ping Pong.

I’ve played at least 15 matches and have been an unstoppable force. 

Tonight, I’m anticipating running my streak up even higher, and since we won’t have service next week I’ll be able to carry my streak into December.

Bring your A-Game tonight guys, and we’ll see if you can take me out!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Enjoy!

I saw this and loved it, and so I figured you would as well. Enjoy!

Is it really only Tuesday?

Today I asked a question via Twitter/Facebook:

When was the last time you wrestled with a hard truth of God, and what truth was it? 

I got lots of great answers, including one about how Philip likes to wrestle with open theists (What the heck is that about Flip?) Some highlights were “love those who hate you,” “am I really where God wants me,” “does God choose those who come to Him,” etc.

My answer is “Just how sovereign IS God?”

I’ve been reading through 2 Chronicles, and there are several passages that are kicking me in the head over and over again. We are used to hearing phrases like “God is in control,” but the debate is over exactly how He asserts that control. The passages in question attribute things to God that most modern-day Christians would cry foul over. Things like this:

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king said, “Come to me again the third day.” And the king answered them harshly; and forsaking the counsel of the old men, King Rehoboam spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.” So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by God that the Lord might fulfill his word, which he spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. – 2 Chronicles 10:12-15 (emphasis mine)

And this:

And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab the king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’ And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’ Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets. The Lord has declared disaster concerning you.” – 2 Chronicles 18:18-22 (emphasis mine)

And this: 

But Amaziah would not listen, for it was of God, in order that he might give them into the hand of their enemies, because they had sought the gods of Edom. – 2 Chronicles 25:20 (emphasis mine)

I think you get my point. Needless to say, I’ve been struggling with proper understanding of these passages and what greater implications are held within.  That’s my “Theology to make your brain ache” message of the day.

On another note, I dropped my iPhone today, and it fell face down on the concrete. The screen is pretty much toast, but surprisingly it still works. I covered the screen with packing tape to keep the pieces from falling off, but that’s obviously a temporary fix.

Isn’t that awesome? Click that picture to see one that’s really close and shows just how awesome that is. One bad move and a sharp piece will go through the interior screen and that will be all she wrote. I guess I’m going to have to forgo any actual Christmas presents this year and just get people to contribute to the “Cory needs a new iPhone” fund. 

Soli Deo Gloria

Examine your heart, and do so harshly

After the election, one person made this statement to me: “We are doomed.”

In a strange way, I agree with that, but not because of who our president is or is going to be. I think our nation is doomed because we worship at the altar of self rather than at the altar of the King of Heaven. This isn’t about political parties, it isn’t about “moral majorities,” and it certainly isn’t about Obama or McCain. This is about a collective group of people who have failed to give God what He is due, and I can assure you that God is not okay with that. And before someone launches into some nonsense about gay marriage and abortion being the reasons for our doom, let me just tell you this:

Shut up.

Those things are not the problems. Those things are the symptoms of the problem. We kill unborn babies because we are a nation of unrepentant sinners who are openly and defiantly mocking God’s righteousness and holiness. We are fighting a battle against homosexual marriage because we are a people who, although we knew God, we have not honored him as God or given thanks to him (Romans 1:21).

Any Christian reading this right now will be quick to point the finger at the non-Christians in an attempt to pin the blame for what’s happened to our country on them, but I think the finger should be pointed squarely at the church. Believe me, I am not asserting my innocence in any of this, because I’m just as guilty as the rest of the American church.

Ask yourself an honest question. Do you love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength (Matthew 22:37)? Before you just jump to an answer of “Of course I do,” truly examine your heart. Do you honestly seek ONLY God’s glory in everything you do? That’s the result of loving him with ALL, your will shouldn’t matter anymore. Now, at this point, you may feel confident enough to point out that we’re not perfect, and we won’t ever be. And you’re right, but that doesn’t make God’s expectation any less. He deserves our all, but that’s not where he leaves it. He DEMANDS it, and anything short of it is denying God what he is owed. 

The world is full of sinners, and we cannot expect them to act any differently. God has given them over to their sinfulness, and they are dead. We should love them as we love ourselves, but we need to recognize that no matter how much you clean up their actions, if their hearts are dead it does no good. As Christians, on the other hand, our hearts have been made alive in Christ, and we know better.

If our country is under judgement, it’s because of the church’s pathetic excuse for worship and surrender. So ask yourself: are you part of the problem, or are you giving God all you’ve got? If you’re not giving all you have, then you’re not giving enough. 

Church, it’s time to step it up.

 

Soli Deo Gloria

I’m back. Yes, you should be terrified.

So it’s been almost a month since I posted anything. 

It’s been a hard month. Several things have come up and kicked me right in the chest repeatedly. Some of you know what some of these things have been, but I doubt that any of you know all of them, which is kinda the way I like it. 

So anyway, now that I’ve gotten that out of the way…

In the wake of the election on Tuesday, I’ve had several conversations with people who are pretty worried about what’s going to happen in our country. What astonishes me about these conversations is that they’re with Christians. It made me wonder what happened to our faith in God’s sovereignty. Regardless of your party affiliation, most people would admit that these are uncertain times in our nation, but that’s no reason to freak out.

The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will. – Proverbs 21:1

remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ – Isaiah 46:9-10

We serve a God who is bigger than the office of President. We serve a God who could destroy the entire universe with a snap of his fingers if he so desired. We serve a God who sustains all living things on our planet simply by willing them into existence. 

Get a grip, people. God is in control. He always has been, and he always will be.

Come back tomorrow to hear my perspective on this statement made in reference to the election:

“We are doomed”

Until next time, Soli Deo Gloria!

Just an update

I have been meaning to post all week, but I am sick.

Lame excuse, I know, but I will post tomorrow, sick or not.

Consider yourself warned.

I totally forgot I had this album…

I was listening to my music on random on iTunes while working just now. On Haste The Day’s album “When Everything Falls” they do a cover of “Long Way Down” by the Goo Goo Dolls. It’s such a weird combination…almost as weird as seeing Switchfoot cover “Crazy In Love” by Beyonce.

Here’s video of them doing it live.