Pride is when we decide that we are doing things the “right” way. It starts as a small thing like having pride about an accomplishment and believing that you did it all on your own. As you begin to allow this to grip you it roots itself deep in your soul and spreads throughout like a virus. When we are gripped by pride we feel like we have arrived. We are always the ones who are right. It becomes hard for us to communicate the gospel because when someone offers a different idea our pride lashes out and fights against showing God’s love. Even on the cross Christ was always about others not about himself. The root issue of pride is that we have an inward view and not an outward one.

In our state of pride we fall into the spirit of  judgment. We begin feeling as if we should be able to tell everyone else how to live according to our lives. Last we checked God is the only one who has the ability to judge people so why should we inflate ourselves to play God? In the movie Bruce Almighty the main character Bruce (played by Jim Carey) gets the chance to be God. He is given the ability to do everything that God can do and for a while it is fun. He feels like he is good enough (out of pride) to be God, but at the end there is a scene with God and Bruce that captures why we should not try to take God’s place in judging others. Bruce tells God that he doesn’t want the responsibility of Him, and God replies saying something along the lines of we all want God’s powers without the responsibility of them.

When we become judgmental and prideful we begin to assume the role of God. As Bruce figured out, playing God is not something that any of us could even begin to do correctly. We lose the grace that God has given us to pour out on others because we are so wrapped up in ourselves and can’t see past our own desires. Our mission is to love others, and we can’t do that with a judgmental spirit. God would have us to love others unconditionally and even when they don’t deserve it. He first forgave and offered grace to us. Let us not be like the man in the parable whose debt was forgiven and then demanded another debt be paid. Let us spread the message of love to all who are around us even if we don’t want to give it to them. Of course we will stumble. That’s where God grants us grace and mercy. Let us pass on what we have been given.

The easiest way to not fall into a spirit outside of God is to constantly dive into the Word and God’s love. If we know God’s word we will begin to see that there are things we may do that are different for us than others. God gives us a set of universal lines to follow for those of us that call Christ our Lord. He offers the Ten Commandments as our guidelines for living. One thing that many Christ followers think is that if we shouldn’t do it then the non-Christians shouldn’t either. God’s rules apply to us, and we can’t expect those in darkness to act like the Light. Even within ourselves God has given us some things He feels will best benefit us. If it’s not written in black and white within the Bible God grants us free will to determine what we believe He would want of us.

There are millions of people living in the dark and we have been given the challenge  to reach those people. There is a God-sized agenda we are responsible for and it is much larger than our pride or judgmental spirit. Our Savior came into this world not to condemn but to save it. Over the next week we urge you to search in your heart where the virus of pride may be resting and begin to work through that area of your life. Let us give grace and mercy to those who we don’t think deserve it. Give forgiveness when we feel like we can’t. Be about this cause that is greater than anything we can ever do. Let’s go be who Christ called us to be. Be the Light in the darkness!

Dive Deep,

KC

When you begin to really process that number, it can be a little bit overwhelming. That is a lot of people, and in the midst of that we can begin to feel like we are just one in a million. Numbers tend to dictate much of what we do. We have become about how many friends we have, how much money we have, how much stuff we own and the like. It seems in all of this we lose sight of the only number that matters. That number is 1.

Compared to the population of the world 1 seems very insignificant, but it actually holds more weight in reality. You can do many things with the number 1. It takes 1 person to begin to dream of new things and purse them, 1 person to lead a group of people to accomplish a goal, 1 person to create this amazing world we live in and 1 Savior to die for 1 person.

We tend to get stuck sometimes on the amount of people that are important to God. Sometimes we feel like God is happy when we share His message with just a few of them. It’s hard for us to grasp, but God cares about all of the people on this world on an individual level. Jesus Christ came to die for all 6,792,467,727 people.  We should never try to hold back what we believe and be willing to reach people.

If Jesus Christ came to die for each of us, then why should we keep that gift silent from the rest of the world? Jesus did not die for a everyone to allow us to not share the gift of eternal life with the people around us. We as Christians, true followers of Jesus, hold the responsibility of sharing the message of Christ with the world! We have been given a gift that is meant to be shared not to be held inside of us.

There are many ways to share this message with the world, some more effective than others. One thing is clear throughout the bible and that is Jesus’ message of love. When we are sharing this means that we should not be preaching something that goes against this. This includes messages that breed fear into new believers and make others want to come to Christ for fire insurance. Christ never took that approach and we really don’t know what it will be like. Instead of teaching about something we don’t understand, let us begin to teach of the love of God.

Christ has given us the gift of mercy and grace from our past sins. He has given us life, true life! So many people are living, but have yet to really live. One of the most effective ideas about sharing this gift comes from the magician Penn Jillette. After a show a man came up to him and started a conversation with him about his show. The man really showed interest in Penn’s acts and after a while handed him a Bible. He told the Penn that he was concerned about his eternal salvation. In the video that Penn posted about this conversation, he said:

““How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize?”

You can view the whole video by going to this youtube link. We would encourage you to take a few moments to watch this to grasp the whole idea that he is talking about.

Over the next few weeks we want to invite you to discover a new way to share your faith with others and some common pitfalls we all end up in. We can do much on our own with God, but we can reach so many more people when we unite for a common purpose.

This week we challenge you to search your heart and spend some time praying for those who you know do not know the Lord. Be sincere in your prayers and earnestly desire for their salvation. If you don’t know someone, then we suggest looking for people who you may know or have mutual friends with and begin to pray about them. Lets go change a nation!

Dive Deep,

KC

Something that is evident throughout the Bible is we as a people were created for community. Starting with Adam and throughout generations of our Christian history there are examples that we were made to do life with others. Christ presented this with the calling of the 12 disciples. When you really think about it, Jesus was God in the flesh and He didn’t need people around Him to complete what the Father had set forth. He was showing us that we all need to be in a community of believers. If we were made for community, it would make sense that we would worship with other believers as well.

Just as we are stronger as a group, worship can be stronger within a group than by yourself. Although that does not mean we can go without private worship. When we worship with a group it may be easier for someone to connect with their Father or step out and experience God because the people around them make them feel comfortable. It also provides a since of community and you actually see other believers pressing into the same God that you worship. When I get the opportunity to watch a worship service while serving in an area of ministry, there is something that makes a deeper connection when you listen to a few hundred voices joining together in praise to the Lord of Lords.

Being in a worship community is very important in our spiritual development, but we should not neglect the act of private worship either. Sometimes worship in a large setting can become routine or even a little bit clique because we begin to just go through the motions of worship. It is in this time that our private worship becomes extremely important in the development of our community worship. We can only change from the inside out, not the outside in. When we begin to go through the motions we think that what we are doing outwardly will become what we are inwardly. Instead we become like the Pharisees that looked good on the outside and horrible on the inside in the area of worship. We lose the connection we once had because we are no longer sowing what is good for us.

Private worship builds self discipline within us and gives us a greater understanding of our Father. This can come in may different forms like prayer and quiet time or maybe having your own personal worship service in your bedroom. Whatever is the pathway for you, we encourage you to pursue that in your private life so that you may benefit in your outward life. Just to clarify, you should be worshiping because you love our God and not because you receive something in return. Worship was never meant to be self beneficial but a way of being obedient and praising our Creator King. After all, God gives us 24/7/365, the least we can give him is some set aside time of private worship and even that should not be enough for us.

One of my favorite worship songs is a song by Hillsong.  It is called “Desert Song” and one of the verse says:

And this is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flames

It captures one of the hardest examples of life that we can go through, but it is in that time that we need a worship community around us. We need people to lift us up and help us along the faith journey. It is in times that this song talks about that we will begin to reap in public what we sow in private.

Mathew West in his song “The Motions” not only gives us a good summary to what we have been talking about over the past weeks but also encouragement in our private pursuit of worship. The lyrics to the song say:

I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking
What if I had given everything?
Instead of going through the motions

This should be enough to encourage us to pursue private worship time and encourage us to have a deeper appreciation of our worship in community. We would encourage you to pursue both of these things with a hunger that can not be satisfied. Our prayer for you is that you will never have enough of God and continue to dive into his amazing deep waters.

Next week we will be launching into a new series called “Sea of Faces”. The ministry team has been praying for great things to happen by God’s hand over this next season and we would ask that you would join us in this prayer. Over the next series, we will be looking at the reality of our world feeling like a sea of faces. We live in a world that is lost, and we are the ones that God has put here on earth to reach those far from His arms. He sent His son to die for everyone and our mission is to share that with the world no matter what differences we may have. We are much stronger as a community, and we want you and your friends to be a part of this. Look for our new post next week and some pretty cool things that we will be doing over the summer to help with our mission of reaching those who are lost.

Dive Deep,

KC

As we learn how to dive more into worship though prayer, acts of service, and spending time with our God, it would be good of us to talk about why we need to worship. God created us for a purpose, and this week Philip Roland, one of our staff members, was gracious enough to write out some thoughts and ideas on this subject.

You came and bled and died
Gave all you had in life
All for love, all for love
Your life destroyed the grave
Brought grace to those in need
All for love, all for love

Christ died for love. All that Jesus did, he did for love, because everything he did was done according to the will of God (”For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me” -John 6:38). God is love personified–-the very definition of love (“God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” -1 John 4:16). Everything he does is loving and everything about him is loving, from his grace to his mercy to, yes, even his anger (for his anger at us when we sin is derived from his desire for holiness and the knowledge that we suffer when we separate ourselves from him with our sin), and this is because it is his nature to love. As a result, when we say that Jesus died for love, it is not simply a statement of Christ’s love for us, but an affirmation of God’s character and his status as the source of all true love.

Because of this, the fact that Christ died for us while also dying to serve the Father’s will is not contradictory as some people believe (and my affinity for John Piper is about to be made pretty evident here with what I’m about to say). He died first and foremost for the glory of God, and we do benefit from this–obviously we are to gain directly from Christ’s death and resurrection giving us the opportunity to have our sins forgiven and our lives begin anew. In addition to this, however, at a deeper level we are also fulfilled because the Father was glorified through Christ’s sacrifice, and when God is glorified, our ultimate purpose (to glorify God) is fulfilled–-our lives are enriched as a result. The world is only at the right place when God is in his correct position as supreme over all creation. We ourselves are only truly fulfilled when God is glorified, for we were created for God’s glory. When we use our lives to bring glory to God, it naturally draws us closer to him and further fills our lives with his presence, and certainly, what does having an abundant life (John 10:10b) mean if not to have a life filled with God’s presence and Spirit?

We were made for his glory and we find ourselves empty and hollowed out within when we use our lives to pursue other things. This is why when you go into a time of worship with the right motivations–-to lift up and glorify God above all else–-that you often come out of that time with a sense of fulfillment. Your soul knows that you are living out your purpose, and you are made complete because of it. It is for this same reason that if you enter a time of worship seeking this feeling rather than looking to put God first that you will leave dissatisfied. As soon as you begin to pursue this fulfillment as your main concern it becomes unavailable. It only exists as a by-product of placing God at the center of everything. To chase after an emotional high in a time of worship puts the focus on something other than God and renders that sense of wholeness unobtainable.

We must realize that even though God has given us all specific gifts and abilities that we are to use to pursue the specific purpose he has for our lives, that above all else we were made for his glory! Christ died for love and we are to live for love. It is by doing so–-by living our lives in such a way that we die to ourselves and raise God high–-that we will change our world for the better! By chasing the light of God’s glory in all that we do, we will spread the love of God throughout the world. Where we go he will go, and as he is glorified we will be made fully alive.

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

Dive Deep,

Philip

In the beginning of the world, God would walk through the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. How cool could that be to walk along side of your Creator in a peaceful setting? But we might think that now it’s not possible to get that connection with God. We sometimes get too wrapped up and forget that we have the ability to “walk” and spend quality time with God. We do this through intentionally praying to God about what is going on with us. Our God is a god that longs for us to talk with him because He wants to be engaged. He is always waiting for us to come and spend some time just soaking in His presence so that He can refill our cups.

 This means that we have to be intentional about spending time with Him. Daniel is probably one of the best examples of prayer in the Bible, and he models for us a method that works in Daniel 6:10 that says:

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

The writing that this passage talks about had banned prayer to anyone but the King, but Daniel knew that his God was the only King, and that was the only person that he would bow to. Daniel had made a habit of praying three times a day, and just because something was put into effect that would make this illegal, he chose to remain faithful to God and spend time with Him in prayer.

Daniel was intentional about prayer in the easy times, so when the hard times hit he was able to stand in confidence because he honored God, and through this honoring God saved him from the lion’s den. Daniel was privately honoring God in his daily life, and God honored him in his public life. We should strive to be intentional about when we pray to develop a sense of discipline. God also wants us to talk with Him about the things that are going on in our lives because He, like a parent, wants to be involved in our lives.

It is one thing for us to say a few words here and there to God about what is going on with us; it’s another thing to truly connect with Him in prayer. God doesn’t want us to be casual about our relationship with Him, just like we don’t want to be casual with our best friends or significant others. God wants to talk to you, but unless you make an effort to establish that relationship, He can’t move in you. Prayer is not for us, but it’s for God to move in us.

If you find yourself in a place where you are just going though the motions of prayer, now is just as good of a time to make a change to become intentional. God is waiting for us to go to Him and cast our cares at His feet. He is a God of love and mercy. Everything will work to the good of those who know Him if we just allow Him to. This week, we want to encourage you to move from a place where you may not be as intentional about prayer as you should be. We are going on a journey to start pursuing Daniel type prayers and we want you to join us so that you may be able to change and lead others to what we have.

Daniel day prayers require us to show the same type of reverence and obedience that Daniel showed throughout his life. We are asking for the next week for you to intentionally pray three times a day, morning, noon and night. Some of you might be thinking that the noon one will be hard because you work in an open area, or it may seem weird if your co-workers see you praying, but let us remember that our God died for us on the Cross, and we should never be ashamed to live for Him!

So during the next week, begin to become intentional about praying three times a day. If you aren’t sure what to pray about, start by what is on your heart. Pray for the people around you who are unsaved, hurting, in times of trial, in times of triumph, and become intentional about lifting up others. Be prepared to honor what God asks of you in these times, because we believe that there are things He wishes of you. Begin to honor Him privately, and He will honor you publicly. Even though we are only asking you to sign on for a week, we want to encourage you to make this a lifestyle. If you want to sign on to this, we are setting up some tools to encourage you to live in this new lifestyle. Check the Dive Deep Facebook Page for more info. To God be the glory and we pray that He uses us in a mighty way.

 Dive Deep,

 KC

Serving others is something that Jesus illustrated quite well to His disciples and set up a model for us to follow. John 13:1 explains the big idea behind serving when it says:

“…Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love”

After saying this Jesus began to wash his disciple’s feet, a task that was usually done by a servant. As His last lesson to the disciples He showed them what it truly meant to serve. We are called to have a sense of selfless service which requires humility. Jesus wasn’t washing their feet because he was required to but because he wanted to. The Creator of the Universe humbled himself to be as low as a servant to present the best model for serving others.

Selfless service is something that is hard for most of us to do, because we still believe that the world revolves around us. Our days are about what we can do for ourselves, about what we can do to get ahead at work, about what other people can do for us in our life, and about the stuff that shows off what we are like to everyone else. Until we grasp the concept of humility we can never truly serve others in the spirit that Christ demonstrated. The first step to being humble comes out of surrender and bowing down to Christ before all other things.

We tend to be afraid to serve because if we do we may feel no one will exalt us for the work we did. We never did anything to get where we are, and we tend to become ungrateful because of our self-centeredness. It becomes scary when we ask God to show us some way to serve and what He asks may put us in the background. The only way we can truly serve in a way that is pleasing to God is to bow down to His will first and trust that He will take care of us.

There is a major difference between serving and doing acts of service. Many times the things we do have good intentions, but not the right heart intent. We begin to serve people and expect them to recognize we did something. Jesus is the only reason we are here and his opinion matters above all others. Self serving people end up living a life full of treasure on this earth but miss the point John 13 is talking about. Christ is more pleased with us when we serve with the right motives to please Him rather than to please others. We  must become content with our recognition in Christ.

Humility is a hard thing to practice because it goes against the grain of what the world tells us. We are not of this world but created for a specific purpose by God. We have to be in the world but not of the world. We should be the people going against the grain when the rest of the world says fight for yourselves.  We should be fighting for others. When the world tells us to learn things to get ahead of others in ways that cut others down then we should be uplifting others first. Humility and contentment come hand in hand, and if we can begin to practice those things we will be able to serve out of selflessness, not selfishness.

This week we want to encourage you to start to bow down to our Creator in things that you know are keeping you from living a full life of worship though service. Even if this is not your pathway as the body of Christ we should be living this out in our lives in reverence for our God. Try actually bowing on your knees when you are praying or worshiping. It may feel awkward at first but as you get used to it you will find it may help you connect better. Pray for a spirit of humility and contentment thoughout this week. These are qualities that Christ believes are required for us to have as Christians to be set apart but not self apart. Take the step in living a life of selflessness not selfishness.

Dive Deep,

KC

Dive Deep Ministries was founded at the beginning of 2009 by a few students who were tired of seeing a generation continue to forget their spiritual roots. We have been given numerous things at our disposal for advancing the kingdom, and we want to use those to the best of our ability.  This includes things like Twitter, Facebook, Blogs and the like to proclaim the message of Jesus Christ to more people than we can do at a local level. We don’t want to be super spiritual, but we want to go after issues that everyone has and talk about things that are relevant to our culture.

We are founded on the principles of a few key verses. 1 Timothy 4:12 gives us a look at one of the reasons that we do what we do, even though we are younger than alot of people. The verse says:

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”

Mathew 28:19-20 also gives us direction and purpose. It says:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations… teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

We may not belong to the same denomination or share the same political beliefs, but what we do share is a love of Our Savior and a desire to learn more about Him.

Dive Deep is not a church or affiliated with a specific denomination. We do, however, believe a few core principles about our faith. We believe that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh and lived among us, was crucified on the cross so that everyone could be redeemed though Him and live forever in eternal salvation, and that he rose again on the third day. We believe that salvation is open to anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord and commits to follow Him all the days of their life. The only absolute truth is the Word of God, and it holds no conflict with it’s text.

It is our desire to expand the ministry reach of Dive Deep. Over the summer we will be launching some new and exciting things. There will be some changes along the way, but our mission will stay the same.

Next week, we will be starting a series called Living Sacrifices. We will take some time to unpack the idea of worship. We hope that this series will help you find your pathway of worshiping the Father in your daily life.

Have a great week!

Dive Deep,

KC

It might be helpful to offer some insight on change itself and what the Bible says about change. Change is defined by Websters dictionary to be:

To make radically different

Out of all the definitions for change, this seems to be the one that captures what change means. It also means if you change- it is significant. In a world that casually talks about change, we must be committed to change and become more of what God has called us to be.

Paul addresses the issue of a God type committed change in Philippians 3:21 . Scripture says :

…by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body

This means as we grow, God will change us as we allow Him to work in our lives.

The hardest thing to do is actually make the effort to change. We like who we are, so why do we need to change? We use this argument to justify being stagnant. If we begin to stop changing ourselves we become blind to who we really are, or we become something that we are not. If we fall into resistance to change, we will never become the people that God has intended for us to be.

Lets take a minute to address the topic of positive change. We as a ministry seek to inspire positive change, and use the communication tools that we have been given to help others dive deeper into a relationship with Christ. We believe that Christ centered change is the only good change, and as the definition says, this change can be pretty radical. The Bible says in Romans 12:2:

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

We are not supposed to be the normal people, we are supposed to be different. If we become normal, we risk falling out of a desire to change. When you really think about it, the only change that we as Christians should make is those that are pleasing to God.

Sometimes we end up changing in ways that break us down. They might not seem like significant changes, but the more small changes we make tend to pile up and consume us. These can be things such as hanging out with the wrong crowd or choosing a lifestyle that is not pleasing to God. A common argument among people is that Christians don’t have great lives, but if you stick with the journey God blesses those who are faithful.

It seems that we as Christians have become masters in hiding what is wrong about us and ignore the issues so we are only motivated and accountable to ourselves. We hold back and don’t share with others to avoid the encouragement and accountability that would help us be better people. Some of the issues may be addictions, selfishness, friendships, and a host of other things holding us down. In these situations we start to wonder why God isn’t helping us anymore. The answer is quite simple–we quit allowing change so He can’t move within us.

The best change is one that is initiated by us and moves in a way that is pleasing to God. We tend to get confused on what to change so we need to look back to the One who never changes.  He is the only absolute truth, and the only thing that we can fully rely on.

Change is a process that takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight. We encourage and challenge you to search yourself for areas that you need to change no matter how insignificant you may think the change may be. You might be thinking, “Well its no big deal, just a small thing”, but do you really want to justify not changing just to become a lukewarm Christian? Its time to stop hiding what we don’t want to change, and just do it. Life is so much better when you are running towards the God who loves you, and changing your life to align with His principles.

Dive Deep Ministries is always looking for ways to change and reach others.  Starting next week, we are going to address relationships in a series of blogs we are calling Awkward Relationships:

Relationships can be pretty awkward at times-things like asking someone out, asking them to marry you, and all the relationship issues that go with all that. We are going to look at some of the common issues among dating relationships, and what we believe is God’s design for relationships. He, after all, is the Creator of the big idea. This is a series that will benefit everyone–dating, single, married, or engaged. We are excited about what this is going to bring-don’t miss it!!  Encourage your friends to check this out as well.

This week, we challenge you to find one thing in your life that is in need of change and begin the process. Don’t try to change everything  at once, but start with little things and work toward the bigger things. As you change, you will be amazed how freeing it will be for God to do even more in your life.

Have an amazing week and look for our first post of Awkward Relationships next Monday!

Dive Deep,

KC

“Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”

Sometimes we end up taking this to the extreme, and sometimes we don’t do enough. The question that everyone ends up asking themselves at some point is where is the balance, and how do we achieve that. We don’t want people to think we are fanatics who need to be locked up, but we still need to convey our love for God. There are three types of evangelism styles; Signpost, Street Corner, and Chameleon evangelism. There is no right or wrong way to evangelize, but some are more effective. Let’s dive into this.

As you have driven anywhere on the interstate, you have seen billboard advertising products, services, and maybe even Christianity. You look at most of them just because your driving and have nothing better to do, but you don’t really remember them, with a few exceptions. There are some people who’s approach to witnessing is much like a billboard. They stand at a distance, showing they are a Christian but don’t really make any effort to reach out and engage others around them. Just like billboards, most people just pass them by and continue driving on the road of life.

When you walk around in downtown Atlanta, GA, you are bound to see someone on the street corner with a sign or a megaphone or just their voice talking about God. Mostly, with a few exceptions, these people talk about God’s wrath or the destruction to come. While their intentions are right, you can get more bees with honey than with peanut butter. The people that talk with them end up feeling scared and afraid, so the accept Christ as insurance instead of out of reverence.

An alternative is to live your faith among those people that you are around. St. Francis of Assisi summed the topic of evangelism up well when he said:

“Preach the gospel always, If necessary use words.”

An interesting observation about people is that we become like those we are around. We are infulanced by our environment, so if we live our faith, we will rub off on those around us. Chamelions blend into their surroundings, but you know that they are there. Our faith should be able to be seen by those around us, while not sticking out like a green dot in a sea of red dots. People will begin to notice that you are different, and when they ask you why it allows a perfect opertunity to share your faith.

You should never be ashamed or afraid of what you believe. Christ tells us that while we preach the good news that we will come under persecution. In those times, we should rejoice because we are being pursecuted for Gods name. It begins to mess with their heads, because its different than everyone else. When the group Switchfoot was talking about how to inspire change, they said:

They say there is strength in numbers. That doesn’t mean that numbers are right. Dare to be different.

Being different for the sake of Christ is a hard road to walk. We must surround ourselves with others to help us though the hard times so that we can rejoice when we are persecuted. Do not faulter in your faith, be strong and courageous.

However you share your faith with others, make sure that your life reflects what you are saying. Fight against the grain of conveniant Christianity. You are a Christ follower at all times, so live for God in your words and actions, and just watch how God will use you.

Dive Deep,

KC

There is a rap artist called Lecrae, and he just produced a CD called Rebel. His first song, Rebel Intro has sparked me to think of a few things, like what it means to be a rebel. I also ponder about the difference between a rebel, and a revolutionary.

Rebel

To refuse allegiance to and oppose by force an established government or ruling authority

Revolutionary

 constituting or bringing about a major or fundamental change

Rebels seem to be more of in favor of just standing in opposition to the normal standards. They chose to stand up, and not back down. This is not a bad thing, but if we just stand in opposition to something, we can not influence a change. This has been my way of thinking for a long time until I listened to Lecrae’s song Rebel Intro. At one part in the song it says:

I know that in our day rebel means sinner, but everyone is sinning so it is no longer rebellious to sin. Jesus was a rebel who was counter cultural

You are just a conformist, if you are drunk and naked, driving around on a lot of motorcycles,smoking cigarettes and breaking commandments, and getting pregnant out of wed-lock. Everyone has do that it is so tired. If you really want to be a rebel read your bible, because no one is doing that…. that’s rebellion that’s the only rebellion left.