Livin' la vida rhythm?

So we've been talking about living in rhythm the last week at MSM... It's been interesting to really see what that means. It seems that every problem we have in life is because we are out of rhythm in one of 3 places. 1-Out of rhythm with God 2- Out of rhythm with ourselves 3- out of rhythm with other people. What we've found is that God created this song to sound beautiful, everything and everyone working together, but it seems like it never sounds that way. This week we've challenged everyone to develop an ear for rhythm.. Toe really hear the song you're playing. Is it mere noise, or are you in rhythm? Developing an ear for the song means really hearing the notes. Everything we do adds or takes away from the song. Are you hearing your song? Chances are you might be out of rhythm with the way God designed you to sound. And if we're out of rhythm, we're just a bunch of noise...

It's only Monday night....

Megan and I have been experiencing a crazy amount of just weird stuff going on lately, it's been really hard to explain. God has been consistently proving his faithfulness to me over the past 3 days. So I found out that I have diabetes, which was a huge bummer. Sunday during the day I was all bummed out and just felt "mediocre" if you know what i mean. And then on Sunday night at "Motion" we had an amazing time with God, where I really felt God's presence come over our entire group for the first time. From that night, I think we all walked away different. This is where things get even more crazy...

My dad and I haven't had the closest relationship over the past few months, and I could tell that there was just something missing, there was something in the way. Ya know when you get that feeling? Dad called me up last night on our way home from our Lifegroup, and so I called him when we finally got home. About an hour and a half, 3 different phone calls, and shed tears later, I felt my father and I venture into a foreign area of our father/son relationship. My dad opened up and told me some extremely disappointing news that I will not get into right now. We continued to sort it out over the phone laughing and then crying some more. But right before we got off the phone my dad sounded more like jesus then he ever had before. He told me, "son, do you know what's been keeping me from you all this time?" I told him, "no." But I really did know. For one of the first time's ever my dad and I, the dad that taught me how to play baseball and then missed my wedding, were able to be completely reconnected because of the blood of Christ. He told me Ryan, it's the alcohol, it's taken over me. And he went on to let me know that he wished he could have those years back....but he can't.

My dad is facing the consequences, don't get me wrong, he's paying the price. But for the first time in my life, I think I'm going to see the miracle that I thought was too big for God.....I'm seeing my dad's heart change. I'm seeing him invest his time into things that matter. And most of all, I'm feeling more and more connected to dad then I ever thought that I could be.

I write you this so that you won't lose hope. Don't sell-out my God, he will prove you wrong again, and again. My health may be not as good as it could be, but I tell ya what. I wouldn't trade this week for anything. And guess what? it's only Monday night!

For where your heart is, there your treasure will be also.-Matthew

Let your treasure be people, we've only got one chance at life.

A diabetic... what?

So as most of you know, Megan and I have recently moved to Indianapolis from Las Vegas. and things have just been amazing. Life is good and God has been massively providing for us not only personally, but also for our Student Ministry. I had some blood work done and we realized that my sugar levels were high. So I had a few more done and the results were still high, needless to say. We're in limbo about what type of Diabetes I do have. On Monday we should know for sure, but this has defiantly been a new experience/journey that is and will continue to alter us.

Inconsistency

I have been so inconsistent as a blogger... the blogging gods would hate me! Life is busy now, lots of stuff is happening in my life... And yes, I realize to be a true blogger, you must post as much as you read scripture. Life should be slowing back down in May, hopefully I will get my head back in the game then!

discussion board

So here we have it. In one of my fabulous classes from Liberty, we were asked to discuss the issue of Romans and what the purpose of the book is. And then to parrallel what James says in his book about faith and works so here's what i had to say.
question:
Read Romans 3:21-4:25 and explain the Apostle Paul's argument. What is his thesis (3:21)? How does he build his case? What is his conclusion? Compare Paul's conclusion here with James 2:14-26. How do you explain the tension between Paul and James? Offer a resolution.

I would first like to remind us of the context of this letter before we delve into it. Paul wrote this letter to a people group he had never been with, to a city he had never been to, and to a church he or any other Apostles didn't start. Paul's intention were to describe exactly what the Gospel was and was not about. And when your writing to a people group who is steeped in Jewish tradition you have to write in a certain way to make your point clear.
The Apostle Paul's point was this; faith in Jesus Christ is imputes righteousness on our behalf. And what i mean by that is this, for years the Jews spent their time working the law, an trying their hardest to obey every command. But, this was an impossible task for anyone who wasn't divine. So when Christ came to die for us, their lives were not supposed to feel like a losing battle anymore because Christ defeated sin through his righteous death.
To me Paul is building his case around Abraham's faith back in Genesis. God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, so that's what Abraham was doing until God stopped him in mid swing. This painted a prophetic picture of what the son of God would go through thousands of years before it ever happened. And that faith that Abraham trusted God with his only son, was counted to him as righteousness. Abraham didn't have the resurrected Jesus to place his faith in for righteousness.
His conclusion was not that keeping the law is pointless. His conclusion was that keeping the law apart from having a faith in the resurrected Jesus was pointless. Because of your faith in Jesus, you keep the law. Paul probably had to attack this argument from an extreme angle to let his readers know just how crucial faith in Jesus is. He wanted to let them know that there is no way for salvation apart from this faith.
So now let's look onto what James comments on in his letter. Again i want to first remind you of the context in which James wrote. It is very likely that James wrote to the Jewish believers who fled Jerusalem during persecution. So these believers would be believers that have had apostolic interaction and teaching before this letter. He basically tells them that faith without works is dead. Now what I believe that he means by that is that saving faith produces deeds of service to prove its reality. James was essentially asking his readers if a faith without serving save the lost. The answer to that statement in my opinion is no. Very plain and simple, because of our faith in Jesus we should desire to carry out his commission which is to reach the ends of the world with the gospel. If that isn't our desire then our faith isn't in the Jesus of scripture.

music makes me move....

Theres something crazy about the way music affects us all. We get that song stuck in our head and it doesn't leave for the whole day. Music makes us happy and sad, it creates mood. I can't figure it out, but music simply makes me move. Over the past year i've began to take it more seriously and i play music everyday of my life now. I think what i enjoy most about music is the fact that i can't explain it. So every sunday when i lead students into worship its like i don't know how it connects with them.... but it does, and that my friends is the mystery of music.... it makes me move....

Life is short...

this week it has been really obvious, that is, what God is trying to teach me. Sometimes it just seems like i get tied up about things that really don't matter, and it's like all the time. When i evaluate the stress in my life it's mostly about things that really don't matter all that much. A job for instance. The more i learn to trust God the more he shows me it's just a job. Don't get me wrong, it's important to love what you do, but there's so much more to life than Jobs, school, and stuff. Each day is an opportunity, the more quickly we can make that realization the closer we will be to God's heart.