Change of plans
As you may have noticed, there have not been any changes to my site. There as been a change in plans to some extent. This last Sunday I was appointed as the youth pastor of Straight Up! Youth/ Spirit Filled Church. My goal for this website is to use it to post my thoughts once a week (at least) and hopefully be able to post my sermons and notes up here. I still plan on using this site to comple good human videos as well as some original ones we are working on. Big thigs are going to happen and I am really excited to see how God will use this site in the ministry He has in store for me
~Anthony
Why i like heavey metal and hard preaching
I get a lot of critisism over the type of music I like. If you cannot tell from things I have written and shows I promote, I am am a huge fan of Christian metal and hardcore music ( Haste the Day, Norma Jean, Living Sacrafice, Demon hunter, As I Lay Dying, ECT).
Other Christians (especially older ones) give me a hard time about this music, some even go as far as to say that they can’t be Christian or that if you can’t understand it you should not listen to it. First off I can understand it. Most people have a problem with the fact that bands like the ones mentioned above scream most of their lyrics which is seen as angry or even evil.
I spent a lot of time trying to figure out why exactly I like that type of music. It lead me to thinking that most of my favorite preachers all scream or yell during their sermons ( John Piper, Mark Driscoll, my Pastor and many others). So I asked myself this question: What is it about the act of raising your voice ( screaming) that I like so much?
The answer I came up with is that when a person screams/ raises their voice, you can hear/feel their emotions thus their heart. In music, a scream can have a wide variety of emotions (excited, sad, mad, longing ECT). In the same way, a preacher shows his heart throught a raised voice and that action is associted with emotions ( wanting to stress a point, anger, saddness and so on). Look at the way John Piper preaches, he will talk normal then go into a wisper and suddenly, without warning will raise his voice to a yell and you can feel the saddness in his voice when he is talking about Christians stumbling.
That is why I like heavy metal and hard preaching. You can hear and feel without a doubt the emotion and heart of the singer or preacher and to me the heart is what it’s all about.
Think about the music and preaching you like. Why do you like it? I hope I am not the only person that thinks this stuff out so much.
God bless,
Anthony
Planned Parenthood hits a new low (yup it is possible)
Most people should me familiar with planned parenthood. They are the pro-abortion, “safe sex” group that teaches sex education and hands out condoms to students. This wonderful organization is funded by the govenment thus payed for by you and I in the form of taxes.
If you are not already on the verge of vomitting, it gets better! Planned Parenthood has recently started a website called “take care of down there” ( I am not providing the link. Google it if you must.) On this website, there are several small videos in where the “authority” figure gives teens advise about sex. One clip implys a sexual act between two men and another is a song containing all the slang words used to describe both male and female reproductive systems. This is just the stuff I want my taxes to pay for! Is this really what we want our teens to learn?Even if you are not a Christian, why would you want to have you kids know all the fun slang words?
To make things even better, on top of the government paying for this crap, abstinace programs may not be getting their funding. My friend works for the local worth the wait and his job is currently in limbo because their government grant has not been renewed. So we can pay for PP to condone permiscuity and homosexuality but heavan forbid the gov pay for someone to say wait till marriage.
As Christians, we should be up in arms but of all the sites I read, there is only one email newletter I have recieved. I am not sure how but this thing needs to be stopped. Any ideas?
God bless and fight the good fight,
Anthony
All thay glitters is gold…..
I recently found that this commonly used phrase is in fact a false statement. In it’s raw form, gold is actualy a very dull, boring looking substance. It is only after it is worked and purified by a master craftsman that gold shines. Mica on the other hand is a very shiny, bright substance. Mica is commonly known as “fools gold”. When shown the two substances, an untrained eye would most likely choose the fools gold.
In the same way, we as Christians are not anything to look at in our raw form. It is only when we allow ourselves to be worked and refined by the Master that we become beautiful and of any use. A person may appear wonderful and look like he or she is a “good” person and even say they are “Christian” but when we look deeper, we see that person is actialy a “fools Christian” and only the untrained would choose that over a life for Christ.
What are you going to be? Are you going to allow yourself to be molded and purified by the Master ( which isn’t always a fun experiance) or are you going to just look like you are being used and actually be a fool?
God bless,
Anthony
P.S. I appologize for the lack of posting. My life has been a little hectic and I failed to make this site a priority. I should have some more posts coming soon please bear with me. Also, if there is anyone looking to guest blog, send me a email at renonut2006@gmail.com.
What is your Deepest Desire?
I was listening to a sermon by Mark Driscoll and he made a very interesting point. He said that when he is counceling someone, he asks them to go and think about what their deepest desire is. He says it is either to love and serve Jesus thus following what He says or to follow what ever you wish thus following the flesh.
What is your deepest desire? Do you want to serve Christ whith your whole heart thus mending relationships and repenting of sin or do you want to follow the desires of your flesh? If you think that you can follow the flesh the flesh and still be saved you are sorly mistaken. There can only be one deep desire of your heart and there is a destination tied to each desire. If you choose to trust, love, and follow Christ, your destination is Heaven. If you choose to follow your flesh, your destination is Hell.
God bless,
Anthony
I’m not Perfect
I was watching a show today about Japan. Every where he went, the host asked the person he was talking to whether they believed perfection was possible. What amazed me was that every person gave a similar answer: Perfection is never reached which is why you keep progressing until you die. I have found that this is the normal sentiment found in Eastern philosophy.
I think we can learn something from this outlook on perfection. In Western Christianity, it seems that we use the fact we are not perfect as a crutch rather than a catalyst. I don’t think God made it so we can never be perfect to use it as an excuse, rather I think He meant for it to inspire us. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard the phrase ” I’m just human, I am not perfect you know”. Imagine what this Generation of Christians could do if we take the fact that we are not perfect to always continue to strive for perfection.
So take a tip from Eastern philosophy and never cease seeking perfection and use the lack of perfection as a crutch. Instead, take your lack of perfection and use it as a catalyst to more towards perfection until you go on to see Christ.
God bless,
Anthony
Is the Trinity Real/Provable and is it Important Doctrine?
I just recently began re-reading the Gospels and noticed something fairly profound. I have read the book of Matthew and the rest of the Gospels multiple times but have never really stopped to think about the scriptures as I read them. I am reading the Bible on a program called e-Sword, which is a program that contains multiple versions of the Bible (Including Greek and Hebrew for those scholars out there) as well a great commentaries from scholars like Westley and Barnes. It also has dictionaries/ concordances to help with those unfamiliar words. The program is free but you have to download some of the versions, commentaries and dictionaries separately (most of which are free including NIV, ESV, NKJV). By reading my Bible through e-Sword, I am able to read the scriptures as well as see the commentary for those scriptures.
I read Matthew chapter 3 today and got to the part where John the Baptist Baptized Jesus. I have read this chapter hundreds of times and heard dozens of sermons on it but never got a profound meaning from it. The particular scripture I am talking about is: (Mat 3:16 ESV) And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him;
Now I knew the importance of the scripture but I did not fully understand what was happening in the scripture but not to its fullist extent. According to the Clarke commentary: “This passage affords no mean proof of the doctrine of the Trinity. That three distinct persons are here, represented, there can be no dispute.
1. The person of Jesus Christ, baptized by John in Jordan.
2. The person of the Holy Ghost in a bodily shape, (???????? ?????, Luk_3:22) like a dove.
3. The person of the Father; a voice came out of heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, etc.
The voice is here represented as proceeding from a different place to that in which the persons of the Son and Holy Spirit were manifested; and merely, I think, more forcibly to mark this Divine personality.” This seems to prove the existence of the Trinity as in this one scripture, God reveals to us all three form of the Trinity at once. There are some “Christians” who do not believe in the Trinity, these people are know as modalists. Modalists are unable to explain or account for the events in this scripture as well as more than 70 other passages according to basictheology.com.
To answer my question in the title, yes the Trinity is provable and not only is it important doctrine, I believe it is essential doctrine. Modalism is heresy thus modalist are not Christians. Some popular modalists in Christianity are the musical group Phillips, Craig, and Dean as well as well known and praised Bishop T.D. Jakes. This is an excerpt from the Enquirer’s Handbook that I took from the blog Sweet Tea & Theology: “Since the death of John and the other eleven original apostles, many concepts and teachings have arisen that do not necessarily coincide with the “one God” teaching of the early church. In the year A.D. 180, Tertullian began using the term “trinity” from which was born the Catholic doctrine of three Gods, co-equal, co-existent and co-eternal. The Roman Emperor Constantine in the year A.D. 325 incorporated the “doctrine of the trinity” into the Catholic Church where it has remained ever since, and most Protestant churches have accepted this doctrine without thorough examination. The “trinity”, however, generates confusion and is not in total harmony with the Scriptures. To say that there are three separate persons who somehow comprise “one God” is like trying to connect opposing sides of two magnets. When you add 1+1+1, it must equal three; and there cannot, under any circumstances, be more than one God.”
To think that God must operate under our laws is absurd. God never dictated mathematics to us thus the rules of math are man made and man followed. I find it interesting that Churches that hold the belief in the Trinity are not diligent in finding out who holds this heretical thought. Thousands of men from thousands of Churches have gone to the promise keepers conferences and heard T.D. Jakes preach. Jakes is revealed as a great pastor among many churches yet he hold this idiotic belief. I would not endorse, listen to, or attend any program or service that T.D. Jakes or Phillips, Craig, and Dean endorse, speak at or are endorsed by. If they hold one heresy how more likly is it that they have more.
I hope I was helpful and that you may be a little more clear on the existence of the Trinity and the importance of the doctrine. As Christians we are to be vigilant into the things we are taught and who we are taught by. When you are going to have a speaker or attend a meeting with speakers you are unfamiliar with, research them to find out if they hold true Christian beliefs.
God bless,
Anthony
How do we Reach This Generation?
As some may know, during the first week of August Reno hosts Hot August Nights ( a classic car show that pretty much over runs the city). During this week thousands of locals and tourists fill the streets and parking lots of downtown sparks and reno and their various hotels. I happen to love this week so I have been out walking around a few times. Downtown sparks is the local teen hang out spot during this week. While I was walking around, I started thinking about all the teens and why they were there. Most teenagers don’t really care about the cars they are just there to socialize. The question that was running through my head was how do we reach this generation of kids who sees profanity and promiscuity as fun.
Obviously we cannot change the Gospel, but is there a way to change the delivery method so teens will listen? We still need to tell this generation that Hell does exist and that they need to be saved. I am just not sure what the most effective way to do that is. Some ideas are the entertainment outreaches such as concerts/ festavals and the like but are we reaching them or just keeping them occupied. Then there is the street ministry ala Way of the Master (which I have used and works on occasion) but is it to much info too fast thus overwhelming the person. There is simply inviting strangers (and friends) to youth nights but you may only get transplants from other churches. Don’t get me wrong, all these ways are effective and I have used and use them all but the question is which is the most effective?
What do you think? How can we reach this generation of sex obcessed teens? I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas. I think ministries sharing what works is great.
God bless,
Anthony
Are you Expecting?
This last week, I was a counceler for my youth group at camp. It was a great time and God really moved. I was talking to my youth pastor and he said somthing that got me thinking. He said that one of the reasons that God moves so mightaly at places like a camp or a revial is because the people attending are expecting a move from God.
When you are involved in a church for a long time, you can become stuck in the monotony of the same schedule and you begin to think that it is impossible for God to move in such an atmosphere. When you go to a camp or revival, you are immersed into something new thus you determine it is a suitable place for God to move so you expect Him to move. When we don’t expect God to move, we shut our minds and hearts to the idea that anything said can touch us and don’t allow God to move in our lives so He doesn’t move.
This got me thinking, how many times have we stopped God from doing what he wants to in our lives or others. God wants to move in our weekly services and I am sure there are things in our lives that He can deal with from week to week. I know there are things in mine.
I want to encourage you to expect God to move in your life every day. The more you expect and ask for, the more you will recieve. Don’t get fooled into thinking that you need to be somewhere else in order to be touched by God.
God bless.
Anthony
He is more than a Signature
I was looking at emails, bulletins and the like and noticed something that I don’ think most people would think of. I noticed that Christians always end their messages with fairly profound statements. I am not talking about their actual message but their salutation. I think most Christians use the following words as a simple end of a sentence without understanding the importants and meaning.
God bless: The most common salutation used by Christians to make their email holy. The meaning is fairly cut and dry but I don’t know if people remember that when saying this you are actually saying you hope God blesses the person reading the letter. I realize there is no profoundness there but it is a good think to remember.
In His service: This one I find is usually used by “Christian” companys in order to remind people that they are making a reach for your wallet for other reasons than just profit. What is actually said by their statement is that everything they do is for Christ. A servant lives his live for his master and everything his does (and earns) is for his master. These businesses usually use a tag line like this to seem holy. If they were in fact acting in His service, I think a large portion of their profits would go into ministry and they would focus their time on the Gospel not hocking their T-shirts.
Am I over thinking this? Am I the only one who has remembered that words have meanings and as Christians we should mean what we say?
What do you think? Is there a phrase that is used too loosely and what do you think the meaning behind the word is?
God Bless,
Anthony
