"Altered View of the Altar"

Most of us have been in a church service in which an altar call was mad. It think by being in so many services with altar calls of varying reasons, I formed an idea of reasons to go to the atar. Accepting Chris, wanting to be baptized, major life tragedies, and repentence were just a few reasons, I in my head, had deemed "altar worthy" causes. Well, God really started working in me on this about a year or so ago. I started seeing the altar as a place of total surrender to Him, an outward representation that I was forgetting all those people behind me and looking to God. I twas my way of saying, "Lord, my life is in your hands alone and I am physically demonstrating it." The altar became my "hiding place. But, God is always offering us insight and revelation and this Sunday my view of the altar was altered again.

Up until this point I used the altar tas a place to bring my requests to the Lord, ask for forgiveness, pray for change, and knowledge of His will. The past month I have made many an altar visit---praying, crying, and earnestly seeking His will for my life. As usual, God moved in an amazing way! Each service, our church has a "call to prayer" before the message, where the altar is open. This past Sunday, I sat int h pew and thought about how thankful I was that God was really moving and guiding me as I had asked. Then I realized that the altr is just as much a place of thanksgiving and praise as it is a place to sacrifice and petition. Immediately, I walked ot the altar, knelt and thanked God for the works He had done and will do. I was humbled. Let me tell you, it is one thing to thank God, but it is even more awing to thank HIm from your knees ( the same postition in which you plead for forgiveness).

Now, I can't take credit for this idea of thanking God at the altar. It is no new concept. In fact, the Old Testament is filled with stories of the Hebrew people building altars to God for prayer, petition, and when they were victorious, thanksgiving. These altars they built were physical reminders of what the Lord had brought them through. It was a reminder of God's goodness and faithfulness. It is awe inspiring to sit back and think of the many times God has worked in a mighty way in my life and all the "altars" I could have built in remembrance of Him.

He broke the 10 Commandments... for real

Don't you hate when you are given specific instructions, you try to do it your own way, then it fails? Yeah, it's even worse than having no instructions at all and failing because there is typically someone who gave you the instructions. Well, I was reading about Moses and his trip down from Mount Sinai with the 10 Commandments. While he was gone, he left Aaron in charge [this is the same Aaron that will also be the High Priest]. Upon his return with an amazing encounter with God, he came home to an idol made of gold. Moses had just spent the latter part of his visit with God, pleading for the people. In his anger (which was probably justified), he threw the 10 Commandments and broke them.

Now once he chastised the people for their incredibly stupid actions, he had to walk all the way up the mountain to go ask God to give him a second copy. Now, think about how Moses must have felt. He just had an encounter, was given instructions, returned to the people put under his care, and then preceded to break the law that God had given him. Yeah, imagine Moses playing out the conversation he was about to have with God... "Uh, Lord, I know I begged and pleaded for your mercy for the people...but when I went down the mountain they had built an idol to another God and I got kinda angry and threw the commandments you gave me...and broke them---you think you could make a second copy?" This was the father of all "I broke it" stories. Moses must have felt like a horrible leader, feared for his life, and felt liek there was no hope as he climbed that mountain.

Doesn't that happen to us though? God has a will for our life, instructions. And while we are waiting for him to reveal the specifics of His will, we go astray. Now most of us don't melt gold into the shape of a cow and worship it, but we probably replace the time we should be focusing on God to focus on other things in our life. Others of us are like Moses, we have an amazing encounter with God away from the world (sometimes pleading for mercy). It's often at a conference, retreat, or maybe just each Sunday... Then we travel back down the mountain, God's word in hand, we hit the world where there is chaos, idol worshiping, unhappy people and we throw down and break the word God just gave us.

It shouldn't be like this though. God has given us his Word which is living and breathing. He has also given us the Holy Spirit to lead, guide, and direct us. It's all to easy to worship and focus on God when we are on the mountain alone with Him, but forget and get caught up with our feelings toward the craziness in this world. I just pray that God will grant me the strength and preparation that when I reach the bottom of the mountain, I'll be able to hold on tight to the Word He gave me...

2 days+ 1 goal= Kingdom Work

So, as I was reading "One Thing You Can't Do in Heaven", a thought hit me. There are only 2 days that should be of concern to us... the rest do not matter. Judgement day and today. Now the first, Judgement day, is the most pressing concern. Many of us believe that we have that one covered, so we worry about today, tomorrow, next week, our future, who we will marry, what our career will be, if we will have enough money, how to pay off student loans, what to wear, where to live,who is dating who, who to support, and what team will play in the championship game....

REALITY CHECK HERE!

We should constantly be concerned with our Judgement... think of what a short time we spend on this earth compared to what a long time we spend in eternity. How many people that we call close friends and family are walking around us, unsure about what their Judgement day will reveal. Now, I am speaking to myself just as much as anyone else, but what has happened to us? The Gospel is the living, breathing, Word of God in which He sent His son in a redemptive plan. We are undeserving, we are sinful, we are cunning, evil, lying, greedy, impure, immoral individuals who have been clothed in the righteousness and of a Savior and we sit around and worry about our future? Really, I mean come on...

TODAY is the only day we are promised and the only day we can actively take part in... think about it. The present is our opportunity to live the life we have been called to. In our Ephesians Bible study, we read yesterday in the 5th chapter where Paul calls the church to a worthy, wise, walk in the light. There is something very interesting about the parallels of light and darkness in the Bible in relation to science. Darkness, which represents all that is not of God, has not properties of its own. Darkness cannnot move, it does not overpower light. Instead, it is the absence of light. How cool is that? We are given one true light. It is up to us. We can choose to actively take part in the darkness or actively take part in spreading the light. There is no room for any other option.

So, back to the whole two day thing... I kind of get side tracked. I want to live my today to count for my Judgement day. Now, we are not saved by works, but they are still important in our daily lives. I want to take it one step further and challenge myself to live my today not just for my Judgement Day, but for those around me. I want to live a life in which my actions not only reflect my relationship with Christ, but that my words do also. It is great to speak through your actions... but how many people do you know that were saved without hearing the Word? Not many. It's our job to get out there and speak it.

So, as hard as it may be. I'm going to try to live for Judgement day, today. And let tomorrow worry about itself (just as Jesus said). It has been a recent struggle for me to figure out where I am going to live and how I am going to pay for my schooling and stuff, but you know what? That is ultimately in God's hands. I just have to acknowledge that and start living for what He put me here for: the advancement of His Kingdom.

Cause you gotta have friends...

I just can't express how incredibly grateful I am for my friends... I am surrounded by many true friends whom I love! At any moment in my life it's Krispy Kreme runs, late night talks, IHOP breakfasts, random shopping, fixing dinner, discussing God in the car, Barnes and Nobles to 'study', lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays, marshmallow shooting, car riding, dancing, poker playing, movie watching, singing to the top of our lungs fun! And I wouldn't trade any one of my friends for any of it...

See, I am one of those people who believes that God brings people into your life. And if I started to make a list of all the people that I think He brought into my life for a specific purpose, the list would never end. Tonight I am particularly thankful for those friends that have been there for me a lot recently... and in the harder times. You guys, have really pulled me through and I hope that someday I'm able to do the same for you. I just think that my generation, especially, takes people for granted and is so selfish. We don't take time to really invest in our relationships and make them count. All too often it is a matter of convenience... Forget convenience! I want a friend who will drive from Tennessee or Tuscaloosa to visit and I want to be that friend that does the same.... I want to be that friend that calls just to check on your day or brings you a doughnut when you're down. It's not because I get anything out of it really... It's an exchange. Friendships are made to be a support for two people, not one. And I thank God often for all the support beams he's put in my life. Thanks guys! I love you!