Actions First, then Words

The truth is like water. If someone doesn't have any and you submerge them in it, they'll end up drowning. If someone doesn't know Christ and you start with telling them they're going to hell and they're living a life of sin and they disgust God and they need Jesus because he's the only way to go to heaven and Jesus died on the cross for them and Jesus is God but God is the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirt but God there is only one God in three forms and... I think you get the picture.

If that's the way you go about trying to convert people, the very best you'll do is overwhelm them. Odds are you'll just turn them away from Christ. That's like taking someone who's never been swimming and dropping them off in the middle of the Pacific thinking they'll learn how. It doesn't work that way.

No the best way, I believe, to lead people to Christ is to start with little to no actual words about him. Actions speak louder than words. The best testimony is living a Godly life. Someone who has never drank water and who lives in a culture that says water is bad for you will not believe you when you tell them that water is good and you need it to survive and to live a full life if you don't drink it yourself. (Sorry about that messed up sentence) Just imagine it backwards: Someone tells you gasoline is the true way to be the healthiest you can be so you say, "Ok drink some then," and they won't. You'll either think they're the world's biggest idiot or that they think you're a fool and want you dead.

So to someone who doesn't have Christ and thinks that their life is pretty good you can see why they have a hard time buying what we're selling. It might sound a bit odd to them, it might seem pointless or just plain dumb. To them milk or Gatorade or alcohol might seem a heck of a lot better than water. You have to show them that you drink water and you love it and life is just so much better with it. Only after this can you reason with them why they should switch to a water diet. To an atheist, Buddhist, Muslim, Jew, whoever it'll be hard to do. But "I can do anything through Christ who strengthens me."

Don't forget that.

Happiness

The other day a speaker came to my school to talk about the 15 Days of Kindness program our school is taking place in. Basically they compete two rival schools against each other to see who can collect the most gently used shoes and raise the most money for Soles4Souls. It is a great cause and anyone would like to donate can contact me to help my school win or donate through the Soles4Souls website.

Anyways, the guy talking told us about how he took a group of students to Kenya to meet the kids who would be receiving the shoes. Even though the kids live in poverty and have pretty terrible lives by our standards, they were very happy and smiley and friendly. He asked one of them about this and they told him that if they were nice to everybody and loved everybody that they believed and hoped they might make the world a better place. It was all truly touching and inspirational, but it left me with more questions about us, Americans, then them.

Why are we so unhappy? I don't get it. How are we so unhappy with our myriad of blessings and all our possessions and wealth while those poor poverty level people like those Kenyan children are happy? Or think of it this way: How can we even be unhappy? It's selfishness; that's really all there is to it.

There is that saying that says if you're not content with what you have you won't be with what you want. I guess that's the problem. We as a culture are conditioned from birth that we need more. That we don't have enough.

Think about it. Think about how many commercials you see every time you watch TV. You need the next big thing; your old perfectly fine thing you have now isn't perfectly fine. Only the new one from their brand is perfect... That is until they make a new and improved more perfect product.

How old were you when you started watching TV? Probably pretty young. Below a certain age children lack the ability to reason out what the commercial is telling them. That toy is awesome, it can do amazing stuff, you have to have it. That's what they're told so that's what they believe.

But I think there's even more to it than that. I think the whole 'American Dream' is messed up. Whatever you want in life, if you work hard and give it all you got, why then you have just as much of a shot as anyone. (Well, that's how it's supposed to be.) Taken at face value it's not to bad of a dream to have. I mean what's wrong with wanting to climb the ladder of success? Except this ladder has no end in sight and nowhere to get off at. You just gotta keep on climbing and climbing and climbing. No matter how tired you get you can't stop. You don't want to go all the way back to the bottom. Sure you can somewhat rest where you're at, but you can't truly ever rest. The only way you can rest is if you're on the bottom. The only way to get there is to never start climbing in the first place or get knocked off by someone else.

So I don't really know where I'm going with this, but I at least hope to make you stop and think a bit. Think about what you want and why you want it. Are you happy with what you have? If not, instead of trying to fix it by getting more stuff (which will ultimately leave you unsatisfied), find a way to be happy with what you have.

I don't know about you but I'm most happy when I'm close to Jesus. I think about my God's awesome love and compassion and grace and I can't be really anything but thrilled.

Temptation.

I hate temptation, yet I set myself up for it all the time. I don't know why I'm so stupid but I am. Idleness is my worst enemy. Well, idleness alone is the worst.

God must be so disappointed in me. The Holy Spirit is always saying, "Hey, don't do that; you know what will happen," and I'm like, "No I got it." Or worse, I ignore it. Or even worse I say, "Leave me alone, I can do what I want." And those the four little words make the world's biggest lie, "It's no big deal."

Really? I say that? Really? I tell the omniscient God of the universe that my going directly against what he is telling me is no big deal. Really? That's about all I can say.

I just don't get why I let myself be mislead so easily. A little whisper in my ear is all it takes. Yeah, Satan is really good at what he does but I can't blame him. He can't make me do anything. He can lead me to that poisoned water but he cannot make me drink from it. He can lie to me and say it's sugar water, or in my case it's Mountain Dew (and that's why it's green). But he can't make me drink it.

So no matter how much I want to point my fingers and say the lie "but Satan made me do it!", I still choose to do it. I let myself be convinced that I want it. I drink the poison. I cup my own hands into the water, lift them to my mouth, and drink from them. And sometimes I even ask Satan to get me a cup so I can fill myself up on poison. Satan didn't grab my hands; he didn't open my mouth. No, all he did was tell me lies. Lies that I knew where lies, but told myself they weren't.

I know what I'm was doing. I know it is wrong. But I don't care. And that's the problem.

That Big Game.

So I hear there's some kind of big game tonight? I think I'm rooting for the team with yellow on their jerseys. They're looking pretty good this year. I mean the other team is good, but I'm not sure I trust their quarterback. Didn't he have a concussion before? Those can mess you up, right?

Now this quarterback is one of the best. I really see a great night coming from him. Multiple touchdowns, a few in the air, maybe a couple on the ground. He definitely can run.

If you look at the them as a whole there's really no way they won't win. They scored a lot of points this season offensively. Their defense was pretty good too. I think it was top 5. That means 27 teams were worse than them. The other team is probably one of those 27. Right?

My good friend is a fan of the team I'm rooting for and he says he knows they'll win. And that's what it is all about. Fans. You play for your fans. If you don't have a good fan base, you can't be great. Look at that one team that has been ok and even good at some points but they never quite have what it takes to be great. It's because they don't have anyone to play for. They have a very small fan base.

But this team has a big fan base and it's gonna show. They are gonna be playing for all those jerseys with yellow that all their fans will be wearing. In the stadium, in bars, at parties, or at home with the family.

And just watching them play, you can tell they have heart. And heart's really what it's all about. Who ever wants it more will get it. And they want it. Bad. Look at that team a few years back. Everyone, and I mean everyone thought the other team would win. But did they? No. The team that had been kind of shaky and wasn't thought to be even competition won. Because they had more heart.

So whoever you want to win, if it's not who I want to win, prepare for some trash talking when your team loses. Unless my team loses. Trash talk me and I'll punch you in the face.

-TJT

Ambition.

Ah the American Dream. It's wonderful isn't it? The idea that everyone in this country has the opportunity to make life better for themselves. Everyone has the chance to rise to the top. To achieve fame or greatness.

Is that really all that great though? Our culture pushes us so hard to make ourselves better. To be better for society.

It's ridiculous to me that most Juniors, even Sophomores and Freshman in high school, and even some middle schoolers have their whole lives planned out. Where they're going to college, what they're going for, what their career will be. Really? Besides the fact that many college students end up changing their majors and few end up getting the job they want out of college, even if this wasn't the case, it just seems stupid to me.

Do we know how to trust God anymore? Do we realize that He has His own plan for our entire life? I doubt that most of those in secondary school who have their lives all set up talked to God ahead of time. I feel that if a ninth grader were to ask God, "What do you want me to do for the rest of my life?" He would say something like, "Don't worry about all that yet, you have too much to worry about now. When the time comes if you trust me, I'll take care of it." Or he might simply quote Matthew 6:34, "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." 

Now I'm telling you to just forget about everything and hope your life just works out. That's just as ridiculous. There comes a point at around your Junior or Senior year in high school that you should try to figure out where you want to go to school, and perhaps for what. But you can't forget that God has the master plan. Talk to Him about it. It's going to affect the rest of your life. He knows whats best. Trust Him.

This doesn't only apply to upperclassman in high school either. Any decision that needs made, no matter how big our small it seems, should go through God first. Think about how much less you would sin if you talked it over with God before you did anything.

I'll leave you with the link to the song that inspired me to write this. It's John Reuben's "Time to Leave".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKt3RaqTJRk

Interests

I wish I had a few interests I was really passionate about, rather than an abundance of interests on varying subjects.

Here's an example: Some people really like singing, so what do they do? They devote hours and hours to practicing singing, trying to make themselves better. They'll spend time listening to and studying different singing styles and techniques. They might invest in singing lessons.

Or say, a runner. They spend hours training. Speed workouts. Endurance workouts. Strength workouts. They weight lift. They eat right. And it pays off.

How about someone who enjoys politics? They spend their free time reading articles, staying up to date on the latest news. They keep their television constantly tuned to Fox News, CNN, or MSNBC. Or they avoid those major networks, seeking news without opinions.

You get what I'm saying.

The problem with me is that I find all of these things interesting along with countless others. I find almost everything interesting. Wikipedia is my best friend. I read articles on linguistics, comedy, psychology, music, athletics, people, history, just about anything.

It ends with me being a little knowledgeable on a lot, but not a lot on really anything. And maybe it's not that that bothers me so much. Of course I love being smart, but even more than that I want a passion.

Yes I am passionate about my faith in Jesus Christ and passionate about growing in my relationship with him. I'm not trying to play down the importance of being a Christian. That is the single most important thing in my life.

It's just that I wish I had a passion that I could use as a platform to profess my love of Jesus through. I feel that I could reach more people who might come to know Christ. 

But that's probably the wrong attitude. I need to trust God and his plan for me. I should be showing the love of God everywhere I am, in whatever situation. If I don't share Christ at school amongst peers, who's to say I would to a much wider or more specific audience.

I'm not sure if I tied that all together perfectly. I didn't even plan initially to take this where it ended up. It wasn't until I said that I want a passion that it hit me that Christ is supposed to be my passion. I couldn't make a claim like that without shifting the whole focus to Jesus. It wouldn't be right.

I guess my deciding to write this post was good idea. Or, perhaps God's idea?

Being Saved in a Sucky World

There's a lot of crazy stuff in the world. People dying, crazy weather, stuff blowing up. It happens all the time. Do you ever think about that? Like tomorrow some crazy guy could go in whatever crowded building you are in and just start laying waste to people. You could die. Or you could live and witness a bunch of other people die. You would be traumatized for life. You might develop a mental or anxiety disorder or disorders. That would really suck.

Why am I writing all this scary, maybe depressing stuff to you? Good question! I didn't even have an answer when I first started. I was just like, "Hey I'm gonna write some depressing stuff and go from there." So I did. And now I'm here. And you still don't know the point of this. So here goes. You need security. You need to know if something happens to you, it's ok. You need to realize that bad things will happen. Tell yourself, "Hey this world sucks, like hardcore. But hey, that's ok."

You know why it can be ok? Because if you are saved this is the worst it gets. That famous quote says something about, "To the unbeliever this is the only heaven they'll know. To the believer this is the only hell they'll know." It's completely true. After I die no matter how miserable my life on earth, I'm going to spend eternity with Jesus. I hope you can say the same about yourself. I really do. I don't wish that anyone spend an eternity in hell. That's just so terrible to think about.

So I pray that everyone who reads this ridiculous, humorous blog post does realize I am serious about being saved. Jesus is the only way to heaven. No one will come to the Father except through him. The path is narrow and few will enter the kingdom of heaven. I hope you'll be one of them. I know I am.