Content? Then there is a problem…

I have been reading a very good book recently, and I am not much of a reader. I have mentioned it in a previous post and its called “Do Hard Things.”

I have gotten to the meat of the book now and although its an easy read, its challenging. The stuff that Alex and Brett Harris go over is challenging, difficult, and tough. It causes you to dig inside yourself for answers you haven’t thought about before and reasons for actions that you may have never noticed before. I really liked a particular message in their book, its something like youth are given strength, adults are given wisdom. Adults have information, knowledge, and experience that when combined with the youth’s drive or strength, can leap impossible distances. Some of the kids mentioned in their book blow the socks off of any of the teenagers I know. They mentioned something like the “I can do it better than you” thought. This isn’t meant in a snotty way by no means, its meant in a challenging way. It means “I know its going to be hard, but I think I can challenge myself to do better than you.” Their entire book is about doing hard things. They have four levels of “hard things.” The first is stepping outside your comfort zone, the second is doing “Big hard things” basically doing hard things with other people or collaboration, the third is to do small hard things that don’t have a quick effect or result but over time have a big effect you may not see at first, and the fourth is the hardest which is going against the crowd of culture and being different from other people. An example here they mentioned was about not going to see rated R-movies, etc. They even use some common examples of thoughts that are showing weakness such as “I am not built this way” or “I just can’t think this way” they challenge you to not think like this anymore and push yourself to try it and try whole-heartedly. Basically they say “if you are only contempt with your life, then there is a problem, you need to try harder.” Something I have learned to love in my life is challenges, its because they are challenging! They aren’t easy and that is what makes the reward when you do conqueror your challenge, so much better.

These guys are really cool Christians and are doing something really big. Someday I hope I can meet them and talk about doing “hard things.” You can visit their website at www.therebelution.com.

Money and things doesn’t equal happiness

I was researching online for a history paper I am writing and fell upon a website with the worlds happiest countries. I was like “Oh cool I bet the United States is on there somewhere.” To my disgust The United States of America wasn’t in the top 15. I researched it a little more and researched how wealthy America is in comparison to the happiest countries in the world. America is the 6th wealthiest country according to http://www.aneki.com/richest.html. America is also the 150th happiest country in the world according to the Happy Planet Index. The second richest country in the world is Equatorial Guinea and is in 170th place out of 178 in the Happy Planet Index. This shows that money or material goods doesn’t buy happiness. You can view the happiest countries in the world at this website: http://www.forbes.com/2008/04/23/happiest-places-world-oped-cx_ewe_0423happiest_slide.html. I just thought this was interesting and proof that money doesn’t buy happiness, especially once you look at a couple of Bible verses that also talk about money:

Ecclesiastes 5:10 says:

Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.

Acts 8:20 says:

‘May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!’

1 Timothy 6:10 says:

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

We need to stick together

Christians need to stick together. We all need to support and strengthen each other, in this dark sinful world. There is sin everywhere. It is in the form of people trying to corrupt your faith, people tempting you to stray away from your faith, and Satan. If we don’t stick together then some of us will fall away, and as brothers and sisters in Christ, we can’t let this happen. If we are supposed to show others the way to Christ, and we let our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ fall away, what kind of Christians are we? We need to stick together.

Journey

I was talking with some friends one time, and one of them said a very profound quote, when it was taken out of context. The quote was “it is not about where you are from, its about where you are.” This quote is profound in many different ways but the one I found most profound was the journey of religion. To me this means, the road was tough, and you probably drove into the ditch a couple times, but you pushed yourself out of the muck and mud, and kept on driving. The trip isn’t as important as where you are with God now. That is what matters most to me.

Wrath of God comes to “fake” Christians

I was reading the Bible the other day and talking to a friend who blows my mind when I talk to her about God. She has some really awesome stories and Bible verses memorized. She pointed me to this one, which blew my mind away, it is Jeremiah 5:11-14. It says

The house of Israel and the house of Judah
       have been utterly unfaithful to me,"
       declares the LORD.

They have lied about the LORD;
       they said, "He will do nothing!
       No harm will come to us;
       we will never see sword or famine.

The prophets are but wind
       and the word is not in them;
       so let what they say be done to them."

Therefore this is what the LORD God Almighty says:
       "Because the people have spoken these words,
       I will make my words in your mouth a fire
       and these people the wood it consumes.

I thought this verse was especially powerful. To me this says that people didn’t really believe in God, and God will judge them like unbelievers. The house of Israel and the house of Judah I believe were supposed to be followers of God, but they turned out to be “utterly unfaithful” to God. This challenges me to examine how close I am with God and to make sure I follow him and are frightened by what he can do, being the best Christian I can be, following the path he wants me to follow. Every time I even think about Him now, I feel like I am on a God-high. Nothing in this world will keep me from Him. I think it is extremely important for you to be this close to him, because once you are, you know anything and everything is possible with God.

Haven’t you ever wondered?

Through a series of more recent sermons, personal reflection and just thought, I have determined there HAS to be a God. I always knew that God existed but I also wondered how other people can live life without following Him. One popular theory is the Big Bang. The problem with this theory is if it was supposed to explain the creation of the world, how was life created? There is a huge difference between different elements that together create Earth, and life. Humans have never been able to create life, and they will never, at least nothing as complex as humans. So then how do these people still live their life without thinking something else is bigger out there? But I wrote this more to provoke different thoughts, to give me and hopefully others a bigger understanding on what others think about this subject. So if you believe in something else, please comment what and why, and if you do believe in God and have witnessed a miracle, please share that too. Thanks :D

God’s Plan might be a goal.

I think God has a plan for all of us. He has essentially a high goal he wants us to attain, it is so high that we don’t need to attain it, to enter the gates of Heaven. I think its kind of a thing where he wants us to meet or break the goal, but if we don’t we aren’t going to hell. I don’t know if this is true, but until we talk to God, we can’t really tell for sure if its wrong either. If God does set this Goal, and wants us to break it, I don't know about you, but if I see God someday, I want him to say, “well done, my faithful servant.”

Having a Servant’s Heart

One of the hardest things to do, is to have a servant’s heart. I have already posted a somewhat similar post to this titled “Selfless not selfish.”

Having a servant’s heart is tough because it requires one to re-examine how they live their life. It means putting everyone above yourself. If someone is standing, you give them your seat. If someone doesn’t have something to drink, you give him/her your drink. If someone is hungry, you give them your food. If someone needs a friend, you be their friend. This is what Jesus wanted from us, we wanted us to have a servant’s heart. It is hard, I know I am not there, but I am trying hard. Having a servant’s heart also means to stand up for other people when they are oppressed. Having a servant’s heart means having several qualities or characteristics.  You must be humble, this means not being prideful, but still being confident in your actions as long as they don’t harm others. This also means having the strength to be the bigger person and back down from a fight. It is hard to have a servant’s heart. If you want an example of someone who showed a servant’s heart, look in the Bible. Jesus had many parables, or lessons, on being a servant. Jesus was the best example of someone having a servant’s heart.

Love has changed

Today love can mean very different things. There is love between a husband and a wife. There is love between parents and children, between siblings, between extended family members, between girl-friends and boy-friends, and between friends. These are all different. The strength of bond between all of these varies too. Some people today seem to think that if a friend cares about, makes jokes with, etc. with a friend of the opposite sex, then they are flirting. I beg to differ. This is caring. Caring is a form of love, but not the initial type of love you think I am talking about. I think this is a fundamental problem with society. When someone cares about someone else it shouldn’t be considered weird or flirting. This is similar to the saying “love as a brother/sister in Christ.” These are both similar because you treat them as a brother/sister and care a lot about them, willing to do anything to make sure they are ok. This is the way everyone should act towards each other. This is the problem. Everyone should care for each other like a brother/sister. The world’s problems would be mostly solved. People used to care more about each other. Today’s society is so far apart even though the world is “shrinking.” We don’t talk and communicate like people used to. We don’t share our thoughts, ideas, problems, conflicts, like people used to. Not enough people in this world love and care about each other. That is the problem. That is how love has changed.

Integrity

This is a tough one. I have a list of personality characteristics I want to master and show in my life…this is one of them. Integrity is difficult to master because it requires one to be the same way and act the same way, all the time, everywhere. This means do what is right, when nobody is there, when nobody is watching, when nobody is there to commend you for it and even at times when nobody else is there to back you up. This is something that I really want to master, because it is a tough characteristic to have.

Just think about it. Acting the same way with all of your different types of friends, not giving in to peer pressure, and not doing anything stupid to try to be cool. Integrity is relative in a sense though. For one person Integrity may be not to lie, be the best follower of Christ he/she can be. For another person integrity may be doing everything opposite. It depends what one’s morals or ethics are. For someone to have integrity to me is to have positive ethics, because that is more difficult to obtain in this sin filled world.

Passion

Passion is a unique characteristic that someone can’t change, at least not easily. Passion is about having a strong feeling about something, willing to go long distances to get something done. If someone is passionate about ending world hunger, they will do anything they can to end it. An online dictionary defines passion as a “powerful or compelling emotion or feeling.” A passionate person I have a lot of respect for, who is about my age, is Zach Hunter. Zach Hunter is passionate about ending modern day slavery. Another couple people I have respect for is Alex and Brett Harris. Alex and Brett Harris have a passion for eliminating the teenage stereotype of having low expectations. The hard thing with Passion is you can’t force yourself to be passionate about it, God has to give you the passion first.

I have a couple things that I am passionate about. I am also passionate about fighting injustice. I am also passionate about fighting the pathetic low expectation title that I, along with other teens, have had dubbed upon me because I am a teenager. Another more unique thing that I am really passionate about is helping people.

What are you passionate about?

IT drives me crazy!

There is one thing in this world that I am confronted with every day, and all teens are, whether they notice it or not. That thing is called low expectations. It is everywhere, and what annoys me most about it is adults stereotype all teenagers with this, before rarely realizing they may be wrong. I am reading this awesome book, I recommend everyone to read it both adults and teenagers, it is called Do Hard Things: A teenage rebellion against low expectations. The great thing about this book is its written by teenagers! They recognize that adults look down on teenagers in today’s society. This book is amazing, I haven’t finished it yet, but it is already amazing. The Bible even talks about low expectation. From 1 Timothy 4:12 “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.” The Bible tells “teenagers” to set an example in this world, that is a high calling. Alex and Brett Harris, authors of Do Hard Things, call this rebellion and revolution against these low expectations, the Rebelution. An example they use in their book about these low expectations is when they googled teen and expectations and what they got were a bunch of different things like drugs, drinking and the like. I haven’t finished their book yet but I know its going to be good. I am flustered that adults think this lowly of teenagers. For example when something bad happens people right away assume it was a teenager who did it. One example is that if a teenager is driving down the highway at 62, when the speed limit is 60, and an adult is speeding at 68, a cop may be more likely to pull over the teenager because he/she is a teenager. How did teenagers get such low expectations that they are always up to no good? How can we change it? Why do adults look down on the future generation with such disdain? Well, you are going to have to read Alex and Brett Harris’ book. You can also check out their website at www.therebelution.com.

Justice/Injustice

How can we push for justice in the world, when we can't stand up for injustice? How are we supposed to change the world when we can't change our world? How are we supposed to abolish slavery half-way around the world, when we can't stand up for it when it is right in our faces? I am weak because I didn't stand up for injustice in my life, but from now on I am going to make a conscious effort to stop it when I see it. That is all it takes. If everyone in the world would stop injustice and not spread it, the world would be slave free. Make an effort, stop injustice.

A REAL Christian?

What is a Christian? What do they look like, act like, and do? How are they different from other people? What is a Christians purpose? Do they go to church every Sunday? Do they read the Bible everyday? Do they look at other people differently who are not like them? No, A REAL Christian looks at everyone equally treating others and looking at others, above them self. They attend church and read their Bible regularly and pray often. They love their neighbors more then them self. They try their best to be the best person they can be, with strong discipline and rules. There are many more things that a REAL Christian is but the biggest one is, they strive very hard to follow God as closely as they can.

How many people do you know are REAL Christians?

The question is, are you a REAL Christian?

Selfless not Selfish

Selfless and selfish are two words that sound very much alike, but are very different. Selfish acts are acts done to help only one person, and sometimes hurt other people. Selfless acts are acts to help a person, not the person doing the act, and sometimes without the person benefited knowing about it. The best selfless acts are when nobody else knows that you did something nice for someone else.

If everyone did 3 selfless acts a week, the world would be a very different place. That is not asking a lot, people should do a selfless act every chance they get.

You can change the world. God wants you to be a selfLESS person. It is not to much to ask.

Respectful vs. Respectable

There is a big difference but also a very similar definition. Respect is hard to define, I define it as treating someone else better than you would want to be treated. Or maybe even looking up to someone else and treating them better than other people (even though you should treat everyone like you would like to be treated). The dictionary also has a similar definition, having esteem for worth of excellence or to honor a person. The big difference is in the direction the respect is flowing. Respectful is the way one acts towards a person. For example, a employee should be respectful towards his/her boss, a child should be respectful to his/her parents. Respectable is the way someone acts that earns him/her respect or the ability to be respected. Respectable can also coincide with integrity. If someone has integrity he/she may be respectable.

In my lifetime, I want to be both. I want to be respectful and respectable. To me personally being respectful is harder than being respectable because respectful is more of an interior mindset towards other people. Respectable is how others perceive you to act, which earns you respect.