We're in a battle...so why don't we act like it?

Life is War. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

"Life is war because the maintenance of our faith and the laying hold on eternal life is a constant fight." John Piper

But most of us do not believe it...We show by the way we live (priorities, casual approach to spiritual issues, etc.) that we actually believe we are living in peacetime.

If we truly believed we are living in wartime, we would be living differently. In wartime, we are on the alert. We are armed. We are ready to do battle.

The number one weapon in this spiritual war is prayer. But until people believe they are living in wartime, they will not pray as they should. We cannot know what prayer is until we understand the reality of a life of war.

O that we would have a passion for battle, that we might fight the good fight for the glory and praise of God. When this is done, we will experience and understand for the first time the awesome power of prayer.

Put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20).

Well....

I really, really like my friends. Amazing Race was fun tonight but it made me kind of sad. I am going to miss hanging out with my friends! Afterwards Hannah and I dropped by Mark's house and it was just so much fun. Next year is going to be so different...sometimes I really don't feel ready. Sigh...

It's a good thing God is in control and is sovereign...

The Mark of the Christian

"Love--and the unity it attests to--is the mark Christ gave Christians to wear before the world. Only with this mark may the world know that Christians are indeed Christians, and that Jesus was sent by the Father."
-Francis Schaeffer

T-shirts (what we should be known for) by Derek Webb
They'll know us by the t-shirts that we wear
They'll know us by the way we point and stare
at anyone whose sin looks worse than ours
who cannot hide the scars of this curse that we all bare
They'll know us by our picket lines and signs
They'll know us by the pride we hide behind
like anyone on earth is living right
and isn't that why Jesus died
not to make us think we're right

When love, love, love
is what we should be known for
Love, love, love
it's the how and it's the why
we live and breathe and we die

They'll know us by the reasons we divide
and how we can't seem to unify
becuase we've gotta sing songs a certain style
or we'll walk right down that aisle
and juts leave it all behind
They'll know us by the billboards that we make
just turning God's word to cheap cliches
says 'what part of murder don't you understand?'
but we hate our fellow man
and point a finger at his grave

They'll know us by the t-shirts that we wear
They'll know us by the way we point and stare
telling them their sins are worse than ours
thinking we can hide our scars
beneath these t-shirts that we wear"


"The world has a right to judge whether we are christians or not on the basis of how we manifest substantive love to each other as christians--and to all men and women, because they are created in God's image, deserving dignity and honor."
-Francis Schaeffer

Joy in the Midst of Suffering

"In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:6,7

Head/Heart Issues

"The heart never takes the place of
the head: but it can, and should, obey it."
--C.S. Lewis (The Abolition of Man)

I am struggling to have my heart obey my head.

Outrageous Love

Praise Him because His love is better than life! (Psalm 63:3)