What do you do when a friend is hurting?
What do you do when your sister cries?
What do you do when there's nothing to do,
When there is only you and God?

God, help her, hold her, keep her, comfort her.
You can do it so much better than I.
God I ask you to carry her, to comfort her, to cuddle her,
to wipe away the tears from her eyes.

God I ask you on this earth, that's filled with pain.
Lord I ask you to come down, to bring your Name.
For only You can bring the love that this world needs.
For only You can heal our hearts, when they bleed.

God, help her, hold her, keep her, comfort her.
You can do it so much better than I.
God I ask you to carry her, to comfort her, to care for her,
to wipe away the tears from her eyes.

On Salvation, Baptism Repentance, and Matthew 7:21-23

I've been struggling with the idea of what exactly salvation is for a couple of months. Is it just believing, and what does that mean. Do you have to repent? I know that the idea that baptism is required is not true, but how is this reconciled with Mark 16:16?

I've been praying about this for a while, and studying my Bible quite a lot lately, and I believe that God has given me some insight today about it. If you believe that I'm wrong, even in the slightest degree,  please tell me, for I do not want to be like the people in Matthew 7: 21-23, who thought they knew the truth, but to their dismay were very wrong.

So I wrote these out on paper, in the last couple of hours, and now I'll type them up.

On Salvation, Repentance, and Baptism

(I looked up and wrote down a lot of the basic salvation versus, from the Gospels, Acts, and Romans. I won't type them all up here, since they are very common, but I will write down some of the references I was examining.)

Matthew 10:22
Mark 16:16
John 3: 5,7,16,18
Acts 16:31
Romans 10: 9,10,13,14

And here is what I found:

It's all about believing in Jesus as we see again and again. But what does that mean? In Romans Paul explains that we need to believe in Christ as our Lord and Savior. What about repentance? Is that required? I believe YES. It is inherent in accepting Christ as your Lord. When you say that Jesus is Lord, you are saying, "Jesus I will follow you, you are my master." Repentance is turning your back on sin. The opposite of sin is Christ. When one chooses to follow Christ solely, and make Him the Ruler of one's thoughts, words, and actions, then one is inherently repenting. You cannot serve two masters. If you do not repent, then you have truly believed in Jesus as your Lord, and you are not saved.

ON BAPTISM
Mark 16:15 brings up an interesting question, "must you be baptized?" Many Christians think so. Baptism is a command from Christ to show that He is our Lord, and it shows that we are not denying Him. If one truly believed in Christ as their Lord then they will obey Him in this. If they will not get baptized, then they have probably not accepted Him as their Lord. Of course extenuating circumstances may prevent one from being baptized. In such a case, one is not denying Christ nor His Lordship over one's life, and they obviously would still be saved. An obvious example of this is the thief on the cross.

I've believed all of the major points in this essay for some time, I just had never fully figured out in my mind how they reconciled to each other. Specifically the sole requirement of believing in Jesus, and the requirement of repentance.

After I was finished writing that last essay, this passage came to my mind, and I believe that God shared with me some insight upon this passage.

Again as always, if I'm wrong, in any way PLEASE correct me. Ya'll's feedback to me is invaluable.

On Matthew 7:21-23

21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'" (ESV)

There are several very interesting points that can be discovered from this passage.

(1) First and most obviously, not everyone who things that they are Christians will go to Heaven

(2) An interesting thing about these people is that they were not the average pseudo-Christians we see in America. They were not the kind of people who go to church twice a year, and think that because they live in America they are Christians. The people mentioned in this passage are people who appeared to be spirit filled, on-fire believers. These are the kind of people that many of us would generally hold in high esteem. And these were not what we would call wolves in sheep's clothing. They thought that they were as Godly as they appeared to be. They meant no harm to the church, indeed these people would have though that they were helping it!

(3) So what is the reason that these people were not saved?
From this passage we can garner that these people believed in the Christian-Judeo God, they believed in Jesus, it seems that they believed that He was God, and the believed in His power and in His name. So what was missing? Why weren't they true Christians? What I believe was missing is that they did not believe in Jesus as their Lord. Although they called Him Lord, and they did what they thought would please Him, He wasn't really the Lord of their lives. They were "workers of lawlessness," who did not do "the will if [Jesus'] Father. They did what they thought would please Him, and they never submitted to His will. They believed in Him, but not as Lord, and it cost them eternity.

(4) Then we get the question, "Where did they get their power?"
If they did not get their power from God, they got the power from Satan. If the Lord "Never knew them," then it is not likely that He would have given them supernatural powers. The only other source of supernatural power is from the Devil.

(5) But how?
How can people who appear to be on fire Born again Christians, people who believe in Jesus, and in His power be workers of the Devil? These were people who didn't even know that they were working for the Devil!
Because they did not accept Jesus as their Lord, and because they did their own will, they were severely deceived.

And then the Philippians 2:12b came to mind,

"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."

Well, those are my thoughts for the day.
God Bless.

Your Brother in Christ,
Jonathan

Hello!

Wow, it's been a long time. I've had a very interesting (in a good way) last couple of months. College is going great; I especially love my New Testament class. Right now I'm double majoring in Political Science and Speech Communications, but I'm thinking of changing my second major to Christianity. Or perhaps I'll do all three.

My Christmas break was amazingly good. I was supposed to get off on Friday the 15th, but I was pull a few strings, and get assignments and tests done early, so I was able to come home that Tuesday, so I could attend Mr. Umstattd's 50th birthday party. That was a blast. I am so glad I got to go. I was able to see many awesome people, and we had a great time. Then, for the next week, the first CEBC (Christmas Evangelism Boot Camp) took over my life. It started on Saturday, but on Wed-Fri, I was able to help out with the preparation. When it actually started it was amazing. God did a ton of awesome things that weekend. For instance, on Saturday, As my group began to go out, God took away the spirit of fear from us. God gave me and many other the words to say and the courage to say them, and four of us open air preached for the first time. During the course of those three days I saw God work in so many ways, it was truly awesome. God gave me the opportunity to have around a dozen and a half conversations, and I was privileged to see His work in the large majority of the people I was able to talk to.

One of the things that I have been thinking ever since that weekend is that it is amazing that God would use people like me to do His work. It says in Hebrews that every time we sin knowingly and willfully, that we profane the blood of our Lord. I do this so often, and it is truly amazing to me that the Lord will still continue to use me. We serve an Awesome God.

I've decided to do a survey for the first time ever! So here you go:

BASICS

Name? Jonathan

Single or Taken? Single

Eye color? Brown

Height?  6' 2"

What are you wearing right now? Dockers and a Blue polo

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FAVORITES


Animal? Horse

Drink? Mountain Dew!

Month? May

Juice? Pineapple Orange Banana

Favorite cartoon? Good question

Favorite band? Casting Crowns

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HAVE YOU EVER

Given anyone a bath? no.

Bungee Jumped? no

Made yourself throw-up? why?

Skinny dipped? no

Loved someone so much it made you cry? sort of 

Broken a bone? nope

Played truth or dare? never, ever.

Been in a physical fight? That would depend upon your definition of "fight." But no, not really. I was ' ' that close to getting into one here at college. (It was over a very good reason. A chivalrous reason.) But he recanted and repented of what he had said. That's an interesting story. Remind me, I might tell it sometime. 

Come close to dying? Thankfully no.

Been in a hot tub? yes

Fallen asleep in school? all the time. (while being homeschooled  Never in college though. 

Run away? nope 

Cried when someone died? yes 

Fallen off your chair? yes

Sat by the phone all night waiting for someone to call? nope, but I've waited most of the night for someone to email or IM me.

Saved AIM conversation? yes (they are saved automatically)

Made out with JUST a friend? no, I've never "made out" with anyone.

Used someone? I don't think so. I hope not.

Been cheated on? Never had a girlfriend

---------------------------------------------------------------

WHAT IS

Beside you? My Bible

Last thing you ate? My mom's spaggeti and meatballs. (She sent some back to college with me)

----------------------------------------

EVER HAD

Chicken pox? yes

Sore throat? yes

Stitches? no

Broken nose? nope 

----------------------------------------

DO YOU

Believe in love at first sight? That would depend on you definition of love. Even then, no. Strong attraction: yes. But real love is so much , so much, more than that, it couldn't happen in an instant.

Long distant relationships? Think that they can work? yeah, if it is God's will.

Question yourself? yes.

Who was the last person that called you? My cousin

Who makes you smile the most? ______

Do you like filling these out? hmmmm

Do you wear contact lenses or glasses? glasses

Do you get along with your family? yes. quite well.

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FINAL QUESTIONS

What did you do today? Read my Bible, Go to class, go to second class, do homework, listen to music, play tennis, type this .

What car/truck do you wish to have? one with wheels.  

Have a lava lamp? nope

How many remote controls are in your house? too many. around a dozen I think, though it is probably more than that.

Are you double jointed? no

Scary or funny movies?  funny, if it is clean funnyness. (is that a word ?)

Chocolate or Vanilla: Vanilla

Rootbeer or Dr. Pepper: Rootbeer

Summer or winter: Summer

Silver or Gold: Gold

Diamond or pearl: Diamond

Sprite or 7up: Sprite

Coffee or tea: Neither

Phone or in person: In Person, talking on the phone has always made me nervous for some strange reason.

--------------------------------------------------

TODAY DID YOU

Talk to someone you like? like how? In the totally regular way, yes.

Buy something? nope

Get sick? no

Talk to an ex? I don't have one, and I hope that I never will. 

Miss someone? yes

---------------------------------------------------------

LAST PERSON WHO

Slept in your bed? My aunt and uncle. :-o

Saw/heard you cry? I don't know.

Made you cry? A lost person.

Went to the movies with? My family

Hugged? my family

Said "I love you" to? My mom
____________________________________________

EVER

Been in a fight with your pet? no

Been to Hawaii? no

Been to Canada? yes

Been to Mexico? no

Been to New York? yes

----------------------------------------------------

RANDOM

Do you have a crush on someone right now?   That would depend on your definition of aforsaid term, "crush," and its implications therin.

What book are you reading now? The Bible, and Refuting Compromise by Dr. Jonathan Sarfati

Want to get married? YES

Future kids names? That would depend on my wife.

Do you sleep with a stuffed animal? no

What's under your bed? My desk and dressers.

Favorite sports to watch? Basketball

Favorite Location? With the people I love. (cliche, I know, but it's true.)

Tattoos or piercings? Neither

What are you most scared of right now? posting this survey.

Who do you really hate? No one. But I really dislike Joel Olsteen and Richard Dawkins. I consider them both to be the two greatest single human threats to true Christianity today.

Do you have a job? Getting one.

Are you lonely right now? yes.

Song that's stuck in your head right now? "One of These Days"

Have you ever played strip poker? Who makes these surveys?

Have you ever been on radio/TV?  yes.

Have you ever been in a mosh-pit? what's a mosh-pit?

Ever liked someone, but thought they never noticed you? yes.

Your Favorite Food? Mom's.

Ever get so drunk you don’t remember? If I don't remember, how would I know if I had? No, I have never had any alchohal

Are you too shy to ask someone out? I don't know.

Hugs or Kisses? Hugs

Dogs or cats? Dogs

Favorite Flower? Blue Roses.

Have you ever fired a gun? No. I want to, though!

How many pillows do you sleep with?  2

Do you think any of your ex's miss you? Didn't I already say I don't have one, and I pray I never will?

WOW, that was long. Well, since I'm back at college now, I better go study.

God Bless, and I'll talk to you later.

I'm happy.

God is Good. 'Nuff said.

I'm tired, but I'll sleep when I'm dead.  
I don't sleep much lately, my bedtime is at 4 or 5 or later
I'm  going to pull an all nighter tonight (for the second time), because I have a paper tomorrow, and an important test on Friday.

I'm hungry, but I'll eat when I get to heaven.
For the last two weeks (minus when I went home last weekend) I've eaten maybe one good meal each day.

I'm not sick though!

In other news, life at college is going well, wonderful actually!

I went home to Austin last weekend, and I saw many wonderful people, and had an amazing time. Oh, and that reminds me, albiet it's 5 days late: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONICA!!!

Schools been tough these last 3 weeks; I can't wait for Thanksgiving break. The first quarter ends then, so I will get the whole week off.

What do ya'll think about motorcycles?