The Gospel

Gospel - Dan Stevers

Want to change a life forever? Spread the Gospel, the Good News; don't keep it to yourself!


"Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." (Mark 16:15b)


JPK

It's Summer...

It's officially summer! As if it hasn't been summer-like already for quite a while...


Here's some recordings of me playing the violin for your enjoyment... Even though that has nothing at all to do with the first day of summer.

What Wondrous Love

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

Change My Heart, O God

JPK

Dads and Heroes

Dad Talk

It's true for dads, but that doesn't mean there's nothing here for the rest of us. We all have dads. And what guy doesn't want to be a hero? But all of us fail so often. We fall short. There are so many fathers who never become "the hero" for their kids. But it's not too late. Thank God, He takes us where we are.


Want to be a hero? "Know your flaws (the stuff that trips you up), stay away from those things, and then defend your 'universe'." Not as easy as it sounds, but you'll never regret it.


Have a hero, a role model, someone you look up to in your life? Let them know! They don't need to be perfect. In fact, if you think they are, you're in for a letdown. But if they are truly striving to follow Jesus, the ultimate hero, then you can know that you've made a good choice. Sure, they'll fail. But the true heroes will admit their failure, get back up, and by God's grace, keep going.


JPK

Overcoming sin

The mind is so powerful, but it can easily get clogged up with the junk of this world. "Reprogram your mind with the Word of God."  Psalm 119:11 says, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." The Word of God is the perfect antidote to sin. You have to replace the garbage with God's Word. There's nothing else that will keep us from sliding back into the same old sin habits of wrong thoughts and attitudes. We need the truths of Scripture to overcome the temptations to sin that we face every moment of every day.


How to know if something in my life is sin?


Is it best? (Sin may not seem "bad," but it's still sin if it gets in the way of God's best for us.)


Does it bind? (Is it something that ties me down to the trivial things of this life?)


Does it build? (Is it something that furthers God's kingdom or helps out another person, or is it absolutely useless?)


There is so much we fail at every day, it's easy to get discouraged and bogged down with shame. But God doesn't want us to live in defeat, constantly beating ourselves up over our stupidity. Remember, "There's no other hope besides God." We can never "do better" or "get it right." No matter how hard we try, we can't measure up to God's holiness. But we don't have to do that. Because we can't. It's only by God's grace and the power of Jesus' sacrifice that we will ever be able to live victoriously. 


How to overcome sin


Admit to sin (All have sinned, and thus are sinners.)


Admit to death (You are dead to sin.)


Admit to a need (You can't do it alone).


Repent of sin (Ask forgiveness and turn your back on it)


Reckon yourself (Think of yourself as an adopted child of God.)


Realize a specific need as it arises (Don't be afraid to ask God for help. He wants to give it!)




"The devil loves to tempt us with something good when God wants to give us His best."


JPK

Jesus, Alive in Us

"Alive in Us" - Hillsong

Aren't you so glad that our God is alive in us? We don't serve a dead prophet, leader, or god; our Savior conquered death on the cross so we could live fulfilled lives through Him.


What does this mean? We have the power to conquer sin because we are dead to it. We have new life and a new nature. You see, "God doesn't want us to live under the bondage of sin any longer." He freed us from that. Why would we want to go back to the disgusting slavery of sin?


"We sin because we choose to sin." It's that simple. Of course, you could claim that you don't know that you were sinning at the time, which is entirely possible. But God did give us a conscience. We often just ignore it. Let's face it, our old nature still wants to sin.


What can we do? Well, thankfully, "God has given us the Holy Spirit that is stronger than sin." That doesn't mean we can pray and we'll just magically stop sinning. It's a daily process of surrendering to the Holy Spirit and letting Him control us, and it's far from easy.


Remember, "you are dead to sin and alive to God. Death is the inability to respond! We don't have to sin anymore. We choose sin."

"You have to get rid of the sin so God can replace it with something better." His grace is far better than the "pleasure" of sin. His love is stronger than the chains of lust. Jesus will fill the emptiness that sin never can and will. The awesome thing is, "Jesus knows how to live your life better than you do." He says, "If you will let Me just take over your life, you'll like it!" Let Him!

Realize that "you won't grow spiritually if you say, 'No,' to the Holy Spirit." Now, we may not consciously say, "No," but if our lifestyle blocks out His guidance and direction it will shut out His voice and His power. So many Christians aren't hearing the Holy Spirit or living through His power. Sadly, I'm often guilty of the same thing.


"God wants to take over your whole life." He doesn't just want a small part, He wants to have complete control through His Spirit. But we so often won't let Him. We don't fully surrender. We want to keep some control; after all, it's our life, right? ...That's not being a follower of Jesus.


We need to put off...

- Sin by

Revealing - "Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!" (Psalm 139:23, 24)

Repenting - "For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death." (2 Corinthians 7:10)

Replacing - "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires." (Romans 13:14)

- Self by ... (have a surrendered life)

Knowing (acknowledging) - "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin" (Romans 6:6)

Reckoning (believing) - "In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus." (Romans 6:11)

Yielding constantly - "Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness." (Romans 6:13)

...then Put on the...

- Spirit

He indwells -  ^"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

He convicts me of sin - "And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:" (John 16:8)

He fills me - "Be filled with the Spirit." (Ephesians 5:18b)




"We are dead to sin." "If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations?" Colossians 2:20 (ESV)


JPK


"When Jesus comes into your heart, He doesn't make you better, He makes you over."

Sing... SING!

This is one of my favorite songs and the one I sang at my graduation. :) But I don't think anyone recorded it, and I was told afterwards that, unfortunately, the music was drowning me out. So that, along with other reasons ;), inspired me to make a recording of myself singing it yesterday. Not to mention, I was rather bored. I do wish I had some better equipment though...

"I Will Love You" - Robert Pierre

Hope that was enjoyable! Just tell me if your ears are too delicate for my screechings and bellowings... :P




p.s. btw, I got my hands on some pictures of me from Friday. I know few people who would look particularly amazing with a mortarboard on their heads... and I'm definitely not one of them. They're actually not too horrible though...

I look... focused

Me Singing :)

JPK

Life Action Summit... Ended

Well, the Summit is now officially over. Sadness. It's been an amazing week! With some amazing people. :) Here are two of my favorite songs done this week. We got to sing both of them tonight! :)

"All My Fountains" - Chris Tomlin

All of our joy is straight from God! He is the Author of joy. This song is so much fun!

"Our God Is Greater" - Chris Tomlin

Our God is greater and higher than anyone and anything. Why can't people accept that? He is AWESOME!




During the week, I'll probably be writing about and expounding on truths I learned from the past week of the summit. But it's pretty late right now...


JPK

I've Graduated!

Today was the big day. My graduation is now officially over! Yuppie! I have completed school forever!!!


I sang and had a really good time, even though wearing a graduation gown is less than enjoyable...


But God was really with me.


So, I'm still waiting to see what God has for me, but I'm looking forward to whatever it is.

Philippians 4:13 (ESV)

"I can do all things through him who strengthens me."


p.s. Someone asked me afterwards what I was going to do now that I'm graduated. My answer? "Sleep." But now, I seem to be full of cake... hmm... this is a problem. ;)


JPK