A few thoughts...

All right so i've been thinking about a lot of stuff lately and there is so much i want to write, but i just don't have the time to sit and write it all out right now. but here are two things that really kind of hit me in the last week...

what if we ALL, all the followers of Christ, lived like there were no coincedences?!?!? i mean if you think of all the people we interact with on a regular basis: the gas attendant you always buy your gas from, the barista who always makes your drink, the guy who sits in the cubicle next to you, the people sitting around you in your classroom, the random people you are with in lines everyday at the mall, store, bathroom, etc. ANYTHING!! i mean do you really believe those are all coincendences?!!? you have something that they desperately need and WANT deep down. you have the TRUTH. i mean you ARE the truth because you are of Christ and Christ is of God (and the FULLNESSS of God dwells within Christ- Colossians 1:19) therefore everywhere you go, the fullness of God is right there with you and it's up to you to let it out so that people will see and know the truth. you HAVE it, ALWAYS. it's there in you. everyday. every minute. every interaction you have. the truth is there, and available to that person to have. are you going to live like it's just a coincidence OR are you going to realize that just maybe God has those people in you life for a reason. not just friends and family but EVERYONE you encounter in a day. we don't need to pray for opportunities, they are there, every minute. we need to pray that we ACT upon them as much as possible. i mean just what if!!??!! what if we ALL lived like that? it would be incredible...and it would bring heaven on earth! we need to pray and encourage each other to make this happen. we can't do it alone...we need each other!! so let's do all we can to remember this and remind each other always and give them encouragement!


Another thing i've been thinking about is in regards to the church. recently i've had some frustrations with the church on some particular issues that i think are absolutey wrong (i will eventually blog about them, but not now). but through all my conversations everyone and their mother have said, "well Ty, there is no perfect church, it's human, so we can't really do anything about it." talk about disheartening...so in essence people really believe that we just have to be content with things that we feel are wrong and just accept what they are doing because there is NO WAY it can change. i'm sorry, but didn't Christ say he was coming for the PERFECT bride? or rather the PERFECT church. doesn't that imply that the church, at some point, is going to be perfect? i mean it makes sense if you think about it...

if Christ is in us, aren't we continually being made more and more perfect?!?!?

check this out...

Hebrews 10:8-18 (read all of Hebrews 10 on your own!!)

"First he (Jesus) said, 'sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them.' (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, 'here I am, I have come to do your will.' He sets aside the first to establish the second. and by that will, WE HAVE BEEN MADE HOLY through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all.

Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices (sound familiar? sometimes i feel this way at church), which can never take away sins. But when this priest (Jesus) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice HE HAS MADE PERFECT FOREVER THOSE WHO ARE BEING MADE HOLY. "

Paul talks about this in Philippians 3:12
he says, "not that i've already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I PRESS ON TO TAKE HOLD OF THAT for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

We are made perfect because are are being made holy through Christ! the implications of this are HUGE. that means that although we are human, there is perfection in us because Christ is in us! so to say that the church will never be perfect is a LIE because Christ says that it will...otherwise he'd be a liar because he says he's coming for the perfect bride! to me that means he's coming for a church that is trying to be perfect...not in our humaness, but in our desire to be more and more holy!!

so, what do we do?!? i think we start by realizing that change IS possible and IS necessary. i think it just starts with us all recognizing there is a problem and we go from there. i don't know what to do now to be honest. i can't change anything on my own but together, AS THE BODY OF CHRIST-the church, we can change the world!! so more than anything, i guess i'm asking that you think about it. and think about what this means and if you even agree or not, and we go from there! let's not settle for anything less than what Christ tells us we are or what we will become!

i love you all! know that the TRUTH is in you, ALWAYS!! don't forget that!!

-ty