Changing Times

I woke up this morning with a song in my heart. This hasn't happened in a while so I decided to write it down.

Verse One:
I'll take time for you, Lord, I'll take time for you;
I'll seek your will, yes, I will seek your will for me.
Thank you for your grace you poured out in love.

Not sure how it got there in the wee early hours but I imagine it had something to do with the movie I watched before going to bed. The movie was called "Time Changer." I have no idea how to accurately describe the movie for you other than it was the best worst movie I have seen ever. I won't go into detail so as not to spoil it for any of you brave enough to watch it but the basic idea of the whole thing is: Good Values do not matter when taught apart from Christ Himself! It is the authority of Christ that is important when doing something righteous or right. This isn't a new idea, I have heard it from many great minds, and not so great ones like my own. Yet, this truth never ceases to frustrate me. I mean it is part (1/3) of the reason I began this blog to begin with. It is Christ who saves and Christ who has done the work and He needs to be in the center and verbalized as such in everything we teach.

Where does my frustration lie? With over 80% of Americans stating they are followers of Christ, myself included, I have to question by what criteria are we using? I can only hope it includes but is not limited to the following:

• Our lives and our ministries must aspire to wholehearted devotion to God through worship, through prayer and through studying, memorizing, meditating upon, obeying, and teaching His Word
  (Ezra 7:10).
• All Christians are “priests,” according to 1 Peter 2:5-9, empowered through the Holy Spirit to worship God and be workers in the church and the world.

I believe these things mentioned above and even more that are not mentioned but I know I don't always live like it myself. I am a party to the dis-affected generations of today. I have grown up with and seen in life and in the media so many acts of sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, not to mention, death and violent acts of hatred that even I have become "soft" meaning, I see it as normal in society and accepted and OK as long as I am not participating in it. Is it really OK? Really!? (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5; Colossians 3:5)

When are we going to change the times? One of the biggest things I have witnessed in my and seemingly future generations is the lack of a backbone, the lack of authority over anything. Workers unions are dying out and new ones are not starting. Protesting means standing around for 20 hours with a sign and taking no real action to do anything. We all feel like it is not worth it because we can't change things anyway, we have no power. It is often just not worth the fight for fear of alienation of the masses and limited results and it is justified because the world is broken and we should not have expectations of others or anything else for that matter. We shouldn't tell people how they should to live. 

Verse Two:
Take my time from me, Take my time from me;
bend me and break me help me to see your will for me.
Thank you for your grace, and for your mercy.

Yeah, your right fellow follower of Christ, I should not tell you how to live, in fact, it is not my business is it? I can barely get it right myself, but I know what I must strive for and I hope to do a better job of it. And I hope you don't take my word for it, I hope you take these words instead: 2 Timothy 3:16 - "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right."  God’s grace through Jesus Christ is our foundation for our salvation, our life in Christ and our ministry, both individually and as churches (2 Corinthians 9:8). Grace will lead to works, and result in fruit in people’s lives (Ephesians 2:8-10). There is a balance between God’s grace and man’s responsibility. Both the sovereign grace of God and the solemn responsibility of man to trust, obey and serve God as taught in the scripture. (Philippians 2:12-13).  1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 - "Finally, dear brothers and sisters,a we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more. For you remember what we taught you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin.  Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. Never harm or cheat a Christian brother in this matter by violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before.  God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives.  Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you."

I know this is a strange post, this is just how my mind works sometimes. I also know it is long, but in my defense I have not posted in a while. Watch the movie and you will gain either understanding, more sleep, or gouge your eyes out while getting through it. That being said, I loved it. hehe.