Monday, December 20, 2010

College Life and the Real World

Wow. I can't believe that it's been a month. The past month has had its ups and downs. On the brighter side, I finished/passed/survived my first semester at college!

With college comes a whole new set of temptations. Pretty girls and handsome guys who just seem so charming and nice. "Sure they're not Christians, but is it that big of a deal?" Simply put, it is.
II Corinthians 6:14 says, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?"

There are several problems that come with dating or courting an unbeliever.

1) They may cause you to lose your purity.
People that aren't saved don't see the problem with having physical relationships outside of marriage. I Corinthians 6:18 says, "Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body."

2) They may cause you to leave church.
Someone who is not saved will not necessarily respect your Sunday commitment to church. Instead, they may want to go on a date, watch football, or do something else. Once you start skipping church, it's not too long before it becomes a habit. Hebrews 10:25 says, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."

3) They WILL cause division on how to raise your children.
Since the eventual result of dating/courting SHOULD be marriage, and the eventual result of marriage is usually children, you will run into more problems here. An unsaved spouse will not see the benefit/necessity of things like family devotions, discipline, Christian education, and Sunday School. Proverbs 22:6 says,"
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." If a child does not have a proper Christian home, then they are much less likely to be close to God when they are older.

There are no benefits to marrying someone who is not saved, only heartaches. Besides, an unsaved person lacks the qualities that we should be looking for in a future spouse. Qualities like a good relationship with God, a strong testimony, and a burden for souls.

Do your future a favour- don't even romantically consider someone that is not saved.

-Glen

p
.s. Merry Christmas!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Guest Post: 7 Myths of Single Life

By Cary Schmidt

Seven Myths of Single-Life
Myths abound in today’s culture—through urban legends, chain emails, speed-diets, and beyond! Thanks to snopes.com, it’s pretty easy to run an email, a story, or a bizarre event through a quick research test to find out if it’s true or not.
So—do you have a “snopes” for life? Has it occurred to you that life also has its myths and “urban legends.” The issue is, these myths have much greater consequences. And much like “snopes” we need to take the philosophies, assumptions, and teachings of our pop-culture and run them through the truth test—the Bible.
Here are seven popular myths of single-life—seven lies that many singles buy into. Let’s run them through the truth test and unmask them as frauds:
1. Happiness and love is found in a person and I must find that person. Many people fall for this lie. Their lives become an endless search for the right person to completely bring happiness to life. The problem is—no human being can fulfill the deepest desires of our hearts. That is reserved for God alone, through Jesus Christ. Psalm 16:11 teaches, “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy;”
2. Freedom is about making decisions alone and doing my own thing—”I gotta be me…” This is a gross distortion of a biblical truth. Yes, God created you as an individual with many unique qualities—so in that sense, you do have to be you. But, God never intended for you to live independent of Him or outside of His purpose or structure for life. The greatest life is found when you are who God truly made you to be. In John 10:10 Jesus said, ” I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
3. There is a short-cut to success and fulfillment in life and I will find it. Many believe that there are quick ways to happiness and fulfillment in life, and so they fall for them—parties, illicit sex, drinking, drugs, etc. We all tend to want the path of least resistance and the quickest path to success. In truth, the best life is built one decision at a time on the strong foundation of biblical values and principle.
God taught in Joshua 1:8, that true success is a product of biblical principles in practice. Joshua 1:8″ This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”
4. Responsibility and purpose in life can be indefinitely postponed. In the short term, a life free of responsibility and commitment seems like the way to go—but in the long term, it’s disastrous. We were designed by our Creator to have purpose, to embrace commitments, and to shoulder responsibilities that honor Him. God teaches that life comes with built in accountability and responsibility. Those who embrace this, always win. Romans 14:12, “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”
5. Love is a mystical, magical, fleeting thing that has something to do with sex. God is love and God created sex, so who could possibly instruct us in this matter better than Him. Quite simply, true love is a choice, not an emotion. You do it, you don’t feel it. Warm and fuzzy emotions, as enjoyable as they are, are not and never will be love. And sex is only an expression of love when it’s done God’s way—within a committed marriage for life. Outside of that boundary, sex is harmful in every way to both parties. It does irreparable spiritual harm.
Here’s how God says it: 1 Corinthians 6:18, “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.”
6. As long as I’m not hurting anyone else, what I do doesn’t matter. This sounds great and becomes a great excuse for someone who purely lives for self. The problem is, it’s simply not true. No man is an island. We all influence somebody. We all have people in the future we will influence. And every decision you make today is countless repercussions for people around you and people in your future that you haven’t even met yet—like your kids! Think of it this way—have you become the bearer of some of your parents bad decisions? Probably so. And at the time, they too were thinking their decisions wouldn’t hurt anyone. But you know differently.
God commands us to live as examples to others, positively influencing them for right. 1 Timothy 4:12, “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”
7. Pleasure, possessions, and personal pursuits can ultimately fill the longing of my heart. God created pleasure. God gives us possessions. And God calls us to purposeful pursuits. But He is the source and the giver. When we forsake following God and pursue these other things, life begins to fall apart. Apart from God, More stuff merely means more problems! We’re called to worship God and use things. But so often we get it backwards. We worship things and use God.
1 Timothy 6:17, “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;”
Are you falling for some of these myths? Begin today to align your life with God’s principles—beginning with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. You can read more about having that relationship in another article in this magazine.
Build your life and future upon truth, not upon the myth and urban legends of popular philosophy. Opinions of men will fail, but God’s Word is always true!

tomatoes_protection

Myths abound in today’s culture—through urban legends, chain emails, speed-diets, and beyond! Thanks to snopes.com, it’s pretty easy to run an email, a story, or a bizarre event through a quick research test to find out if it’s true or not.

So—do you have a “snopes” for life? Has it occurred to you that life also has its myths and “urban legends.” The issue is, these myths have much greater consequences. And much like “snopes” we need to take the philosophies, assumptions, and teachings of our pop-culture and run them through the truth test—the Bible.

Here are seven popular myths of single-life—seven lies that many singles buy into. Let’s run them through the truth test and unmask them as frauds:

1. Happiness and love is found in a person, and I must find that person. Many people fall for this lie. Their lives become an endless search for the right person who will completely bring happiness to life. The problem is—no human being can fulfill the deepest desires of our hearts. That is reserved for God alone, through Jesus Christ. Psalm 16:11 teaches,“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy;”

2. Freedom is about making decisions alone and doing my own thing—”I gotta be me…” This is a gross distortion of a biblical truth. Yes, God created you as an individual with many unique qualities—so in that sense, you do have to be you. But, God never intended for you to live independent of Him or outside of His purpose or structure for life. The greatest life is found when you are who God truly made you to be. In John 10:10 Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

3. There is a shortcut to success and fulfillment in life, and I will find it. Many believe there are quick ways to happiness and fulfillment in life, and so they fall for them—parties, illicit sex, drinking, drugs, etc. We all tend to want the path of least resistance and the quickest path to success. In truth, the best life is built patiently, one decision at a time, on the strong foundation of biblical values and principles. This takes years—not weeks or months.

God taught in Joshua 1:8 that true success is a product of biblical principles in practice: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”

4. Responsibility and purpose in life can be indefinitely postponed. In the short term, a life free of responsibility and commitment seems like the way to go—but in the long term, it’sdisastrous. We were designed by our Creator to have purpose, to embrace commitments, and to shoulder responsibilities that honor Him. God teaches that life comes with built-in accountability and responsibility. Those who embrace this, always win. Romans 14:12, “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”

5. Love is a mystical, magical, fleeting thing that has something to do with sex. God is love, and God created sex, so who could possibly instruct us in this matter better than Him. Quite simply, true love is a choice, not an emotion. You do it, you don’t feel it. Warm and fuzzy emotions, as enjoyable as they are, are not and never will be love. And sex is only an expression of love when it’s done God’s way—within a committed marriage for life. Outside of that boundary, sex is harmful in every way to both parties. It does irreparable spiritual harm.

Here’s how God says it: 1 Corinthians 6:18, “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.”

6. As long as I’m not hurting anyone else, what I do doesn’t matter. This sounds great and becomes an easy excuse for someone who purely lives for self. The problem is, it’s simply not true. No man is an island. We all influence somebody. We all have people in our future whom we will one day influence. And every decision you make today has countless repercussions in people’s lives for years to come—like your kids! Think of it this way—have you become the bearer of the bad decisions of others? Probably so. And at the time, they too were thinking their decisions wouldn’t hurt anyone. But you know differently.

God commands us to live as examples to others, positively influencing them for right. 1 Timothy 4:12, “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”

7. Pleasure, possessions, and personal pursuits can ultimately fill the longing of my heart. God created pleasure. God gives us possessions. And God calls us to purposeful pursuits. But He is the source and the giver. When we forsake following God and pursue these other things, life begins to fall apart. Apart from God, more stuff merely means more problems! We’re called to worship God and use things. But so often we get it backwards. We worship things and use God.

1 Timothy 6:17, “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;”

Are you falling for some of these myths? Begin today aligning your life with God’s principles—beginning with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. You can read more about starting that relationship by clicking here.

Build your life and future upon truth, not upon the myth and urban legends of popular philosophy. Opinions of men will fail, but God’s Word is always true!


Saturday, November 6, 2010

I'm Sorry

It's not about lack of commitment, it's about lack of time. Between college, church, work helping in our Christian school, and life in general, I have been CRAZY busy. Please bear with me. I have some ideas for posts that I just have to finalize and they should be good to go.

Part of the reason that I have been so busy is that I have been working on a missions project. Our youth group is planning to enter a 100-mile ultra marathon in May of 2011, raising funds for a missionary in Haiti. There are eight of us, and our goal is to raise $100,000, so you can see where the busy comes in. Our blog for that is 100milesformissions.blogspot.com

I haven't forgotten about you guys, or the impact that this blog has had on my life.

-Glen

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Dating vs. Courting- What's the difference?

People always ask me what my plans are for dating. Each time I tell them: "I don't plan to date, I plan to court." They then proceed to tell me that there's basically no difference. So I went to the dictionary.

Dating: (verb) "going out with someone in whom one is romantically interested"

Courting: (verb) "being involved with romantically, typically with the intention of marrying"

There still doesn't appear to be much difference, except for the last few words of the definition.

Let's look at the definition for courting again:

Courting: "being involved with romantically, typically with the intention of marrying"

There's the big difference right there. Dating is actually VERY different than courting. If you think back to the stories that your parents tell you, they might tell you about all the different guys or girls that they "dated", but how often do they tell you about the multiple people that they "courted"? Dating is temporary, but courting usually ends up in marriage.

Isn't that the way that it was meant to be? Proverbs 4:23 says: "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."

Do you really want to go second hand shopping? Or do you want God to GIVE you brand new?

I'm going to court, not date. Next time someone asks you, take some time to think. Could courting be right for me?

-Glen

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

The Qualities of a Good Friendship

A good friendship is essential to any relationship. Someday, you should marry your best friend. Let's look at some of the characteristics of a good friendship.

1. A friend is kind

No one wants to be friends with someone who isn't kind.

2. A friend is faithful

Do you stick with your friends, even when it's hard?

3. A friend makes you a better person

Do you make those around you better?

4. A friend is knit to your heart

Just like Jonathan and David, true friends know each other's hearts and feelings.

5. A friend can share friends

Jesus referred to Lazarus as "Our friend."

6. A friend expresses love

It isn't about saying "I love you", it's about living it.

7. A friend is willing to wound

Tough love is sometimes necessary to prevent them from getting hurt.

8. A friend strengthens others in God

Do you point others to God, or pull them away from Him?

9. A friend is willing to be second

Your relationship with God should always be first, and a friend should not prevent that.

10. A friend rejoices in blessings

Don't be jealous, be happy for them

11. A friend praises his friends

Don't seek to get glory for yourself. Praise your friends, and they will praise you.

12. A friend doesn't overstay his welcome

Too much of a good thing, no matter how good, is still too much.

13. A friend gives biblical counsel

You don't know everything. Use the best tool you have to help.

14. A friend is sensitive

Know what your friends are dealing with in their lives and act accordingly.

15. A friend sharpens

Influence those around you to stand up for what is right.

16. A friend helps through trials

Be there for your friends when they're going through a tough time.


Try to put these principles into practice in your friendships, they'll work wonders.

-Glen



(Points are from "Just Friends" by Cary Schmidt and Mike Ray)


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