Rock the World (Part 1)

The world is a crazy place.  There is no doubt about it.  Everybody knows about the issues that are consuming our culture.  Everybody tells us about the divorce rate and the teenage pregnancies; the drug addictions and the homelessness. 

I don’t know how many times I have heard somebody say, “I want to change the world”; and to be honest, many times I find it hard to believe the people that say these things. 

Why?

Well there are two types of World Changers.  The emotional World Changers, and the Passionate World 

Changers.

1.      

     Emotional World Changers. 

·         These are the ones that watch the PETA commercials, and their heart breaks for the animals. 

·         These are the ones who come back from conferences and they really want to change the world.  They REALLY do… but once the emotions start to wear off, they lose that desire.   

·         These are the ones who go to a concert and come back with dreams of become a rock star.

·         These are the ones who come home every Sunday morning after church feeling great and feeling changed; only to lose those feelings by the time Tuesday rolls around.

The problem with emotions is that they are TEMPORARY. 

The problem with emotions is that although you may sincerely desire to change the world one day, once the emotions wear off that desire is GONE.

It is great to have faith that you can change the world, and it is great to think of a bunch of revolutionary and radical ways to do so, but until you actually put it into action, it means absolutely nothing.

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? ¹⁵Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶ If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead (James 2:14-17)

Faith without actions is dead…there you have it.

2.          Passionate World Changers.

·         The thing about passion is that it is SINCERE.

·         The thing about passion is that it doesn’t pass on.  (get it, passion..pass on)

·         The thing about passion is that even as emotions come and go, passion still remains embedded deep inside of your very makeup. 

Passionate world changers put faith into ACTION. 

²¹ Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. (James 2:21-22)

The interesting thing about this verse is this:  Abraham wasn't passionate about sacrificing his son.  Abraham was PASSIONATE about obeying and serving God.  If he was not passionate, then there is absolutely no way that he would be willing to offer his son as a sacrifice.  I try to consider myself passionate about God, and to be honest, I would have an extremely difficult time sacrificing my (hypothetical, made up) son. 

If somebody is TRULY passionate, then their actions should speak volumes.

If somebody is TRULY passionate, then their results should speak volumes.

If somebody is TRULY passionate, then even after failing 199 times, they still try with all of their heart to succeed on the 200^th attempt. 

As you can see, there is a reason behind my skeptical views on these so-called World Changers. 

Good ideas DON’T change the world.

Good intentions CAN’T change the world.

Faith alone WON’T change the world.

Good actions on the other hand, CAN make a difference. 

Jesus Had A Big Butt

Jesus had a lot of junk up in his trunk. 

How do I know this? 

Personal Revelation, that’s how.J

Ok, that isn’t entirely true…

But there is plenty of evidence supporting this theory, so hear me out for a bit.

How do I know that Jesus had a big butt?

It’s really quite simple..

When I was younger, I remember hearing the expression, “make sure you leave room for Jesus”.

When it comes to relationships, we need to make sure that we leave plenty of room for Jesus.

Dating is something that is often frowned upon, particularly when it comes to the younger generation.  The fact of the matter is that most people these days simply do not date in a healthy manner.

People are starting to date at a very young age nowadays. 

From the time you hit middle school (and sometimes even earlier), you can expect to be surrounded by the influence of dating.

People start dating at a young age.

 Lots of parents are unaware of this, but I actually prefer the term naïve.

I think that one of the most unhealthy aspects of dating is the physical aspect.

Physical affection often leads to emotion based relationships…

Well... that and hormones..  but honestly, I would rather not go there at this time.

When you are young and in love (I prefer the term confused and immature), it is easy to let your emotions take control.

This is why I believe that, as much of a buzz kill as this may make me, I believe that parents should be very aware of their children’s lives.

Many people will tell you that this is especially true when it comes to parents and their daughters. 

I don’t know if I completely agree with that statement…

I would even go as far as saying that boys and girls are equally driven these days, when it comes to their.. emotions (AKA hormones).

There are some precautions that can be taken to ensure healthier relationships.

1)      Leave room for Jesus..  He has a big butt, and he needs a lot of room! 

-relationships that focus on the physical and emotional aspects are extremely dangerous.

2)      Take it SLOW!  As I mentioned before, when we let our EMOTIONS lead us, we often move into dangerous territory very fast.  We have a fast food mindset, and we are spoiled with the “I want it now” society that we live in.  As silly as this may sound, we don’t need to say EVERYTHING that we feel the second that we feel it; why?  Because emotions often hit you before logic does.  One day you feel like you are on top of the world and “this just has to be love”.  The next day, you realize that you just let your emotions take control.  Seriously, this happens a lot..  A LOT.    

3)      Put JESUS FIRST!  Don’t fit Jesus time into your schedule; fit your schedule around your Jesus time.  The sad thing is, even many Christians today are more in love with their boyfriend/girlfriend that they are with Jesus.  Take a pause and think about it.  If you love your significant other more than you love Jesus, then honestly, something is very wrong.  Also, don’t be unequally yoked.  We hear this all the time, but if you begin dating someone expecting them to change because of you, and you expect them to all of the sudden fall in love with Jesus…  95 times out of 100 you are going to be let down.

Now I am FAR from the dating expert (you can call me Dr. Zack if you’d like), but when you see people do things the wrong way enough times, you eventually catch on.

If you are questioning how strong and true your feelings are for that other person that you are dating, why not try to take a break from the physical aspects for a while. 

That means:

No kissing.

No cuddling.

No holding hands. 

Try it for a week..

A month..

A year..

Or if really want to be blessed beyond imagination, wait until marriage. J

Thank you for reading Dating 101.

Notice the healthy distance between the two children.  :)

Storms (pt.1)

²² Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. (Matthew 14:22-23)

•          Jesus and the disciples just got finished with the feeding of the 5,000+ people with 5 loaves of bread, and 2 fish.
•    Jesus immediately tells them to hop on a boat and go to the other side, while he goes to the mountainside to pray.

¹⁶ When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, ¹⁷ where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. ¹⁸ A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough.

•          The disciples started to ride across the lake, and after they were a few miles away from the land, a storm started to form on the lake.

⁴⁸ He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, ⁴⁹ but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, ⁵⁰ because they all saw him and were terrified. (Mark 6:48-50)

•          The disciples were struggling to cross the lake because of the heavy winds.
•    Jesus went walking on the water across the lake.
•    The disciples saw Jesus and were terrified because they thought he was a ghost… They didn’t recognize Jesus.

Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” ⁵¹ Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed.. (mark 6:50-51)

Why is it so easy to recognize Jesus when life is going great, but so hard to recognize him when are in the storm?

When a sudden storm falls upon us we find it difficult to see Jesus anywhere near.

Our greatest fear should be not being able to see Jesus in our times of trouble.

The sad part of the story is that it wasn’t just one of them that didn’t recognize Jesus…  It was all 12 of them.  As crazy as it sounds, even when you are with a group of people who know Jesus, we can still go through storms in life.

God took them away from the miracles, shut them up in a tiny boat, and let them go through the storm.  He allowed them to be shaken but not sunken!

Jesus wants to be trusted as Lord in every storm of life.

In fact, many times in life, we think we know Jesus; but just like the disciples, when life gets rough, he is the last one we turn to.   We need to be able to recognize Jesus in every situation in life. 

The disciples got to witness an awesome miracle by the feeding of the 5,000; and immediately, they forgot about all of the awesome things that happened literally hours before this storm. They forget the GOOD and focused on the BAD.

This story is interesting because in this situation, I think we would all react this way.  In fact, we DO react this way all the time. 

Storms are guaranteed to come our way.. but it is up to us to recognize Jesus when they do come.