LIVING THE CHRIST LIFE

We recently held a parents’ seminar entitled “Biblical Parenteen” and the main focus of the seminar was to help the parents of our church in realizing the importance of their role in the lives of their teenage children. the video below was the first session. Our senior pastor, Pastor Robbie Casas was the Speaker and he talks about going back to the Bible and having Biblical convictions with reagard to our Parenting. I hope and pray that this video will help those out there who are looking for help in raising up their children, especially teenagers.

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To everyone visiting this blog and reading the articles on it, i would like to express my deepest gratitude and thanks. it is very humbling for me to be used by God through this medium. anyway, i will be speaking at a local high school this monday and to all of you who visit the blog, please pray for me. my topic is wisdom in the teen years and hopefully i’ll be able to post that teaching here on the blog. TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY!

CHAMPIONS OF OUR TRIVIALITIES:
“Everybody, wants to be champions of our own trivialities” one of my friends was telling me about this just a few weeks ago, trying to point out that many of what people do or attempt to do is no more than just trying to boost their “self-worth”. That many people are trying to find fulfillment by being “good” or skillful in the trivialities of life.

Take video games for example, when I was a kid Nintendo came out with the family computer console and when it first came out we saw it as ENTERTAINMENT, today however it has become a “professional sport”! i have nothing against video games per se, but if you really really REALLY think about it, isn’t it obvious that we waste our time playing and when we waste our time, we waste our lives. Here’s the whole point, God has created us for something much higher than video games, He (God) has created us for something much more significant than facebook or twitter. He created us, Christians, to glorify His name and be part of His great kingdom work.

but herein lies our problem, many of us think that life is all about clothes, gear, and “coolness” and we try to find it in the trivial things that the world is showing us and telling us. The mindset of many young people including twenty somethings today is that if i’m good at something, even if it is the most mundane of things (i.e video games, fashion, twitter, etc.) we think that we are a cut above the rest of the people out there. But think about this for a while, do video games contribute to your spiritual growth and relationship with God?, does fashion satisfy your soul or yourself? Now before i continue, the things that i mention here may seem like i’m making mountains out of mole hills, but the main issue here is not video games or fashion per se, but rather it is how we allow these things to take control of our lives.

Our generation has become a generation of “champions”, CHAMPIONS OF THE TRIVIAL,  it used to be that young people were at the forefront of “causes”, we wanted to make a difference in the world, we wanted to be part of change,we wanted to do something . but those days are gone, we need to go back to what the Bible says, “Remember the Lord in the days of your youth”. we need to follow what Paul was saying to Timothy, “…to be examples in word, deed, in life and purity”.

Paul also told Timothy that he should not let anyone look down on him because he is young, that exhortation was given to Timothy as a challenge to rise above the expectations of  those who looked at his youthfulness as a disadvantage, but for most of us today, the reason why people look down on the youth is because WE’RE GIVING THEM A REASON TO LOOK DOWN ON OUR GENERATION!

Let us not be surprised if people don’t expect much from us, or if our parents and other people still regard us as children, let us not take offense if they don’t think we can do anything significant. Because truth of the matter is this, we need to take a look at how we live and see if we are merely “champions of trivialities”. my challenge for this generation is to dare to do great things for God, that we involve ourselves in the GREATEST CAUSE of all and we become CHAMPIONS OF THE GOSPEL, CHAMPIONS OF PURITY, CHAMPIONS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND MOST OF ALL CHAMPIONS FOR CHRIST.

so sorry for the long absence, i’ve been having some problems uploading the videos from our parenting seminar, but hopefully we’ll be able to post them within this week. it’s been very exciting these past few weeks because we were finally able to present to our church the first batch of “graduates” from our music training program. hopefully these young people will continue to strive for excellence and to seek to glorify God with the talents that they have.

Looking around us today and the youth that is part of this generation, two words come to my mind in order to describe it. INDIVIDUALISM AND WASTE, yup you heard me right, these two words for me describe today’s youth in the sense that there are so many young people spending so much time and effort to be “DIFFERENT” to be recognized, that it has developed into a culture of WASTE. The question is, what exactly are we wasting and why do we desperately want to be DIFFERENT and to be recognized? I believe it is because many youth today especially Christian young people are being told that reputation and prestige; popularity and wealth are the things that matter and that if you want to be different all you have to do is have these things and it doesn’t matter how you get them as long as you get and have them.

So what has happened? We’ve sunken so low that any talent, even the most mundane and trivial is deemed as cool or amazing. I just recently saw a show where a girl won 50,000 dollars just because she could SMS faster than anyone on the show, wow! Talk about a world changing skill!!! We give 50,000 dollars to a girl who can SMS like crazy, but we can’t give the same amount of money to people who are doing real jobs, video gaming is viewed as a TALENT! I can’t believe it! Guys, here’s a little advice, just because you can kick butt on a video game, doesn’t mean that you’re better than the kid who can’t. It just means that you wasted more time than most people.

But what’s worse is that we (Christian young people) have fallen into the same trap. We’ve been sucked into a worldly frame of mind and are now conforming to the pattern of this world. If you really want to be different, if you really want to make a stand for the Lord, then it starts by BEING A NORMAL CHRISTIAN.

In this post I’d like to share with you an article from a pastor that I highly respect and admire, I would like to thank him for his generosity for allowing me to post his article and I hope that you would take time out to read and meditate on the message of this article. Pastor Bobi, is senior pastor of THE WAY MINISTRIES in Cagayan de Oro Philippines and is the National Chairman of CCM (Communion of Christian Ministries).

PASSIONATE FOR CHRIST (THE NORMAL CHRISTIAN LIFE)
By Pastor Bobi Tayag (The Way Ministries)

Philippians 3:7-21

What is the normal Christian life? It is a life of FULL DEVOTION to Christ. Anything less is sub-normal and mediocre. A lawyer came up to Jesus and asked him which is the greatest of God’s commandments. Jesus said: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40).

The word “heart” in the Greek denotes passion. Jesus is saying, “the most important thing in life is to be passionate for God.” He is saying: “if you’re going to follow Me, you’ve got to be passionate for me. You’ve got to give it energy, intensity, and enthusiasm.”

WHAT DOES PASSIONATE LIVING FOR CHRIST ENTAIL? One person who wrote half of the New Testament was living the normal Christian life—the Apostle Paul. In Philippians chapter 1 he testified on what being “Passionate for Christ” is. The Apostle Paul in verse 21 said: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” For Paul, the very essence of EXISTENCE itself is Jesus Christ—not a concept, not a doctrine, not a philosophical axiom, but a person. Paul is saying, “IN LIFE OR DEATH, MY LIFE ONLY HAS SIGNIFICANCE IN THAT I AM IN CHRIST!” That is the true meaning of living the Christian life passionately: a life completely defined by Jesus. Even death becomes a means to a greater intimacy with the One who loves us and gave himself up for us.

Paul in Philippians 3 asserts a passion for Christ expressed in a fervent pursuit of “knowing Him TO BE like Him” Christ become the object of his eagerness and intense enthusiasm an ALL else takes lesser value and priority (vs. 7-8). He tells us that PASSIONATE PURSUIT OF CHRIST becomes the measure, direction and drive for ALL our other passions. Paul models to us a passion that shapes our lives to become A JOYFUL, HOPEFUL, UNCEASING, INTENSE AND EAGER PURSUIT OF CHRIST (PHIL. 3:7-14).

NOW, WHAT WOULD LIVING PASSIONATELY FOR CHRIST LOOK LIKE?

Paul lays out the characteristics of a life passionate for Christ in Philippians 3:7-20:

1. PRIORITY OF A DAILY ENCOUNTER WITH GOD THROUGH CHRIST.

Paul did not know God until he had a personal encounter with Jesus. Since then, he said: “ALL I want is to know HIM more and more!” (Phil. 3:7-8) Moses said to God: “I pray You show me Your glory” (Exodus 33:18). David prayed: “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God” (Psalm 42:1).

2. POWER TO BE DURABLY STRONG OVER SIN AND SUFFERING.

In verses 10-11, he wants to know what it’s like to live a resurrected life, to no longer be in bondage to the flesh, to have victory over sin. Knowing Christ and the power of His resurrection means that you live a resurrected life in the present, not later after we die (Romans 6:3-14).

3. PRIVILEGE OF DEEPENING INTIMACY WITH CHRIST.

Paul wants to “know” Christ in greater depth, to experience Christ in all His fullness. He wants personal and intimate relationship with Him. (Philippians 3:10-12). Only through an intimate relationship and knowledge of Christ can we discover the fullness of abundant living Jesus promised in John 10:10. The bearing of fruit is always shown in Scripture to be the visible result of an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ (John 15:1-4).

From Eden, God showed His desire to walk with man and to have intimacy with him! Prioritizing time in God’s presence open the flood gate of revelation that helps us understand the complexities of life and give meaning to every situation. We experience Him as Light, Love, Truth and Freedom. His goodness, mercy and love are repeatedly confirmed as we pray through the activities and the relationships in our lives. Our burdens lift as we find our peace and trust in Him. The picture resulting from such a life is that of the strong, calm balance that is a PRIVILEGE our Lord gives to those who are passionate for Him.

4. PURSUIT OF DEVOTION TO CHRIST LIKENESS

Paul not only wanted to know Christ, he wanted to be like HIM; and he pressed forward with utmost intensity toward the highest goal in life—“becoming like Christ”. Heaven is not our goal in the Christian life, it is our destination. God’s goal for us in every circumstance is “to conform us to Christ” (Romans 8:28-29). A PASSIONATE DESIRE AND LOVE FOR CHRIST must result in A PASSIONATE DESIRE TO BE LIKE HIM. We demonstrate the genuineness of our passion for Christ by our earnest desire and sincere effort to be like Him. Christ like character flows out of our passion for Christ and confirms the reality of that passion.
5. PECULIARITY AS DISTINCT POINTS OF REFERENCE FOR CHRIST

The Apostle Paul, in prison writing in tears and with a broken heart says that some in the church have substituted the worship of the living God with the worship of their appetites. They have become enemies of the cross (Phil. 3:17-21)

Jesus meant the cross to define who we should be. Mark’s gospel tells us, Jesus “summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “if anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” (Mark 8:34) Denying one’s self, taking up the cross and the cause of Christ, following Him is the NORMAL Christian life.

Let us not be like those who claim they are Christians but whose lives HAVE NO DEFINING PASSION, who are full of competing appetites, desires, and drives to amass wealth or experience some titillating enticement, or soak in some fleeting pleasure. They are mired in a complex mixture of stresses, anxieties and demands: work, family life, health issues…the list goes on and on. So their Christian experience is weak and bland.

God is calling out to you today to know Him and know Him earnestly. God is looking for zealous responses to His word in this world. He is looking for people who will hear the call and respond to make a difference for Christ. I pray that we may desire Christ’s resurrection power, the fellowship in Christ’s sufferings and conformity to His death to distinguish us from everyone who claims to Christian in our day.

i’m currently reading the book “do hard things” ,  and i’m really wondering what other people think about this book. anyone want to comment? i really agree with the authors and i believe that the young people of today are in the tragic trap of wasting their lives on trivial things, and the media is not helping at all. i just saw a girl win 50,ooo dollars for being the fastest texter! its ridiculous that we glorify and give money to someone who can sms quickly, but can’t even give the same amount of money to people who really need it.

the youth of today have the most resources to make a difference but are totally wasting the opportunities that God is giving them. i hope that many of the young people today will wake up to the reality that video games, facebook, twitter, and whatever are the only things in life, because when it boils down to it, what have you done that made a difference in your church, community and family for the LORD?