Well, Keith challenged me earlier in the week. I was greatly depressed over events that occurred at Prom, and I was asking Keith for help. He asked me if the Lord has shown me anything through his Word recently, and I said honestly, no. Then he told me unless I am willing to become a self-feeder of the Word; he had no sympathy for me being depressed. I went and began to read Acts (Keith suggested I’d start with that), and once I received some insight from the Lord then he’d be willing to talk. It’s been a couple of days, but I wanted to wait patiently rather than hurriedly come to him with some bullshit answer… This is the insight I received today…
A Useless Life
Today is the last full day of high school for me. I received plenty of hugs from my friends who I know I will probably never see again. The teachers wished us luck in college and our careers. The whole end-of-the-year shebang! Well, I was walking out of my government class to head for my final class at high school. I said to my friend before she walked away, “You know it’s kind of sad. Most of the seniors now will never see each other again for the rest of their lives. A whole new set of friends will reappear at college, and then that will move on as well. Once they hit their careers, they have nobody but the people they work with. After that, you end up being an old man who doesn’t even have any friends anymore! What a wasted life, don’t you think?” Well my friend simply nodded her head. She was somewhat clueless to the words I said. I think she just wanted to head out of school finally.
I began to think about what I just said. What a wasted life that really would be! Everyone goes around spending a net worth of billions of dollars over their lifetimes, and what’s at the end of the road? A coffin that has your name on it. Isn’t that sick? Isn’t that unfair? Isn’t that depressing? It’s all of those! This is the great result of the kosmos! A wooden box that holds your dead body forever! Why doesn’t anyone think about this? Why do I find myself so easily caught up in little things like Prom or getting depressed over who likes me or doesn’t like me? It’s because the world is counterfeit, and it’s got us fooled in more ways than one. Then the coolest thought flashed in my brain.
The Life of a King
I am so incredibly blessed. I have friends who I will be spending an eternity with! Not even death will separate us! I got my brothers and sisters in Christ! I can move through life with people who care for me and want to see me become what the Lord has planned for me! Then something hit me like a ton of bricks just minutes ago when I was chatting with Kate! The reason why it’s so depressing knowing that growing up to die alone is because it isn’t what is planned for us!! The Lord’s plan for us as a nation is to be co-rulers in Christ!! He wants us to leave this world with significance!
I thought of this great picture of a King returning from a great war to his home in great victory! He’s glorified by all who are affected by his great efforts of love and victory and are eternally grateful to him! He returns to his throne with joy and rest. This is how the Lord wants us to return to his throne! Not as some old, senile men with nothing to offer!
Ephes. 1:19-21
I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power [20] that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. [21] Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else in this world or in the world to come.
Christ has been given authority over everything in this world! And he wants us to share in that same glory!!
Ephes. 2:4-7
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, [5] even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), [6] and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7] so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
We have been given everything through Christ Jesus! Instead of a life-sized box to rot in for the rest of eternity, Christ gave us co-rulership over everything in this world for the rest of eternity! This is the hope we are anchored in. The fact that the Lord gave us the world through Christ’s death and resurrection is completely mind-blowing, and it’s pretty humbling in times of being bitter and depressed. I have no viable excuse to brood over what happens to me. Instead, I’ve been given eternal royalty with Christ, and I have a reason to share this awesome news with others.
The Lord has shown me some great insight, and it’s the fact that I’m a Co-ruler, a King, and an adopted son of God. Is Prom worth getting hung up over? I think I’m beginning to see the Lord’s big picture here. I hope you guys can too. That’s what I got from investing some times in Acts, a mind set on the Spirit rather than a mind set on the flesh. My goal is to read at least three chapters a day of the word, and beginning to rely on the Spirit for insight into others’ lives and a deeper understanding of God’s incredible plan for this world…
Well I am a bit late on this but last week on July 18-20 I went to the Xenos Summer Institute in C-bus, Ohio. I gotta say that it was pretty much a blast all in all. It’s just a really cool thing to be able to have an opportunity for some real spiritual insight from very well-known Christians. It was draining, no doubt, because of all the teachings I had to sit through, but it was all worth it, every second. I also got to hang out with the few buddies I knew from C-bus Xenos, Kate and Alex. I actually made some a few new friends too, Rachel and Zoe. I’m slowing becoming more aware to the peeps down in C-bus so that was cool… Though now its getting harder to leave!
I think the coolest thing about Xenos is just how its like no other church around. It just shows how cool it is to be able to know Jesus Christ. When I was growing up, I always thought church was the most uncool thing you could be doing. I never really made any relationships with anyone. I felt like a nobody, someone who was easily disposed of. I felt more important at school! It was so hard to deal with; it was the worst day of the week! Then God gave me to Xenos, and man has nothing been more exciting, partying, and truly fulfilling. I was with my friends from school, so I knew them all (well most of them when I joined). We did stuff that was so fun too. I remember all those nights of getting home around 1 am every friday. So many good times, all backed up by real love, by God, though that took me longer to realize. These people love me, and I love them. Slowly I am becoming a mature christian too. Though instead of becoming some religious fanatic, I’m more cool-minded, easier to get along with, more caring and loving of others. Instead of a proud, narrow-minded, condescending person, I’m humbled and trying to edify my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Alright well my take on this year’s XSI was that it was pretty cool. It’s only my second time so I only have one other XSI to compare it too. The teachers there were pretty cool though. I was glad the topic was about building a spiritual community because now I sort of have an idea of what to expect from my HC and myself. I’ve heard a lot about spiritual gifts lately, at XSI and in our own CT’s. I am still not sure what my gift is, though I’d really like to know. The concept of gifts is very interesting. I’ve really never been able to identify gifts, because I’ve never really been exposed to a church that uses all their gifts. Overall all the XSI teachings were cool, but I had a hard time grasping some of the material, so much to take in. I took as many notes as I could but it was still a lot to absorb. It actually weakens my mind trying to take in so much info at once. However, I managed to take some notes so I hope to be able to recount these teachings in the future.
I had some cool experiences during the partying stages of XSI. I actually sat in the same room with Dennis McCallum for more then 10 minutes!!! It was actually scary, I only sat down because I got to talk to Kate. I’m still pretty shy around the Xenoids down in C-bus. Another sweet scene was that Dennis actually told me something to me! He’s just as intimidating as Keith when I first met him! I hung out/slept over at Martha McCallum’s too! Martha and John are really cool too. All the McCallums are a blast! Sometimes I wish I was born as a McCallum; it would have been interesting to see how I turned out. Well anyways, I think I’m close with a wonderous emphasis on my feelings!
So I would just like to thank everyone in Xenos for helping me in my walk with Christ, and you Christ for taking your perfect and all powerful self and dying for my sake. Your love for me is everlasting, and I am so thankful for your sacrifice!