A couple posts from current WA sophomore students

Here are a couple great posts from student writings in our sophomore Bible classes...

POST #1: AUTHENTICITY


Oh I can think about You now and then,
Or I can make a mark on eternity.
Lord, first of all, how is it between You and me?

How many of us have lifted our hands during worship, prayed out loud during church, given ten percent of our money, been an active part of a Bible study, or, well, you get my drift. A great majority of Christians do all these things. But the question is, why? When we lift our hands during worship, are we truly lifting our praise to God? Or are we “proving” that we are righteous Christians? In order to be fully righteous in God’s eyes, it is essential to be authentic.

I strongly believe that true Christianity is authentic. As a believer, I have the Holy Spirit. But does the Holy Spirit have me? It is vital to live out God’s Word, not act it out. If we live with the intention of pleasing God, and give ourselves over to the Holy Spirit, we have no need for human affirmation. Thus, we are no longer disappointing the Lord by “faking it.”

I have only recently come back to my relationship with Christ, so you may ask, “What authority do you have to tell me how to live?” Well, let me tell you that I am not only writing this for you, I need to hear it as well. Before I started getting right with God again, I laughed at “Jesus freaks” so people would know I wasn’t “into” that stuff. I lied all the time. I would lie to cover my lies. I broke the trust between me and my family. And I ruined a really good friendship. I didn’t care about God. Finally, someone got it through my head that what I was doing was awful and it had to change. So I began to rebuild my relationship with God. Now, I often find myself doing outwardly spiritual things without any real intention of letting the Holy Spirit work through me. But that is not what gives me joy. Doing good works and faking spirituality does not give a relationship with God. He does not know those who do not love Him.

When I talk to God honestly and openly, I try to do it when I am by myself. This way, I know that I am not doing things to prove my spirituality. There have been multiple times when I talked to my Father for over an hour. I don’t have to worry about saying something stupid. I can lift my hands without wondering if it is for status or praise. And do you want to know something fantastic? The more time I spend alone with God, the more authentic I become with others.

Imagine for a moment that you are an atheist, and a few of your Christian friends are praying for you. One possible prayer goes like this: “Dear Father, my friend doesn’t know you. Show him/her the error of his/her ways and make him/her want to serve you. You are all powerful and know everything that we do. Help my friend change completely.” Now here is a second possible prayer: “Dear God, you know everything about me and my friend. I have sinned so often, but you always welcome be back. Please show my friend how he/she can be completely free and loved by you. Thank you Jesus.” So which prayer would make you want to be a child of the King? Definitely the second one for me! No one is going to listen if we say “God changed me” Yes, that is true, but that is not the end. God is changing me. It is a continual process, and I will always struggle, but God will be there for me.

For every moment of our life, we have a choice to make. Do the right thing for the right reason, do the wrong thing, or do the right thing for the wrong reason. In the end, we will be evaluated by how we lived out God’s Word. So, will you have a high place in heaven because you were authentic? Or will you have to stand before the Living God and be told” I never knew you?”

POST #2: APPROACHABLE

Do you ever feel that you’re not approachable when it comes to your faith? For example, when you know that some certain someone needs to be reached out to but something’s just holding back, or you’re just afraid that they will judge you because of what you believe in.

When I think of being approachable I think of someone being able to come to you and ask you about anything and you to tell them your heart and what you really believe.

Last summer I was on my way to six flags with a bunch of French foreign exchange students. On our way there I told myself that I would really try and connect with one of the French students. I ended up talking with a boy named Noah. At first I asked him how his trip was going here in America and one word lead to another. Before I knew it we started to have a deep conversation. He was a cool guy seemed to have been raised well and was liked by everybody. Then we got to talking about religious matters. He didn’t know I was a Christian, and sadly I wanted it to stay that way. I asked him what his religion was, what’s was belief in creation and humanity? He said he doesn’t believe in anything, he also said that he believes in the big bang theory and thinks that it’s not possible for God to just come out of no where and create earth. Once I told him that I was a Christian he flooded me with questions upon questions that I couldn’t answer. I was not approachable. But the sad part about it was, the reason this boy was asking so many question was that he was screaming for the truth. He wanted answers. He wanted to believe in God but he couldn’t. He has no faith. (I realize now that he was calling for help but I didn’t answer to his call, I was not approachable.) Once the bus got to Great America we were all getting off the bus. Suddenly Noah pulls me aside and says to me something I’ll never forget. He said“ Phil, when we die we will truly know if God is to be believed in when one of us goes to Heaven and one of us goes to hell!” those words stayed with me that whole day, and I began to feel terrible. I had a chance to reach out to this guy, I could have led him to Christ, but I was unapproachable.

If anyone is crying out for some kind of help, or need God. Please reach out to them be a light in there world. Share your faith and lead them to God. DO NOT make the same mistake I did! You may not get another opportunity like this again. Change someone’s life. If you don’t know what to say, ask God and he will tell you.

There’re so many people looking for some kind of truth and explanation in life. We as Christians need to reach out to those in need and get up and say something.

Balance – This person has balance in his life because of his school activities, the sports he is involved in and the time he spends with his family, church activities and community service.

Youth – This person is a young man that is active, healthy and highly energetic. He is very youthful, full of ambition and bright hopes for his future.

Humanism – This person is capable of doing a lot of positive things for humanity. His ideas are well-thought out for how he can better the world around him. He is gifted in many things and uses those gifts in every day life.