Send your own ElfYourself eCards
Friday, December 4, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
The Factor
The number one factor or characteristic that most correlates to a high Spiritual maturity level is the practice of reading the Bible. I had to laugh when I saw this because most often we try to complicate things. The simple discipline of reading the Bible has a major impact on Christians. We need daily exposure to the life-transforming power of God through His revealed Word.
The foundation for godly character is the existence of a biblical worldview, but deception and ignorance lie at the root of ungodly behavior. Christians often look in the wrong place to grow spiritually. They focus on changing behavior, but the real battle is in perspective or patterns of thinking. This is why Paul said:
"Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God" (Rom. 12:2).
Transformation begins with the mind. It starts with your daily thought patterns. It's not, "you are what you eat" but "you are what you think."
True Spiritual Maturity will not take place without significant and consistent participation in God's Word (reading and doing). This is why Paul challenged the church at Colossae to:
"Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God (Col. 3:16).
There are no shortcuts to biblical spiritual formation, it is a process. We can tweak our behavior, but this will not last. We must do the difficult work of cultivation the mind-set of Christ. So if we want to grow and if we want our people to grow, we must increase our exposure to truth. We must read, study, memorize, and reflect on biblical truth. We must increase and take advantage of educational opportunities. We must all listen to sound biblical preaching, read substantive books, and surround ourselves with people who challenge the way we think and act. We must all become open, vulnerable, and transparent within the community of faith. Spiritual formation is not private or individualized. We learn through relationships. Let's push ourselves to become dedicated learners.
The foundation for godly character is the existence of a biblical worldview, but deception and ignorance lie at the root of ungodly behavior. Christians often look in the wrong place to grow spiritually. They focus on changing behavior, but the real battle is in perspective or patterns of thinking. This is why Paul said:
"Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God" (Rom. 12:2).
Transformation begins with the mind. It starts with your daily thought patterns. It's not, "you are what you eat" but "you are what you think."
True Spiritual Maturity will not take place without significant and consistent participation in God's Word (reading and doing). This is why Paul challenged the church at Colossae to:
"Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God (Col. 3:16).
There are no shortcuts to biblical spiritual formation, it is a process. We can tweak our behavior, but this will not last. We must do the difficult work of cultivation the mind-set of Christ. So if we want to grow and if we want our people to grow, we must increase our exposure to truth. We must read, study, memorize, and reflect on biblical truth. We must increase and take advantage of educational opportunities. We must all listen to sound biblical preaching, read substantive books, and surround ourselves with people who challenge the way we think and act. We must all become open, vulnerable, and transparent within the community of faith. Spiritual formation is not private or individualized. We learn through relationships. Let's push ourselves to become dedicated learners.
Monday, January 12, 2009
....STRESSED....NOT YET
Well today I registered for my final semester at the mountain...with joy I might add...however this may be the hardest semester of the them all....I am taking 21 hours (Abnormal Psychology, New Testament, Recreational Leadership, Coaching and Teaching Individual Sports, A&P II with Lab, Physical Science, and Church History) while maintaining 20 offices hours at the church and not to mention that D-Now is this weekend along with Jason..my cuzz's D-Now is also this weekend-which my part is small but takes up time...so there are so many things that will be taking place the next few days...It seems overwhelming but I don't think it will be as bad as it seems.... What makes my job easier is that I have much help from so many parents....this SWEET.... I appreciate them so much....any way....
....Not much else to say except keep rockin in the free world my friends and the sun doesn't always shine....but man I sure do. This is Andrew Ledbetter signing off wishing you and America Godspeed.
....Not much else to say except keep rockin in the free world my friends and the sun doesn't always shine....but man I sure do. This is Andrew Ledbetter signing off wishing you and America Godspeed.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Throwin it down all thick and funky like!!
Well yesterday (010609) could be considered a waste of my time, however I enjoyed it greatly....The Fall, formerly ForWhereTwo, went to the studio for the third time to record songs 7,8,and9....I play the bass most of the time and for this recording session, I only laid down a bass track on one song...the reason for it being a wast of time is because I have decided to follow Jesus...haha...well yes big boy I have (my impression of Dr. Bain)...but really...I have decided to rerecord that funky lick... So far we have recorded the following songs: Leaning, His Own, Grace Like Rain, Come Thou Fount, In God, Unto the King Eternal, My Debt is Undone, and In God-Acoustic Afro Crunk Remix- With one more song to go (Intercede), rerecording whatever we desire, and mastering the mix...we should have a pretty descent Compact Disk....
Not much else to say except keep rockin in the free world my friends and a toast to Eli Clardy because...well...he can't read. This is Andrew Ledbetter signing off wishing you and America Godspeed.
Not much else to say except keep rockin in the free world my friends and a toast to Eli Clardy because...well...he can't read. This is Andrew Ledbetter signing off wishing you and America Godspeed.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
TRUTH
It's just some folks say, "All truth is relative, it just depends on what you believe." You know, "hey man, ain't no way to know for sure who God is or what's really true." But that means you believe your own statement; that there's no way to know what's really true. You're saying that that statement is true. You're killing yourself. If what's true for you is true for you and what's true for me is true for me, what if my truth says your's is a lie? Is it still true? Come on man!
See, there's this thing called "Secular Humanism", it says man is the source of all meaning and all purposing. You know what i'm saying? We're just the result of a big cosmic explosion. We don't really have a purpose or meaning, so we just come up with our own purpose. We're the source of our meaning and our purpose. How can a man, which is the product of chance, a finite being be the source of purpose and meaning? You can't! You're created with purpose man!
Some say how can God exsist with all this evil stuff in the world keep persisting? -Wrong question, ask again. Why hasn't God let you feel the wrath of sin?
Some people say that God ain't real 'cause they don't see how a good God can exsist with all this evil in the world. If God is real then He should stop all this evil, 'cause He's all-powerful right? What is evil though man? It's anything that's against God. It's anything morally bad or wrong. It's murder, rape, stealing, lying, cheating. But if we want God to stop evil, do we want Him to stop it all or just a little bit of it? If He stops us from doing evil things, what about lying, or what about our evil thoughts? I mean, where do you stop, the murder level, the lying level, or the thinking level? If we want Him to stop evil, we gotta be consistent, we can't just pick and choose. That means you and I would be eliminated right? Because we think evil stuff. If that's true, we should be eliminated! But thanks be to God that Jesus stepped in to save us from our sin! Christ died for all evilness! Repent, turn to Jesus.
See, there's this thing called "Secular Humanism", it says man is the source of all meaning and all purposing. You know what i'm saying? We're just the result of a big cosmic explosion. We don't really have a purpose or meaning, so we just come up with our own purpose. We're the source of our meaning and our purpose. How can a man, which is the product of chance, a finite being be the source of purpose and meaning? You can't! You're created with purpose man!
Some say how can God exsist with all this evil stuff in the world keep persisting? -Wrong question, ask again. Why hasn't God let you feel the wrath of sin?
Some people say that God ain't real 'cause they don't see how a good God can exsist with all this evil in the world. If God is real then He should stop all this evil, 'cause He's all-powerful right? What is evil though man? It's anything that's against God. It's anything morally bad or wrong. It's murder, rape, stealing, lying, cheating. But if we want God to stop evil, do we want Him to stop it all or just a little bit of it? If He stops us from doing evil things, what about lying, or what about our evil thoughts? I mean, where do you stop, the murder level, the lying level, or the thinking level? If we want Him to stop evil, we gotta be consistent, we can't just pick and choose. That means you and I would be eliminated right? Because we think evil stuff. If that's true, we should be eliminated! But thanks be to God that Jesus stepped in to save us from our sin! Christ died for all evilness! Repent, turn to Jesus.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
