Are we all really His children?

Over the last couple of months I have heard the phrase we are all Gods children thrown around much more than I have in along time. Truth be told it kind of burns my biscuits when I hear this phrase being thrown out but pastors and highly respected individuals in the Christian faith. I am so frustrated with but the underlying ideal that comes out of these types of phrases. In our political correctness we have perpetrated a lie to appease others around us into thinking we are not one of "those Christians". We are allowing Jesus to be turned into everyone's buddy and no ones savior with phrases and conversations designed to make the world around us more accepting of our faith. Let me start by saying I believe He loves us all and wants us to be His children. I also believe we all have the potential to be in His family. If the bible is the authoritative book on the practice of Christianity. That is where we should find the answer. After spending some time pouring through the scriptures I found a simple straight forward answer to this statement. Lets start in 1 John 5:1 "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too." From my perspective this makes the issue very simple if you do not believe Jesus is the Christ you are not Gods child. While I know this is a hard pill to swallow we must choke it down as with all hard truths. This is not a lone sentiment in one obscure verse here are a few others that reiterate the same ideal.
John 1:12 "But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God."
This next verse uses the term "people who belong to this world" its clear there is a distinction between Gods children and"people of the world.
1John 3:1 "See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children, and we really are! But the people who belong to this world don't know God, so they don't understand that we are his children."
A second way you could look at this is that children listen and obey their parents, so if someone does not listen or obey are they considering God their father?
Hebrews 12:8 "If God doesn't discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children after all."
So in conclusion we cannot all be Gods children while it sounds good in conversation it does not stand up to the standards of scripture

Limited Edition T-shirt Print available for pre-order

We will be printing a very limited run of these shirts. There will only be 20 of these printed. You can pre-order them using the paypal button below these shirts will help us in raising funds to continue our nonprofit work.
They are $20 plus shipping or if you live local we will deliver yours to you.

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The next season...

Many of you know that our lives have somewhat been up in the air for the last six months or so (or the last few years, depending how you look at it). We have finally made the decision that I will go to work with an old friend and his new mentoring non-profit. This position will allow me to use my skills to build into youth across west Michigan and eventually beyond. I will be overseeing campus recruitment and training in 9 schools in west Michigan with a goal of training 900 students in the next two years. We have several schools signed up and will begin training in January of the coming year. Until then, I will be building infrastructure, raising support and recruiting schools to join us in this challenging adventure of changing lives. As with any young non-profit or ministry, some (pretty much all at this point) of our salary will need to come from you -- our friends and family. It is not an easy thing for us to ask, but we need your help to make this happen. I ask you to simply ask yourself the following questions and earnestly pray about whether you can help us empower young people in the marathon of life:

What are you willing to give up to see radical change in the lives of young people?
Would you give up your favorite coffee shop one day a month or a week?
How about a trip to the movies or restaurant once a month?
What is the price you put on changing the lives of youth in Michigan?

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Ignite
PO Box 9903
Wyoming, MI 49509

The season of the locust

I recently read through the book of Joel which something I haven't done since high school. As some of you know life has been pretty crazy since late June we have had a season of locust in our lives. In Joel the locust consume everything in the lives of the Israeli's leaving nothing but desolation in their wake. My life has been being stripped down and eaten away both spiritually and physically over the past several months. I can only conclude this is a season of faith where God is allowing the faith of my family to be a example of His faithfulness to His people. As with Israel I have wailed at the heavens in response to this season of my life but in the end I must hold to the promises of God to bring restoration and healing to my life. God promises to restore all that was and is lost to His children Israel. All I can say is that in a season when the locust is running rampant in the lives of so many in our world I am glad to know God and have His promise of restoration in my life.

Character wanted

Endurance develops strength of character in us. When we are tested in our faith our character has the potential to grow. God continually allows our faith and character to be tested through out our lives. We should welcome the challenge as it will only help strengthen our character and endurance for future trials.

Make Your Peace

Being a peacemaker in todays society is an often lost art. In a society that is constantly consumed with ourselves and our own desires. God on the other hands lays out a different path for us as peacemakers. While we often forget this call during the hustle and bustle of our lives as we give that guy who cut us off in traffic the finger, or simply hold onto the grudge we have with a former friend. God calls us to the work of peacemakers and as truly kingdom minded people peacemaking should be a priority. All of us have areas in our lives where we need to practice the art of peacemaking. What areas of your life could use a little more peacemaking? Are you working for peace? Search yourself and find out.

Jam 3:18

And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness.

Mat 5:9

God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.

How many butt holes can one body have?

So as some of you may know I have been wrestling with the "church" for most of my Christian journey. I have screamed from the roof tops to hell with the church and my heart once again is making that cry. I have striven to live a life that speaks of Jesus and His role in my life. My heart breaks for those who seek comfort in the church to only find a heart of rejection due to the most archaic things. I have personally experienced this many times over a few examples are being asked not to come back to a church until I can dress appropriately, and most recently being told I am unfit for leadership solely because I have to many tattoos. I can only think God save us from ourselves is the church stuck on the traditions of times gone by, are we looking at the heart or simply the outward appearance. I can't help but to think of Jesus writing in the sand to save the adulteress woman. We clearly need more of that Jesus in todays church. What if you had to wear your past as I wear my tattoos? Would you be rejected by the church or considered less than acceptable? Well here is what I have to say to members of the body, I love you as Christ loves you but there are far to many butt holes on this body, is this you? is your foul stench repelling people from Christ? What if we all took a little time to ask ourselves are we loving like Jesus or are we just passing gas that repels the people seeking comfort in Christ. Are we being the loving arms of Jesus or another butt hole on the church body.