Archive for My Thoughts

Being the SuperCulture

// June 29th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // My Thoughts

There are those that believe that the true “Body of Christ” is a subculture of the modern movement of “Christianity” The idea is that there are many that identify themselves as “Christian” and yet deny very principals and ideals of Christ himself; exchanging them for the more widely accepted “Religious Right” or other similar political views… The idea is that “Christianity” as a whole has become somewhat of a misnomer. Simply put the “Bride of Christ” has moved on beyond the lazy ideals of post modern Christianity. There is a great “calling out” for those who follow Jesus Christ.

I tend to disagree. A subculture depends on the culture that it is within to survive…. we are looking at this the wrong way… Following Jesus Is the SuperCulture…. It has and always will survive…we are not being called out of Christianity… we are apart… we are “Set Apart” as the disciples of Jesus we exist and function in whatever culture that we find ourselves yet we are not dependent on that culture for our existence… We are the SuperCulture that is the Bride of Christ.

How is that for a new perspective?

Comments anyone?

Tags: Christianity, subculture, superculture, the bride of christ

Related posts

The Symphony

// June 1st, 2010 // No Comments » // My God, My Life, My Thoughts

It is amazing to me how God’s will is constantly moving us. Moving us in or out of places or positions of service. Using our own actions and the course of our lives to bring a magnificent symphony of his design and purpose into existence. We have only to be at peace that his will is done and we are gracefully included in it!

- JasonTheBaldGuy

jasonthebaldguy.com

Tags: God's sovereignty, God's will, My God

Related posts

Enemy

// May 12th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // My Life, My Thoughts

There is a lot going on this week!   Many of my close friends, family, and brothers and sisters in Christ are most definitely enduring heavy spiritual oppression and attack.   As I have been meditating and praying… trying to discern and see “by faith and not by sight”  I was moved to begin writing this letter to the enemy… I believe that we should all live as spiritual warriors and take the battle to the enemy… oh and just  so you know… all my fellow spiritual warriors out there… the enemy is not each other! :)  we are on the same team!

Enemy,

I feel your hot breath on my neck,
you press down on my shoulders crushing my chest
my breath comes quick and shallow,
I feel your shadow clouding my vision
your fog obscuring my perceptions
you dangle fear in front of me hoping to weaken my resolve
you promise destruction, abandonment, heartbreak
you whisper lies and deceptive thoughts

Enemy,

Your friends are near
they smell the blood of saints ready to be spilled
they come close spoiling for an unfair fight
they hop from one foot to the other
waiting to watch the struggle
they click their tongues… leer… and kick
hoping to incite a reaction…
they savor every ounce of struggle

Enemy,

you’ve made a grave mistake…
you have missed my smile.
your feet may be on my shoulders
but my soul rests in the hand of God
his crushing grip will take you at the last
and it will cradle me like a baby…
Then I will rise in his strength
my sword will cleave the last of you
you will see the rage of the Almighty
as it courses through the veins of his warrior

Enemy,

You might want to think twice next time…

copyright   2010  jason carroll
jasonthebaldguy.com
Tags: poem, poetry, spiritual warfare

Related posts

Where the Healing Begins

// May 11th, 2010 // No Comments » // My Favorites, My Life, My Thoughts

Healing Begins – Tenth Avenue North-    This song has been tackling me all day today! I am dealing with a friendship that is being pushed to the limits… mostly because of me… because I can never leave things as they are… I challenge those around me… to sacrifice… to love harder… to live harder… to be more committed… to die to themselves… Its not like I do not expect the same from myself and more… its just that the general consensus is that its not really my business…or my job… but if you read I CAN’T NOT Then you know… my friends don’t have the luxury of “status quo” living…It is a requirement of friendship that I hold the ones around me that claim the name of Jesus…  accountable for their actions… and I do this purely out of love for them… because I want what is best for them… I want God to be glorified in their lives…

So … about this song…  My wife was singing it this morning and said… “you need to look up this song online”  so I found it on youtube.com  and It just literally felt like the words had poured from my heart directly… I played it again and I was overwhelmed with the emotion of my present struggles…   I went to work… and going through my email… this song shows up as a free download  on Itickets.com I kinda shook my head… and listened to it again…  so I go on with my workday… for the past few months I have listened to pandora at work… today of all days, I decided to go to Air1.com and would you know the minute it comes on  ”Healing Begins”  starts pouring out of my speakers.   No doubt today I am hearing very clearly that God intends healing… how and when… and who that happens to is something that has yet to be seen… maybe it is you… or me… let me know… is it you?

Tags: friends, healing, Love, strong character, struggle

Related posts

Freedom in Christ

// May 10th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // My Thoughts

I live a very moderate and sober life and I believe that my lifestyle speaks to the commitment I have to honor God in all things… As of late I have tended to abstain from some things for the simple reason that I am growing… I am realizing that true freedom in Christ is the freedom to do what is best for others before myself… by focusing on the needs of others I have the “freedom” to do without for their sake… something that was clearly modeled by Christ. The great thing is that this provides me with a peaceful and judgement free conviction that I am obviously free to act in moderation but I choose not to, for the greater good of others… the minor inconvenience of abstaining is a small thing compared to the sacrifice of Christ

on the flip side

our society is filled with “pretending christians” that have basically morally emasculated every action that has even the slightest possibility of not being “approved by God” I think they are missing the point… actually … I know they are missing the point… this is an individual heart issue… you cannot… must not take the stance that everyone must be ruled by your evaluation of how something should be /should not be understood. This was a problem with the pharisees, they made a vast network of moral laws that protected them from ever breaking God’s laws… in doing so they sterilized their perception of God so much that their hearts could not discern what was truth and was was a made up religion… and they ended up condemning the very God that they claimed to serve to death! It is very easy to forget that Gods word is life and his grace is very real and it is meant for all of these scary subjects that we would all rather avoid… let the Holy Spirit do the convicting and you make sure YOUR heart is right when you choose to participate or not participate in something.

Tags: Christianity, freedom in christ, religion vs. relationship

Related posts

Playing The Victim

// May 4th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // My Life, My Thoughts

Lets face it… all of us are whiners sometimes… everybody is to some extent given some grace when they complain about how things are going for them… in fact, its better to be honest about your feelings that to pretend that everything is going fine. I spent years whining about my divorce and how bad it was… and how much I was paying for it… call it the stages of grief or whatever you want… at some point everyone gets tired of you playing the victim. There is some kind of dysfunctional human mechanism that feeds on attention and sympathy and it can really sabotage our lives! Constantly playing the victim wears on friendships and sometimes exhausts them completely… There has to be some point when you recognize the problem for what it is… Your perspective is skewed! If your life is constantly a train-wreck then you should be taking a look at what is going on.

If you are in debt up to your eyeballs then get drastic… get rid of credit cars…get a much smaller house… or sell a car… get rid of your “stuff” live more simply… Last Christmas I can’t count how many people were complaining about how they couldn’t afford Christmas gifts… but almost without exception each of them bought a 40″ or larger flat panel TV… sorry but I do not understand the logic there! No wonder you are miserable!

I see so many people walking around complaining about health problems… yet the single solitary thing that they should do they simply ignore…. eating unhealthy, living lives filled with stress… drinking alcohol… popping prescription drugs like candy…smoking…

One simple word…. QUIT! just quit quit quit! I am sorry but it is just that easy… if you are fat because you over eat… quit! your life will be better for it… if your job is stressful figure out a way to do something different! God gave us free will for a reason… we can choose to make a difference in our lives…

and if you think I should practice what I preach… here is what I have done in the last few years..

  • I was suffering from anxiety attacks and decided to quit a stressful job and found a new one… and accepted a cut in pay and benefits including a company vehicle to reduce my stress
  • I realized that I was very unhealthy and began eating healthier and smaller portions… consequently I lost 60 lbs, and several health problems completely went away!
  • I realized that being in debt was making me miserable and frustrated so we decided to rent the cheapest apartment we could find so that we could get out of debt.  and we are only 4000 away from being debt free (waiting on the income tax check)
  • I realized many things that I never had time to do was because I was addicted to video games … so I sold my Xbox 360 and now I spend  lots more time with my family
  • I realized that my relationship with my wife had become strained so I decided to be more responsible and helpful… things are much more on track now.

The point I am trying to make is that the sum total of your life is affected by the actions  you take on a daily basis… the bible says… “do not be deceived, God is not mocked whatever a man sows that he shall reap” Gal 6:7   if you continue to wallow in self pity you will end up years from now wondering where your friends have gone… and why you feel so abandoned…when the reality is that you abandoned yourself a long time ago…  Take hold of your life and live it to the fullest… Make bold and righteous choices… live radically and do something about your problems… exhaust all options,  find your joy in simplicity and wholesome-ness  step away from the world that you have created for yourself and ask yourself… what are these things adding to my life…if the answer is nothing… well then you know what to do… whatever you decide… stop playing the victim…

Tags: debt, depression, Faith, life, stress, struggle, victim mentality

Related posts