This is a post about topics I want to write about. Sounds a little ridiculous, but oh well. Writing and communicating has been something that has been on my heart for a long time. God willing I will start writing more in my blog where every few days.

I think this post is more for myself than anyone. I think defining this blog “again” maybe a good thing.

I am not a teacher and I am not an expert on Christianity. This blog was designed so I can share what I am thinking about Christian life. For me I hope there is NEVER a separation between the two, the love of Christ and my life.

Part of my Christian life includes some of the battles that I fight on a daily basis. Some of them may not seem appropriate for a Christian to talk about and yet it is a part of many Christians lives or at least THIS Christian’s life.

The goal of this blog is for me to communicate and help me to work through my salvation with fear and trembling (Phillippians 2:12). God has put it on my heart communicate and so I will. I once thought that I was great at it and destined to do it, but now I find it is only through His grace that I can do it. Maybe just maybe I can help someone through my writing.

Some topics I have been thinking about:

Depression/Suicide 101 – When I talk to my Christian friends about this, they don’t seem to understand. There are many who struggle with these things, Christians and non-Christians, who are shamed by this disease and hide it. I don’t have a lot of answers and not even a lot of perspective, but I can share what my experience is. If we are to reach the world then we better be prepared to deal with it.

A look at Ecclesiastes

The rise and fall of Solomon

The pursuit of purity and holiness which will definitely be a major theme.

I need to stop being afraid to write. I need to be able to learn to put my thoughts on paper and honor God in my writing.

Technorati Tags: Bible, Christian, Depression, Fear of the Lord, Living, Salvation

This is from a letter to a friend, where we have started debating various subjects… One of my goals is to start writing again and this I thought was worth putting on the blog… Hence it is here. I have done my best to protect the innocent

You and I look at the world and our Christian lives in radically different ways. You look at the world as an academic, trying to find the perfect and correct interpretation of the Bible. Your job is to read, rate, debate and compare various interpretations and various concepts of theology.  My pastor, by his own admission is a life long learner, he reads everything and runs it through his “biblical grid” hoping to grow, be challenged, and have enough discernment to recognize what doesn’t seem to line up with his  understanding of Scripture (I stole this from an email of his). I am very different from both of you. I am a very desperate, and often pathetic  person trying to learn enough to fight against the flesh, sin and the devil for the life God promises us. Not a life of happiness, but a life of purpose, joy and value serving God. You may say we all are like that, my response to that is some more than others. Between my depression, purity issues and my absolute belief that the Christian life is the ONLY way to live, I will be fighting the rest of my life. God tells me that everyday. There are so many people out there we must reach, but I find often that it is a rarity that I can get past my own issues to reach out beyond my own self. I need to learn truths (weapons) that I can fight against the world, flesh and the devil against. I need the tools to help bring people to Christ. One of the reasons that I had to back away from you is that you through your academic passion took away men such as Piper, and Bridges that helped me become stronger in my faith. You told me they were wrong about certain subjects, so that meant they were not worth considering on any subject, (in your view). Then at the same time I had others at my church urging caution on the authors that you recommended.

My first views of Christianity came from very radical places. One of my first glimpses of God came from a series of junk fiction books called “The Year of the Ninja Master”. It gave me the first taste of falling and redemption. One of the other books that strongly influenced my life was the book, “The Last Temptation of Christ”. This book was extremely controversial for several reasons, which at this time I will skip. This book showed me several things, the Christian life is not easy, Jesus suffered terribly, and thirdly he was tempted in every way and yet remained sin free. The movie and book helped me visualize these things. I understood what Hebrews 4:14-15 was saying (“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:14-15 ESV). Neil Anderson taught me about Christian identity. John Piper, has helped me see God for how awesome he is and have shown me how to live the Christian life.  Jerry Bridges, has taught me a lot about the seriousness of sin and how grace and holiness work together. John MacArthur has taught me quite a bit about living the Christian life. Craig Muri and Dennis Wilkinson have helped me keep the awe of God in front of my eyes and have personally helped me grow as a Christian. And as we grow in friendship I know you will have an influence. God used each one of these men to shape my Christian view, as he had used people like Ryrie, Stanford and Nee to shape your life. My point is that all these men have value in there theology, for me I MUST grab hold of everything that helps me fight against the world and use it and pray that God will give me discernment to see what is right and what is not (He already has by showing me flaws in Anderson’s theology and yet Anderson’s view of identity STRONGLY helps me even today. His teachings on identity is stronger than anything else that I have seen, and believe me I am looking). In other words let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water. These men have value in some of what they say. What man besides Jesus himself (and maybe the apostles) has it all right?

Technorati Tags: Christian, God, Salvation