Cheescake Factory, Quarter Life Crisis, and The Bible.. Oh My!

Is it possible to love and hate something at the same time? Absolutely. If you don’t believe me, take a trip to The Cheesecake Factory next time you want to go out to eat. I love Cheesecake Factory because it offers my all time favorite dessert (cheesecake), the portion sizes are gargantuan (re: 1lb box of pasta which serves 8 normally is used for 1 order of spaghetti with meat sauce), it can please any crowd because the menu has options from nearly every type of cuisine (American, Asian, Italian, Mediterranean, Mexican), and I have the comfort of knowing that when I order Chicken Picatta in Chapel Hill it will taste the same as when I order it in Clarendon (thank you quality control!) . Despite the many positives of Cheesecake Factory, I can’t help but also hate it at the same time. Why? Because as soon as I sit down at the fine establishment, the waitress hands me a menu, which based on the unusual shape tricks me into thinking I was handed a wine list menu. WRONG. As soon as I open the menu I see 200+ menu items spread across 20 PAGES. Forget pre dinner conversation. I need to spend the next five minutes carefully reading over the novel I was just handed. And while normally I like options, there is a point where lots of options becomes more stressful then beneficial. Think about it. When was the last time you ordered something after careful deliberation, only to fall into food envy? You are content with your order until the flatbread pizza glides by, giving off an aroma of fresh basil, only to be delivered to the neighboring table in which man has huge smile on his face. Sometimes I wonder if man sees my envy and then purposely tries to rub it in by exaggerating his facial expressions while eating… I mean really no normal person smiles while they chew on pizza dough!!

Now maybe I’m the only one with this, eh hem ‘problem’, but at least I’m not in denial. And you know what? I would be willing to bet that our parents (baby boomer generation) love the Cheesecake Factory menu with seemingly endless options. Lots of baby boomers came from humble backgrounds. They worked so hard, and they had ‘nothing’ relative to our generation. Some baby boomers grew up on a farm, while others lived in the city where their parents worked in a factory or manufacturing plant. Their activities as kids were very limited. They didn’t have private tutors, personalized piano lessons, or travel soccer teams at their disposal. It was more play stick-ball in a back alley and use cardboard boxes as bases. Vacations consisted of getting together with the local extended family every other Sunday for polka and potato salad. As adults, there also tended to be limited paths to pursue. Many were the first in their family to attend college. For some, the first time they left the state they were born in didn’t happen until college. And for others, after graduating from college they took the first job they were offered and ended up staying with that same company for their ENTIRE CAREER!

So then, naturally, when said baby boomers had some kids of their own, of course they were going to want their kids to have a “better” life. I remember from a young age my Dad always told me, “Chess, I just want to be able to create more options for you” . Well, I’m not sure if you know this, but my Dad created the internet. Just kidding that was Al Gore. But seriously, think about how technology has exponentially increased our options. Gone are the days when folks in their 20s relied on paper business cards, phone books, land-line phones with answering machines, and newspaper ads to find a job. Today, we have information and communication at our fingertips thanks to fax machines, emails, online college classes, online alumni databases, Career Builder, Indeed.com, Linkedin, company websites, Facebook, etc. These technological advances have no doubt helped to create more options because they have made it much easier to switch careers, take advanced classes, move to a new city, and find a different job. While there is a large sense of freedom that comes with taking on the mindset that world is our oyster and we can really chase after almost anything we want, it can also be really stressful. I do enjoy my job most days, but am I in the right job? Can I really do this forever? Is there a better job out there that uses my FULL skill set? My college friends are going back to B-school and having a blast… maybe I should too?

{STAGE DIRECTIONS} Cue thunder bolts and lightning.

Enter quarter-life crisis.

Protagonist : AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!


Now what if during said quarter-life crisis when you are looking for direction, purpose, meaning, answers, clarity, you seek advice from someone whom you have tremendous respect for. Someone that knows you almost as well as you know yourself. Someone that has your best interest at heart, and who you think can surely just provide you with the right job suggestion that perfectly aligns with your personality and skill set. When they reveal to you this perfect job suggestion you will go “ah ha! “ and all will be normal again. Now what if that person after you finish sharing your frustrations, doubts, confusion, and plea for guidance simply says back to you " I don’t have an answer for you. What I can tell you though, is the most important thing you can do in life is to Love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind.” Initially, I was furious when I heard this. That is not at all helpful! Of course I Love God… I think?! After taking some time to cool off, I stared asking myself if I really truly loved God. The conclusion I came to was “I want to, but I honestly can’t say I’m there yet”. Yes, I knew that as Christians we love Him because He loved us first, and I have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of my life. However, I couldn’t undoubtedly say that I was madly and passionately in love with God. I remembered hearing in a sermon that God’s love language is obedience, so I thought well surely since I try to follow His commands, that produces love for God? WRONG. Obedience doesn't produce love. Love produces obedience. Okay next strategy: try to develop strong feelings. (1 week passes and nothing changed) Final solution: maybe I can develop love for God by getting to know Him.

It was during this simple yet profound realization that I started on the best journey of my life to date…. the journey of reading the word of God (the Bible). [Ironically enough, the person who spoke such wise words to me, also happened to be the same person that gave me my first Bible.] I’ll admit that at first I was hesitant and scared. I was afraid that reading the Old Testament would make me think God was full of wrath and not at all loving. I started in Exodus (2nd book of the Bible), read the entire Old Testament (read Genesis last), and soon thereafter read the entire New Testament (Matthew- Revelation). During my reading of the OT, I surprisingly did not come away thinking God was 100% wrathful. In fact, I think the most significant aspect of God’s character that was revealed to me during my reading was how unfailing God’s love for His people was. I got to know a God who was steadfast in mercy, abounding in love, and quick to forgive His people who for generations kept making the same mistakes over and over again.

Additionally, reading the Bible brought a tremendous amount of peace into my life. It was almost as if a switch in my brain turned back on that allowed me to be at ease, rest, and stop stressing 24-7 about attempting to figure out my ‘life plan’. I can’t even give you an analogy to illustrate the peace I felt during the 5 months it took me to read the bible simply because I have never felt this peaceful before. The Bible gave me incredible wisdom, helped refocus my life, and understand what actually matters in this life and what doesn’t.

Now, let me clarify, the Bible isn’t going to have a verse in there that says “Yes (your name), I think you should take job A because it only has a 25 minute commute” or “No (your name), don’t apply to graduate school, I think you would be better suited programming computers” or “Move to San Diego! I give you 4 thumbs up!” , or “Yes, you getting laid off is a sign that you should switch careers to pursue your true dream of working in the FBI” , etc. The Bible was written by God for EVERYONE, regardless of age, sex, gender. It also was written so that it would transcend time. Anyone, anywhere, anytime, in any environment, can relate to it and come out with a significant amount of wisdom.

If you think you might be having a quarter-life crisis, I still think you should continue to take career personality tests, network, shadow people who have a job you are interested in, and apply for jobs online. However, I also strongly recommend reading the Bible. It’s much better than the alternatives: overeating (you’ll spend more money and get fat), getting wasted (you’re just avoiding dealing with problems), or working out (who needs to work out when you have the Shake Weight?) The Bible is not detrimental to your health. You can easily find one for free or at the very least under $11. So why not give it a shot? All the cool kids recommend it.

• “The Bible is the best book in the world. It contains more than all the libraries I have seen.” -John Adams
• “The Bible makes the best people in the world.” -Thomas Jefferson
• “The Bible is the Anchor of our liberties.” -Ulysses S. Grant
• “No educated man can afford to be ignorant of the Bible.” -Theodore Roosevelt
• “The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and the next.” -John Jay First Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
• “Education is useless without the Bible….God’s word, contained in the Bible, has furnished all necessary rules to direct our conduct.” -Noah Webster
• “The Bible is worth all the other books which have ever been printed.” -Patrick Henry
• “In the formative days of the Republic the directing influence the Bible exercised upon the fathers of the Nation is conspicuously evident.…Our enemies are guided by…unholy contempt of the human race. We are inspired by a faith that goes back through all the years to the first chapter of the Book of Genesis: “God created man in His own image.” “Franklin D. Roosevelt

I read the New International Version (NIV) Study Bible. The study Bible was fascinating because it has introductions before each book of the bible that tells author, date of writing, background, purpose, themes, theological significance etc. Also, most verses have footnotes to show other verses in the bible aka ‘cross references’ where similar content is discussed.

GET OUT!!!!! (Elaine Shove)

I think Wikipedia says it best "Elaine's signature move is expressing incredulity by giving people a vigorous two-handed shove, occasionally knocking her victim to the floor from the force. Sometimes yelling "Get out!" in shock. " I think you'll find this video to be very appropriate, as it does a good job illustrating what I think your reaction will be after you read this post.

As promised, today we are going to examine the question “Was Jesus more than just a prophet and miracle worker?” The answer is yes. He was God. We know this because he fulfilled 322 prophecies of the Messiah that were laid out in the Old Testament. There are also other reasons why we know Jesus was God, but that will be addressed in a later post.

In the Old Testament, there were ~322 predictions (prophecies) about the future Messiah of the Jewish people. The predictions are in numerous books of the Old Testament, with multiple authors, and across 1,000 years of time. They were very specific predictions and Jesus fulfilled every single one. Now you may be thinking “ Well Jesus just got lucky” , or “ Jesus just altered his actions and behavior to fit the prophecies”, or “Jesus’s disciples went back and edited the original Old Testament scripts to make Jesus fit them.” Let’s walk through each of these objections one at a time. After we do, I think you’ll see that all of these scenarios are as valid as John Edward’s claim that he didn’t father Rielle Hunter's baby girl.

#1 Jesus just got lucky.

Initially, when we hear that a person would have to fulfill 300+ items to be considered the Messiah, it doesn’t sound difficult at all. Time consuming? Yes. But impossible? No way. Although it does sound like an easy feat, when you actually calculate the statistical probability of 1 person fulfilling various prophecies, you will see that it would be nearly impossible for a human to achieve, even if this person was a walking for leaf clover or even if this person had an easy button at his disposal. Thankfully, the research and number crunching has been done for us. Real quick, let’s walk through professor Peter Stoner’s findings and calculations regarding messianic prophecy fulfillment.

Probability of 1 person fulfilling just 1 of 322 prophecies is 1 in 300,000.

This probability relates specifically to the prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). Stoner calculated this by a simple division problem:

average population of Bethlehem (Micah time to present) = 2.8 * 10⁵ = ~300,000

average population of Earth (Micah time to present)

As you can see, Stoner found that the chance of 1 man being born in Bethlehem is 1 in 300,000.

Probability of 1 person fulfilling just 8 of 322 prophecies is 1 x10¹⁷.

Stoner used similar methods to calculate the probability of one person fulfilling 8 of 322 prophecies. The probability 1 x 10¹⁷ translates to 100,000,000,000,000,000. But how large is that? Stoner gave the following illustration as a means to comprehend the grandeur/ridiculousness of completing this by luck.

Imagine covering the entire state of Texas with silver dollars to a level of two feet deep. (You’d need 1 * 10¹⁷ coins). Choose one silver dollar and mark it with a pen. Stir coins. Find a blind man. Take him to Texas and ask him to select one silver dollar. The odds that he will select the coin are the same as one person fulfilling ONLY 8 of the 322 prophecies.

Probability of one person fulfilling 48 of 322 prophecies = 1 in 10¹⁵⁷

If you want an illustration for this number, you can here . The illustration involves electrons and when I tried to understand it almost made my head explode, so buyer beware.

Probability of one person fulfilling 322 of 322 prophecies = ???

Stoner didn’t do this calculation, but really is it necessary? We just saw how nearly impossible it was to fulfill only 8 (2.5% of total prophecies). Clearly, it would be impossible for anyone other than God to fulfill 8 prophecies, let alone all 322 prophecies.

Now, I know you may think this is “fuzzy math”, but it’s not. In fact, it’s verified by the American Scientific Affiliation:

“The manuscript for Science Speaks has been carefully reviewed by a committee of the American Scientific Affiliation members and by the Executive Council of the same group and has been found, in general, to be dependable and accurate in regard to the scientific material presented. The mathematical analysis included is based upon principles of probability which are thoroughly sound and Professor Stoner has applied these principles in a proper and convincing way.” ^“American Scientific Affiliation, H. Harold Hartzler, Ph.D., Secretary-Treasurer, Goshen College, Ind.

#2 Jesus simply did things to fulfill scripture.

Jesus, being an opportunist, could use his knowledge of the Old Testament to see what prophecies about the Messiah were made and then simply fulfill them. Hmm let see.. ride into Jerusalem on a donkey.. check! (Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 21:4-9) Present yourself as king of Jerusalem exactly 173,880 days from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem….check! (Daniel 9:25; Matthew 21:4-11) Minister in Galilee…check! (Isaiah 9:1; Matthew 4:12-16). Preach good news… check! (Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:14-21)…Perform miracles …..check! (Isaiah 35:5-6; Matthew 9:35).

Last time I checked, I didn’t know that any man could simply slather mud on a blind man’s face and restore his sight, or heal a cripple by instructing the cripple to pick up his mat and walk. However, let’s be extra conservative, and for argument sake assume Jesus could orchestrate some of the aforementioned prophecies. This argument that a man could align himself to the Messianic prophecies by his actions alone is heavily flawed when we look at ALL prophecies and realize that most of them were out of Jesus’s control. I’ve constructed the chart below to highlight some key prophecies.

For example, how could Jesus control the prophecies about his birth ? The OT says the Messiah would be born of a virgin, born in Bethlehem, and a descendent of Abraham, Judah, and David. Additionally, how could Jesus control the prophecies about his enemies? The OT says he will be betrayed by a friend, he will be sold for 30 pieces of silver, the silver will later be used to buy potters field, and people will gamble for his clothing? Think about it. Would an enemy ever do something if he knew that it would help the cause of his nemesis? Of course not!!!!!!! And finally, how could Jesus control the circumstances of his death? I’m pretty sure Jesus wasn’t saying “hey, go ahead, spit on me, beat me, and mock me. Oh and also can you make sure that I will die on the cross before the other criminals being crucified so that you won’t have to break my bones which is the standard normal operating procedure? Also, don’t forget, once I’m dead, you’ll need to pierce my side to fulfill the scriptures…. Mmm k?! “ .

You guys, Jesus is God. That’s the only way any of this could be explained. Please believe me or I love you.

#3 Jesus’s disciples went back and rewrote OT prophecies to make them fit to Jesus.

This is easily put to rest thanks to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls between 1947 and 1956. The scrolls, which were found in various caves along the Dead Sea, prove that the Old Testament text (which includes Messianic prophecies) were unaltered since the time they were written. How do we know this? The Dead Sea Scrolls contain fragments of every book of the Old Testament (except for Esther). Specifically, the Isaiah Scroll, which is virtually intact, is 1,000 years older than any previously known copy of Isaiah. Note: Isaiah contains a ton of Messianic prophecy. Furthermore, carbon 14, paleographic and scribal dating methods were used to determine the age of the scrolls. These tests showed Dead Sea Scrolls were written during the period from about 200 B.C. to 68 A.D. Many crucial biblical manuscripts (such as Psalm 22, Isaiah 53 and Isaiah 61) date to at least 100 B.C. For more in depth details about the Dead Sea Scrolls go here.

Mirror Mirror on the wall, which is the best smartphone of all?

Smartphones are the new black. You would think that during a time when unemployment is at 10.5% (the highest rate in over 26 years), people would not be so eager to spend money on something they don’t need. However, statistically, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. In fact, it is estimated that 200 million smartphones were sold in 2009 and experts are expecting this number to increase to 500 million over the next five years.

At a minimum, a smartphone is a cellular phone that also offers capabilities normally only found on a computer (ex. internet and email). The first smartphones were marketed for corporate use (ex. Blackberry), but the newest smartphones are marketed for personal use and have evolved into powerhouse do-all toys. The latest smartphones operate using touch screens and offer “standard” features of GPS navigation, picture taking, and video recording.

Are smartphones a necessity? No. But is fun to be able to receive instantaneous alerts about the latest online JCREW sale, the biggest headline news, and a new wall post to your f book, all while in the dressing room at Banana snapping a picture of a dress that you can’t decide whether or not to buy? Yes, of course it is. I jumped on the bandwagon by accident in fall 2008 and splurged on an iPhone after my 3 year old Motorola RAZR accidentally fell into a bubble bath. In fall 2008, there were lines out the door at the Apple store because at the time there was nothing else even close to it. Flash forward to the present, and you are suddenly faced with several options.

Now, before you make any type of investment, you should do your research. Conveniently, it has already been done for us. Let’s take a peak at the chart Billshrink.com provided. The phones have nearly identical features, give or take an extra megapixel here, or and extra hour of batter life there. Thus, I think ultimately a potential buyer will consider price, service carrier, and number of applications. Based on price, Palm Pre wins (assuming you won’t be paying to break an existing contract). Based on # of applications, iPhone wins big. Based on service carrier, I would argue Verizon wins (Droid); however, service carrier performance varies depending where you live and service carrier loyalty trumps coverage when you have friends and family on the same carrier.

Now, if we are going to spend so much time researching an investment in a phone that will last between 1-3 years, wouldn’t it make sense to research a savior that could in theory last you for all eternity? I certainly think so. Over the next several weeks, I’d like to take us on a journey and explore everything there is to know about Jesus. And I’m talking going deeper than just acknowledging that his birthday is celebrated on December 25. Hopefully by the end of this, you can discern whether Jesus was a man, a prophet, God, a lunatic, or some combination of the aforementioned.

Let’s start simply and address one of the smaller claims of Christ. Was Jesus a prophet? A prophet at minimum speaks forth God’s message (Exodus 7:1-2). A prophet does so via preaching (encouraging and reproving people) in addition to foretelling (giving the people the word of God concerning the future). In terms of sheer foretelling, Jesus was unique because every word of Jesus was the word of God. All prophets before Jesus spoke the Word of God when moved by the Holy Spirit, but in general conversation their speech was entirely their own. Jesus, however, at all times spoke the word of God, whether in public preaching or in private conversation (John 12:49-50, John 14:10). So Jesus was a prophet. Beyond this, there is a lot of disagreement. Muslims think Jesus was only a prophet, whereas Christians think he was much more. Let’s compare him with some of the OT prophets that were involved in performing miracles and see how Jesus stacks up.



Based on this chart alone, it is crystal clear that Jesus was the ultimate miracle worker. Jesus not only completed feats that no other prophet before him did (ie. The ability to drive demons out of people, heal people born blind, heal the deaf, heal paralytics etc), he also performed the most miracles out of any other prophet (34). Also, keep in mind that in all miracles where Moses, Elijah and Elisha are involved, the miracle is proceeded by a prayer to God, or preceded by God telling the prophet how He is going to work through the prophet to perform the miracle. In sharp contrast, when Jesus performs a miracle the Bible records the miracle as happening with a simple word or action coming from Jesus without any preceding request for assistance from God the Father.

So Jesus was a prophet, and a great miracle worker, but how does that show he was God? We’ll explore that in the next post.

Oh Snap! - UPDATE

I just walked in the door of my apartment and it was like Christmas morning. As you'll see in the picture, CUTCO sent me a brand new 9'' master carver for free! If you look closely you'll see that the charge is $0.00 for knife replacement and only $6.00 for shipping and handling. If you are confused by this post, please check out my prior blog post entitled "Oh Snap!".

Welp, I better get going so I don't waste anymore time. I only have 309 days left to learn how to carve a turkey before Thanksgiving!

Oh Snap!

Last night while I was eating dinner my roommate said "Hey, want me to throw this knife away?". I thought surely she couldn't be talking about one of my CUTCO knives, and if she was, surely she was joking and just wanting to get a reaction out of me. I turned my head around to give her the satisfaction she was looking for, and there she was holding the master carver, in TWO PIECES! Turns out she dropped it on the floor.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Yes, I know all things over time will break down but not my precious CUTCO knives! Not only are they the Rolls Royce of kitchen culterly, they are supposed to last foreva eva eva eva eva eva eva eva eva eva. Seriously though, they are. When I used to sell these bad boys I remember I visited a women who had them for 20 years and they were still trail blazing through some rough carrots. In addition to their durability, Cutco knives are backed by a Forever Guarantee.

We all know that knives break down over time. So how can a company give a forever guarantee? Well it’s simple, they think of the reasons the knife would deteriorate, and then they offer protection from that. A knife’s main function is to cut. A knife can’t cut when it’s dull, so the guarantee offers free re-sharpening indefinitely as long as you send the knife back and pay for shipping in handling. A knife may also lose functionality through misuse or abuse. If you somehow break the knife and it’s your fault, they will replace it for half the current retail value. I guess technically there are two ways the guarantee would be rendered invalid. One way would be if you lost a knife. I highly doubt you could send an empty envelope sans knife stating that you lost it. A second way would be if Cutco went out of business. But let’s be real here, you won’t really lose a knife if you keep it in the block, and until people stop eating there will always be a market for knives.

Putting my two reasons aside, this is one amazing FOREVER Guarantee. And I really don’t think there is anything else out there on the market, knife or not a knife, that has this type of guarantee. Sure plenty of goods have lifetime or limited warranties, but those only last 1-2 years and are usually only valid if there is some type of manufacturing defect. So remembering this guarantee, I called customer service to test the waters. I explained to them that the master carver broke when my roommate dropped the knife on the floor. I was fully ready to agree that it fell under “misuse and abuse” and pay half the current retail value, when the customer service representative simply said “Just send it back to us with a note stating what happened and we’ll send you a new one for free” . WOW. Keep in mind I bought this knife 7 years ago and don't have the original receipt or box!!!!!!!!!

After I got off the phone, I was relieved that I wouldn’t have to fork over cash for a new knife, and also impressed by the authenticity of the guarantee. When they said ‘forever’ they meant it. Now what if I told you there is a forever guarantee that is permanent and eternal. There are no loopholes in this agreement such as losing the item or the Company going out of business. I’m referring to the guarantee in the Bible that tells us one of God's title's is “Everlasting Father”. In order to prove the authenticity of this guarantee, we can examine the typical ways a father can malfunction (i.e. most common flaws of our earthly fathers), and see if God’s guarantee to be our “Everlasting Father” pans out. My pastor summarized this topic well a few weeks ago, and the highlights are below.



Pretty cool right? If you think this might run out in 7 years or God might change his mind, think again. "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever." -- Hebrews 13:8

I’m off to UPS to send my knife back. If you want to check out Cutco's guarantee go here.

Snuggies!

“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:26-29

Being clothed in Christ is like wearing a Snuggie. Think about it. Snuggie’s are made for everyone, both male and female, young and old, black and white. Anyone can afford one, it’s just a matter of deciding if you want/need it. Snuggie’s also serve to protect and make you look good. The super-soft, super-thick, super-luxurious fleece blanket will protect you from experiencing arctic temperatures when your roommate, spouse or family member sets the thermostat to a chilling 65 degrees. And who doesn't look good in loose layers of flowing red fleece? When someone is wearing a Snuggie, all insecurities that people have about their body are hidden. You can't see kankles, potbellies, cellulite, moles, scars, bruises, or cuts. You just see the glorious, velvety, red fabric. You could also say that a Snuggie provides you with some sort of identity (especially if you buy the new designer styles) . Just think of the possibilities for you to be known as sensibly chic, functional yet trendy, economical yet cozy.

When we accept Jesus Christ into our hearts as Lord and Savior of our lives, we then become clothed in Christ and reap the many blessings associated with that. The most obvious blessing is getting free admission into heaven. But how does that work exactly? It’s simple. Like a Snuggie, being clothed in Christ’s blood will protect us, make us look good, and give us identity. (Note: the reason we have this available to us is because Christ died for the sins of the world (Hebrews 2:9, 2 Corinthians 5:21))

Once we die, we will all come face to face before God almighty. At this time we will be judged according to our deeds. Well what is the standard we have to meet? Surprisingly, the Bible doesn't state that our good deeds must outweigh our bad deeds; it actually sets forth an even more absurd standard, a standard of perfection. Jesus himself says " Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48). Jesus said “perfect” because he meant it. Perfect is defined as being entirely without any flaws, defects, or shortcomings. Thus, it is wrong to assume you can qualify for perfection because you have avoided what some ignorantly call 'major sins' including murder and adultery. All sin is equal, and breaking even one is enough to separate us from God forever. " For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." (James 2:10).

So admitting that we all have sinned, where does that leave us? The Bible says the wages of sin is death and that we will be eternally separated from God. Well the great thing about being clothed in Christ is that it will protect us from getting what we deserve, a fair judgment. We will be protected from God’s judgment against our sin and Christ’s blood will makes us look good. In fact, it will make us look perfect. When a believer goes before God, all God will see is that the believer is clothed in the blood of Christ. When we hide behind the blood of Christ, God won’t be able to see the times when we worshiped things other than God, lied, dishonored our father/mother, and took credit for our own accomplishments instead of giving the glory to God. Because all God will see is Christ, our social status, gender, ethnicity and good deeds become irrelevant because our identity becomes that of Christ. Therefore, since Christ led a perfect life and will spend eternity with God in paradise/heaven, so will a believer! “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! “(Romans 5:9). Now that is Snuggylicious!

Christ's Bell

Christ's Bell

THE BELL
I KNOW WHO I AM
I am God's child (John 1:12)
I am Christ's friend (John 15:15 )
I am united with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17)
I am bought with a price (1 Cor 6:19-20)
I am a saint (set apart for God). (Eph. 1:1)
I am a personal witness of Christ. (Acts 1:8)
I am the salt & light of the earth (Matt 5:13-14)
I am a member of the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27)
I am free forever from condemnation ( Rom. 8: 1-2)
I am a citizen of Heaven. I am significant (Phil 3 :20)
I am free from any charge against me (Rom. 8:31 34)
I am a minister of reconciliation for God (2 Cor 5:17-21)
I have access to God through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18)
I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6)
I cannot be separated from the love of God (Rom 8:35-39)
I am established, anointed, sealed by God (2 Cor 1:21-22 )
I am assured all things work together for good (Rom. 8:28 )
I have been chosen and appointed to bear fru it (John 15:16 )
I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph. 3: 12 )
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13 )
I am the branch of the true vine, a channel of His life (John 15: 1-5)
I am God's temple (1 Cor. 3: 16). I am complete in Christ (Col. 2: 10)
I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3).. I have been justified (Romans 5:1)
I am God's co-worker (1 Cor. 3:9; 2 Cor 6:1). I am God's workmanship (Eph. 2:10)
I am confident that the good works God has begun in me will be perfected. (Phil. 1: 5)
I have been redeemed and forgiven ( Col 1:14). I have been adopted as God's child (Eph 1:5)
I belong to God
Do you know
Who you are?


Keep this bell ringing...pass it on
'The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make His face shine upon you
And be gracious to you;
The LORD turn His face toward you
And give you peace...
Numbers 6:24-26

"I'm preggers" / "I AM"

Today we are going to be detectives, so get your thinking caps on! Take a minute and skim over this article published on September 11, 2009 by People magazine. The link may be found here.

HOKAY! Now that you’ve read the article I have a question for you…. Is Gisele Bundchen pregnant, yes or no?! I know the question sounds ridiculous and the answer seems to be an obvious yes, but is the answer really that clear?! I mean sure, her husband Tom Brady says she is going to have a baby in December and that he will take her to Lamaze classes, but is that enough to believe that Gisele is pregnant? I mean after all no where in the article do we get a quote straight from the horse’s mouth (i.e. Gisele) that says “I am pregnant”, so are you sure of your answer? I mean if she personally wasn’t recorded as saying it then this article must be an absolute farce, right?! Okay, so maybe Gisele doesn’t literally say “I am pregnant” , but what if in the article Gisele was asked what her body’s status was and she said “ I’m preggers! Or she said “ I have a bun in the oven” … would those terms be good enough for you to believe that she was pregnant even though she never literally said the words “I am pregnant” ?! Or what if the article talked about how she was behaving in a way that only pregnant people behave and mentioned something along the lines of “Spotted. Gisele Bundchen outside a local Rite-Aid downing a Vitamin Water and popping pre-natal vitamins. She was later seen eating pickles and peanut butter before going into a hidden local OB/GYN in Greenwich Village." Would that be enough for you to believe she was pregnant? Or what if the article talked about how others were behaving in a way that would verify that at some point she did sayshe was pregnant. For example, what if the article talked about how the Patriot’s stadium had dedicated an “Expectant Mother “ parking spot for Gisele’s limo to use between now and December!? Then would you believe that Gisele in fact was pregnant?!

So now we have Gisele saying she is pregnant (just using more relevant terms other than "i'm pregnant), we have others confirming she is pregnant (Tom Brady), we have Gisele acting in ways only pregnant people would, and we have others acting in ways they would only if she had told them she was pregnant. So with all this surmounting evidence, would you believe that Gisele is in fact pregnant?! Well DUH! Of course any of those instances on it’s own would make it blatantly obvious that Gisele was pregnant. But I exaggerate my example to show a point that we don’t hold People Magazine the same strict standard we use to judge the Bible. We simply read the title of the article alone, make inferences, and are satisfied in concluding Gisele is pregnant without even reading the article. So if that’s how we operate, why then when we have all the same type of evidence as with the Gisele example, for something about Jesus, do we STILL challenge the Bible and say “Oh, well Jesus never actually said “I am God” so therefore He isn’t God. If He really was God, he would have at least said so”. Check out the table below to see how the ‘type of evidence’ we have is the same in both the Gisele and Jesus situation.


In case you’re wondering, the names Jesus used to describe himself as God are names that would have been immediately recognized by Jewish people as names used by someone who was claiming deity. The first “I AM” is how God referred to himself back in the day of Moses . “God said to Moses, "I am who I am . This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' "’ (Exodus 3:14). The second name “Son of Man” is a reference to a prophecy in the OT, “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14). “Son of Man” was a Messianic title, and by Jesus calling himself this he was assigning this prophecy to himself and thus proclaiming to be the Messiah/God.

In conclusion the claim that because Jesus never literally said the words “I am God” doesn’t mean jack because our evidence is so much greater than that ! The only question that remains is do you believe the Bible is Truth? I know I do !

T-E-S-T-I-M-O-N-Y, i'm flying first class, up in the sky

"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace." (Romans 6:1-14)

This past weekend was epic. I finally did something I've been wanting to do for the past few years. I publicly declared my love for God and was baptized in front of several hundred people. I wanted to get baptized because 1.) Jesus got baptized 2.) Jesus commanded believers to get baptized as an act of obedience and 3.) It is an outward expression of the inward transformation that had already taken place in my life when I accepted Jesus Christ as my lord and savior.

Now typically, before a person gets baptized, she will give a brief testimony that explains what she was like before she knew Christ, how she met Christ, and finally how she changed post-Christ. When I signed up to get baptized at the Frontline Fall Retreat, I was told by the staff that my testimony had to be 20 seconds. WHAT?!??! I can't even eat complete an order at the Starbucks drive-thru in 20 seconds if I wanted to, so how am I supposed to clearly share my life story that details the radical transformation in my life as a result of Christ? As a joke, my friends and I decided the only way to make it work would be to avoid talking in sentences and using articles, and instead just speak one-three words at a time. However, I ended up really liking the idea and decided to just go with it. The below text is what I ended up with. I also have a longer version of my testimony below in case you're curious.

Hi I'm Chessy, and I like to think outside the box.

catholic. indifferent.

UVA. success. party.

dazed and confused.

atheist brother. found Christ.

constant peace. my jealousy ensued.

discovered frontline. gospel made clear.

fence sitter still. it was pretty painful.

something changed.

chose Christ. final answer.

SERENITY NOW!

Long version:

I was raised Catholic. My family went to church every Sunday for the most part. I always remembered believing in God, but that was the extent of my 'religion'. I went to Sunday school because my parents made me. Sunday school and confirmation was a complete blur. (In fact, I remember years later when I was in a small group and people would ask me what the Catholic church's stance was on certain theological topics, and I would honestly respond with "I don't know".)

High school was the first time I was taught about other religions, and it led me to question my own beliefs. I remember feeling disappointed when I would ask a specific question about why my church would performed a certain ritual and the answer I was given was "because that's what we are supposed to do". Upon starting college , I went to church a few times. However, I quickly lost motivation to go to church when I would stay out till 4am partying on a Saturday night. The last thing I wanted to do was wake up early to go to something I didn't understand and wasn't excited about. The icing on the cake was when the media started to report about how priests, who were portrayed as 'holy' and somehow incapable of 'bad sins', were caught molesting altar boys...SICK.

The rest of UVA was spent under the 'play hard, work hard' mentality. I studied and got good grades, but I also went out partying and drinking most nights. I was convinced my purpose in life was to be happy, and for the most part I thought I was achieving it.... well except for those times when I should have been happy from a worldly perceptive (good friends, sorority, family, health, academic success, etc) yet felt empty. Around the same time, my older brother, a former athesit, was suddely attending church, and eventually started calling himself a 'born-again' Christian. I was EXTREMELY skeptical, and thought he had joined a cult, mainly because 'born-again' sounded like a term crazy people use, and especially when I saw him get baptized in a neighborhood swimming pool. (Keep in mind, I was brought up in a very traditional Catholic church, where baptisms were performed on babies in a church with holy water and priests, and not on adults in a pool with a random pastor . Additionally, I had never read the bible so I wasn't aware that the term 'born-again ' was in fact a legit thing to call a Christian thanks to Jesus coining the term in John 3:1-8 ). My skepticism eventually turned into curiosity when I realized that my brother wasn't just going through another phase. He had completely changed his lifestyle, and although he gave up many worldly things, he had joy and constant peace.

I decided I wanted to find that peace, or at the very least just check out a non-demoninational church, to see what my brother's hype was all about. Through a friend of a friend, I was taken to a church in Bethesda, but had a 'blah' experience. This friend of a friend told me I might like the music at McLean Bible church better. I ended up going to McLean Bible church by myself. I remember feeling completely overwhelmed when I walked into a church of several thousand people and heard the sound of electric guitars and drums coming from the main sanctuary. I remember thinking to myself how I would never again trust a stranger's opinion about anything... but then a man came out, Todd Philips in fact. He started talking and I found myself instantly engaged. I felt like I was sitting in on a college lecture. His speech was extremely well structured, with 3 main points, and each point was affirmed by scripture verses... HOW LOGICAL! He also shared about how the message related to his own life and challenged the audience to apply it to their own life. SO COOL! I knew this was a place I would want to keep coming back to. After the service I went to the new comer meeting, and signed up to be part of a small group so I could try and learn more about the bible.

Over the next 6 months I was like a sponge. New information was flying at me daily that I had never heard before. God wants a personal realationship with me, huh?! God show us grace and offers us a free gift of eternal life just by believing that Jesus is God, and he died for our sins, say whaaaaat? You mean I don't have to earn my way to heaven?! You mean I can be 100% certain of where I will be going when I die, and that regardless of what I do, I can't do anything to screw it up? COOL.

Despite all these new truths being spoken into my life, I was still sitting on the fence. It wasn't until one night when I heard a sermon about how Jesus doesn't want us to be fence sitters. The pastor told us how Jesus plainly stated "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters" Matthew 12:30. The pastor then said it was time to make a decision, and had everyone bow their heads . I remember he asked people who wanted to stop being fence sitters to stand, and it was at that moment that I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart as lord and savior of my life.

So that was the start of my relationship with Christ. Almost four years have passed, and I've changed in so many ways... I no longer rely on drinking as a way to have fun.. I no longer get drunk and seldom drink..I know everything has a purpose including the trials of my life and often find myself looking for ways to grow as a result of the trials...I know the purpose of my life is to bring glory to God and I try and base all my thoughts, deeds, and actions around this truth...I have been able to use the comfort Christ has given me through the storms of my life to comfort others when they are going through a hard time... I have been able to forgive people that have severely wronged me... etc. But guess what, I'm still imperfect. I still sin just like anyone else, yet Jesus's love for me is unconditional. He will never change. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. me the same yesterday, today and tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8) . AMEN!

Blame it on the A-A-A-A-A-DAM.

As a follow up to my Slutty Slutty Slutty post, I promised to answer the question 'What did I ever do to make God decide that I will perish if I don't believe in Him ? The short answer is found in Romans 5:12:

"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned ".

The long answer is found by explaining this verse, so let's look at one section at a time, mmm k?!

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man

The "one man" Paul is blaming for sin entering the world is Adam. I wish I could say there was alcohol involved and we could blame it on the Hennessy, but sadly that wasn't the case. If we look at the first book of the bible , Genesis, we find out exactly what happens:

God creates the universe/world. Everything is good. (Genesis 1:31). God creates Adam and Eve and they live in The Garden of Eden which sounds like paradise based on the fact that Adam had a woman and was surrounded by trees that were "pleasing to the eye and good for food" (Genesis 2:9). God commands Adam 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it, you will surely die'. (Genesis 2:16) . Adam eats the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:6) effectively disobeying God and sin enters the world ,FML.

Death through sin
Right after Adam choked down the apple, we would expect a la sleeping beauty, that the apple would be poisoned and Adam would drop dead, because after all that is the consequence God laid forth, right?! Actually, no. The type of death God was referring to was not physical death (separation of soul from body) but rather spiritual death (separation of soul from God). This notion of being separated from God is apparent when we look at Genesis 3:8 and see how Adam's fellowship with God had become broken, "Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. "

And in this way death came to all men, because all sinned

Like it or not, we are all related to Adam and as a result have inherited his sinful nature. All that means is that since the time we are born we have the inclination to do things that are displeasing to God (i.e. sin). King David summed it up best when he said “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” (Psalm 51:5).

Okay, so hopefully now you understand that all people are inherently bad, and we are all separated from God. The only way for us to NOT be separated from God would be to live a perfect life without sinning, which is clearly impossible. This is why we all need a savior. We can't possibly restore our relationship with God on our own because "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless;there is no one who does good, not even one." (Romans 3:10-12)

So yeah, Jesus came to earth, was perfect, and died to pay the penalty for our sins "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. " 2 Corinthians 5:21. Anyone has the opportunity to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. This is a free unmerited gift God has offered to every single person in the world. If we accept this gift we will spend eternity with God. If we reject this gift, we will spend eternity without God. The choice is yours. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23).