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).

Awkward Questions About Jesus

My fist love *sigh*

He sees. He likes. He pursues. You test it out. You enjoy. You commit. You love. [Something changes]. You break up. You’re upset. You’re sad. You’re regretful. You start over. You compare the new fish in the sea to the X. You think “I’m never going to meet anyone as good as X”. You worry “I’m never going to be able to find as good of a connection as the one I had with X”. Sound familiar? What I’m referring to is the inevitable stage post-break up during which the person you were formally dating becomes the measuring stick to which you compare every new potential mate. In some weird sense, this is EXACTLY how I feel right now, except it’s not with a guy it’s with my church. Over the past four years I have fallen madly in love with Frontline (young adult part of McLean Bible Church) and have recently parted ways due to moving to Chapel Hill NC. Although dating of an X is normally not something I would support or encourage, I would like to invite you as well as anyone else you know to get to know Frontline. If you have a pulse, I think you'll love it. (even if you don't live in DC , you can still enjoy it). The story is below.

How we met
It was a crisp Autumn day in the fall of 2005. A friend of a friend had taken me to 4th Presbyterian in Bethesda, and it was “very nice, but just not my type”. This same friend of a friend said “You might like the music better at McLean”. Two weeks later, by myself, I walked into the church that sat 3,000 people, not knowing a soul, and the rest is history.

Why I fell so hard so fast
#1 The Style/Looks
Church in the past, I found to be boring, a waste of time, and hard to understand. Lots of stand up sit down, look at watch, lose interest, feel confused. Frontline, however, was like a breath of fresh air. The service starts 5:30pm on Sundays with a live band playing contemporary Christian music for about 20 minutes. After that, a staff member talks for a few minutes about upcoming events at the church and how to get invovled. Finally, Todd Philips, the pastor, comes on stage and talks for about 30 minutes. That's it. [Note: communion takes place once every few months.]

What drew me in so quickly was the pastor. He is an excellent public speaker, he is charismatic, hilarious, and his style is much like a college lecture (but a really exciting class, not the boring ones). His sermons are structured in a way that keep your attention because he always relates the message at hand back to how to apply to your own life. He also is honest with us, and shares his personal struggles which makes it all the more personable and not detached like some preachers who come off as 'holier than thou'. What's even cooler and more awesome is that each talk given is part of a sermon series. Series can range from 2 weeks to 12 weeks and can be either based on a topic such as grace, life after death, dating, money, or can be based on a book or story in the bible.

#2 The Values -
So crucial! Mission of the church is plain and simple: Share the message of Jesus Christ with DC. The core and heart of Frontline is the doctrine that is taught. Frontline teaches from the bible. It is not the opinion of the man, or the church elders. Every point that is made during a sermon is backed up with scriptural references, making for a very sound, logical, presentation of great truth! For more detail about Frontline's statement of faith, go here.

#3 The Personality
I was previously under the impression that it was all about the looks (shallow I know). But as it turns out a church has NOTHING to do with a building (looks) and everything to do with it’s people (personality). Below are some ways I've been able to get involved and I've organized it by Frontline's 4 point vision Connect. Grow. Serve. Share.

Connect- Interacting with friendly people that have a genuine interest in you (Dinners at Jason Deli and the like after church), Going to a camp for the weekend in the mountains to zip line, relax, learn about God (Frontline Fall/Summer Retreats), Playing left midfield for Frontline Soccer (Athletics Ministry), Encouraging, comforting, and sharing life with others (Small Group),Welcoming people and handing out brochures at a newly opened church campus (FL Arlington)

Grow- Learning my spiritual gifts and that my personality is combination of lion/otter (Shape Workshop), Taking a class on how to share my faith (Christianity 301), Taking a class on how to study the bible (How to Study the Bible Workshop) Studying parts of the bible and praying each week with 8-10 women my own age (Small Group)

Serve- If there isn’t a ministry in existence, you can start one (ex. A woman had the idea to go to a nursing home and show old woman love by painting their nails, and then Pretty and Polished was born). Running in a 5K to help bring clean water to the entire nation of Liberia (www.thelastwell.org); cleaning/landscaping/beautifying/painting the public schools in DC, making care packages to send to deployed soldiers (Operation Kindness), preparing 10,000 boxes with thanksgiving goodies to give to less fortunate families in the DC area (Turkey Outreach), buying Where’s Waldo books and Girl Talk as Christmas gifts for less fortunate kids (Angel Tree)

Share- Feeding lunch to and sharing the gospel with the homeless (Homeless Ministry), passing out plastic eggs filled with candy and a frontline card (Egg the Metro), teaching 3rd graders about Jesus using awesome arts/crafts/videos/creative ways (Kid’s Quest), Watching Frontline LIVE on the internet even when you aren't in DC (Internet Campus)

That's a wrap. If you too have become gaga over the awesomness that is Frontline, feel free to comment and let people know what captured your heart, haha.

Slutty Slutty Slutty!

Have you ever gone into a clothing store, held up garments and found yourself wondering , "Is this a tube top or a skirt?" "Is this a dress or a shirt?", "I have never seen denim underwear before... wait maybe it's shorts?" ? This past weekend I was in Forever 21 trying on an ambiguous garment that could have easily been a dress or skirt. Upon asking the sales associate whether or not my ambiguous garment was a shirt or a dress she looked at me as if I was crazy for asking, rolled her eyes, smacked the gum in her mouth, and sass-fully said, "obvi a shirt". In my defense, this was a fair question, because the store is notorious for having clothes that are very short, very revealing, and not exactly modest. Nonetheless, I was happy to have my answer, and proceeded to the checkout confident that I wouldn't be that girl who wears jeans underneath a dress because she thinks the year is 1997 and also thinks the French have a good sense of fashion. After the sales clerk rang up my shirt and a pair of skinny jeans, she shoveled the items along with the receipt into a yellow plastic bag, and slid the bag across the counter for me to grab. The bottom of the yellow plastic bag was now in my sight, and I noticed there was some black text at the bottom of the bag. That's odd I thought. I picked up the bag and to my UTTER SHOCK I saw "JOHN 3:16". I had to do a double take. It just seemed bizarre coming from a store where a good 1/3 of the products could be labeled "slutty slutty slutty" in the same way Michael Kors labeled a scantily clad outfit on Project Runway. But there it was!!!!! A bible verse from John chapter 3 verse 16! Only the most well known and recognized verses in the entire bible! A verse that, in as little as 25 words sums up Christianity in a nutshell (or at least does a better job than any other verse on it's own.) Clearly the owner of Forever 21 wouldn't waste time, money, and effort to put John 3:16 on every bag unless he thought it was SUPER important for people to know about it, so let's get to it!

JOHN 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

What the verse says
- God exists
- God loves the world (i.e everyone!)
- God sacrificed his only Son, aka Jesus

- If you believe that Jesus is the son of God, you will have eternal life (i.e. go to heaven).
- Looks like there is only ONE way presented as a way to get to heaven
- If you don't believe in Jesus, ultimately you will perish. yikes!

What the verse does NOT say
- going to church every Sunday will get you to heaven
- being a good person will get you to heaven
- as long as you believe in "a God" , you will be golden

Now, wait just a minute. What did I ever do to make God decide that I will perish if I don't believe in Him ? And why did God have to send Jesus to die for me, what do I need saving from?! These were the exact thoughts that went through my head the first time I was presented with this verse, almost 4 years ago when my small group was studying the gospel of John. The answer is longer than a simple sentence or two, so I will save the answers to these questions for my next post. In the mean time, you can pop into Forever 21 next time you're at the mall and take a look at the bag, or if that's not your thing, go to In-and-Out Burger in CA, order a soda, and look at the bottom rim of the cup.

DISCLAIMER: I am not hear to pass judgment on the owner of Forever 21 or the store itself. I happen to enjoy Forever 21 and have found several good trendy yet classy items. Sometimes I just put titles up because I know it will grab your attention and get you to read ;).

I'm a little clay pot, short and stout!

Where does your mind go when you hear the word "clay"? For me, I think back to 10th grade crafts class (which by the way was the most stressful/hard class in all of high school, harder than any AP science or math class simply becuase I am terrible at ARTS and CRAFTS. ) I always knew my craftyness was bad, but it was reaffirmed when I brought home a basket I had weaved in crafts class out of rafia, and my parents ended up using it as a receptacle for old newspapers that needed to be thrown away, instead of hanging it on a wall to display the magnicance and intricacies of the weaving as suggested by the teacher to myself and my classmates. Problems only magnified for me when we moved to the art room to make our own clay pots. Around the same time, I had the misfortune to trip over a line while backpeddling during basketball practice the week before the championship game and breaking my right (dominant hand) wrist. Although I was in a cast/sling, I managed to use my left hand to whip up a lopsided clay pot, with top sides folded out to give the illusion of flower petals and a fun lavendar glaze covering it to help prevent cracks. So perhaps you don't have the same thoughts as I do, haha. Maybe you think about clay from a functional standpoint, such as clay can be used as soil fertility for plants or as a vessel. Regardless, did you know that the original Hebrew word that is translated as the "dust" that Adam was created from actually means clay, making God the first "potter," ? "Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand." (Isaiah 64:8) and "The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life ... I too was formed from a piece of clay." (Job 33:4,6). Pretty cool, right?!

Today I want to share with you all my friend Rachel S's favorite devotional. Devotionals are things us Christian folk read on a daily basis (although doesn't always happen) to provide encouragment, remind of us biblical truth, and help us focus on God. As you may already have figured out, this devoltional talks about clay! I hope this finds you well!

Devotional

God calls us clay pots. And true to the name most of us sport cracks, carefully glued back together. We are oh so sturdy, yet oh so fragile. Why would God entrust clay pots with the light of His love? We try to fulfill His purposes but we get cracked and broken. Yet His strategy is clear... He knows our weaknesses yet He chose clay pots anyway. He tells us why... "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us" (2 Corinthians 4:7). Don't be ashamed of the cracks in your life... don't be afraid to show how God has mended you. This is the testimony to the watching world. Our God fixes broken pieces! If you are broken today because of circumstances in your life, or because of choices you wish you had made differently, don't stay in pieces on the floor. If you know you have disappointed God in your walk or in your talk tell Him you are sorry. God will forgive you, pick you up and mend you. Changed lives, lives lived in the power of the Holy Spirit, demonstrate that it is His power at work in us. This is our hope...this is the hope we hold out to a needy world.

Father God, Thank you that You use cracked pots to demonstrate Your love and power. Forgive me today for the guilt trips and the pity parties and help me to tap into the power that changes lives. Thank you that You put Your Spirit in me so that Your amazing power can be visible! Shine through my cracks today, Lord so that others can see who You are. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

Questions: Do you need to change your thinking and accept the cracks in your life as the very places Jesus can shine through? Invite Him into those places today.

Spotted: Stephen Baldwin baptizing Spencer Pratt in a Costa Rican jungle river

Yes, that’s right. Spencer Pratt (most known for his role on The Hills as the jerk boyfriend/fiancé/and now husband of Heidi Montague) was baptized on national television by self proclaimed born-again Christian Stephen Baldwin. WHAT?! This act was first seen Monday June 1, 2009 when the show “I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!” debuted drawing in approximately 6.4 million viewers. According to Wikipedia the show is “about celebrities live in jungle conditions with few comforts and have to earn human essentials”. Now, you are probably wondering why on earth did Pratt choose to do this?! … maybe it was to make his wife Heidi happy … maybe it was for publicity…. maybe it was to “be washed clean of his filth” as he stated moments before getting dunked in the river… or maybe it was for some other reason. I don’t know Spencer’s heart, only God does, so I won’t try and figure out what his true motivation was. However, I would like to clear up two common myths about baptism and also share why many believers choose to get baptized.

Myth #1: Baptism will wash away sins (or as Pratt stated “clean you of your filth”.)

Truth: The act of baptism does not save us or wash away our sins. Only the blood of Christ cleanses us from sin. 1 John 1:7 "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. "

Myth #2: Getting baptized allows a person to go to heaven.

Truth: The only requirement for getting to heaven is to believe that Jesus is your personal Lord and savior. (John 3:16, Acts 16:31, Ephesians 2:8-9). Baptism is not a requirement for salvation, it is simply the outward testimony of a believer's inward faith. Romans 6:3-4 says “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." You are "crucified" (standing upright in water), you are "buried" (immersed into the water), and you are "resurrected into life" (raised out of the water). See also Corinthians 12:13.

Why do believers choose to get baptized?

#1 Cuz all the cool kids are doing it!!!!
And by cool kids, I mean Jesus. "At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan." Mark 1:9
#2 Cuz Jesus told us to!
Jesus’s love language is obedience, and following his commands shows our love for Him (Jesus said "If you love me, you will obey what I command. " John 14:15) Jesus also said, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Matthew 28:19-20.
#3 Cuz it shows you are a believer!
In the OT, Jewish people would get circumcised (ouch) as an outward symbol of their faith, whereas Christians get baptized as an outward symbol of their faith! Acts 18:8"...many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized."

CONFESSION: I have not been baptized, YET. I am hoping to do so before I leave DC. Details to follow soon.

Mullets and Other Fun Ideas by Mike O'Brien

NOTE: THE FOLLOWING WAS WRITTEN BY MY FRIEND MIKE O'BRIEN. THIS IS THE SITE'S FIRST GUEST BLOG. ALL I DID WAS ADD A PIC OF UNCLE JESSE AND POST.

The other day I was walking to work and I saw a guy with an incredible mullet (a hairstyle characterized by short hair on the sides and long hair on top and in the back). According to Mullet Junky, as reputable a source one finds on such things, this was an Animal. This sight nearly distracted me to the point where I almost tripped on a curb. In that humbling moment, I remembered a question someone asked at a Bible Study a few years ago:

Q: I want to get a mullet, and some of my Christian friends say it's not cool, what did Moses say

A: Your friends are right, Leviticus 19:27 reads, "Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head..."

Q: Are you kidding me, are you sure this isn't one of those Old Testament Laws that got replaced by the New Covenant?

A: I'm sure, 1 Corinthians 11:14-15

That is as straightforward as biblical law gets. The Old Testament says it (no short hair on the sides), the New Testament confirms it (no long hair at all) - God disapproves of mullets. However, few items are so straight-forward in the Old Testament. The casual reader may find a prohibition in the Old Testament to which there is no counter prohibition in the New Testament (such as getting a tattoo, Leviticus 19:28), and ask whether it still applies.
The bible discusses God making covenants or promises with different people at different times. There are five covenants described throughout the Bible:

#1. Noah, Genesis 9:1-17, explained here in detail. In short, God rewards Noah’s faithfulness and promises not to flood the world again.

#2. Abraham, explained here in detail. Including that God will extend the forgiveness and engagement to everyone else…someday. Genesis 18:18, Genesis 22:18.

#3. Moses, Exodus chapters 19-34, explained here in detail. God provides a plethora of regulations (one of which is the subject of this post), and then promises to be merciful and gracious while He forgives iniquity, transgression and sin. Exodus 34:6-7.

#4. David, 2 Samuel 7:12-17, explained here in detail. Basically, God is a establishing a throne from the heirs of David which will last forever.

In each of these covenants, there were certain standards of behavior that accompanied the promise. To enjoy the promise the covenant holder had to have faith in God. The standards of behavior were reflections of whether that faith was present. It is important to note that there was no requirement for perfection, since, if there was, there would be no need for God’s grace which is the common theme throughout these passages.

#5. New Covenant By the time of the new covenant, a bifurcation existed between church law (which governed conduct of believers) and civil law (which provided remedies for private and public disputes among mostly everyone). Romans 13. So, Paul recognized that there was a general moral obligation to obey the law (there are obviously conflicts between church and civil law, but that is a topic for another day). This event narrows the discussion to restrictions on personal conduct instead of prohibitions on public behavior.

To begin, in the Old Testament Jeremiah predicts that the “old covenant” personal conduct will not be around forever, 31 "The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. 33 "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." Jeremiah 31:31-34 (my emphasis). Luke 22:20 explains, “In the same way, after the supper (Jesus) took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’” Some scholarly dispute agrees as to whether the new covenant began at the moment Christ died or at Pentecost. Regardless, we are certainly in a new covenant time now, and Hebrews 8:13 explains, “By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.”

Therefore, the Old Testament restrictions on behavior have passed. But note how all of the promises of God explained above have been fulfilled (or are currently in progress, such as not flooding the world, the availability of forgiveness of sins, etc.). That brings me back to the original question about getting a tattoo. The important inquiry is not whether one can get a tattoo, but why one would want to. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says that as believers we are to honor God with our body. If one is getting a tattoo to glorify God, then it wouldn’t be considered sinful. However, if one is getting a tattoo for some other reason (to spite one’s parents, etc.) then it could be considered sinful.

"I'm swine flu serious"

You know something is a big deal when 1.) your Mom sends you an email chain entitled "Breaking News- Celebrity Swine Flu Fatality", that includes a picture of a lifeless, Kermit the Frog laying amidst a muddy pig pen, and a one line text in blue Courier font reading "And we all know who gave it to him" and 2.) a random dude at one of the classiest, most fun, low-key, entertaining, and delicious weddings I've been to in a while, decides to crack a joke and show his commitment to getting drinks after the open bar closed by exclaiming "I'm swine flu serious! I've got everyone's drinks covered". Now I realize, this topic is a bit stale, and that the whole swine flu scare was so 2 months ago, but let's travel back in time to our state of mind when we first heard about swine flu. For me, I remember I was on gchat sometime in April, and my friend sent me a news link about people in Mexico dying from "swine flu" and how it could very easily spread to the U.S. if proper precautions weren't taken. I kind of forgot about it until a few days later when the U.S. declared a public health emergency over swine flu after there were 20 cases diagnosed in the U.S.. Shortly after this, travelers were shown on TV carrying face masks on their business/personal trips to Mexico, and stories such as "Only pig in Afghanistan locked up... to protect country from swine flu " made headline news. For a while people panicked, myself included, and I will admit that I fell prey to the http://www.doihaveswineflu.org/website whose name implied a self-assured way to detect if you had symptoms of swine flu. I remember my mind momentarily wandered to the "what if" mentality. What if it were to become a pandemic, what if it were to kill massive amounts of people, and I was one of those people?

I thought to myself, well of course it would really stink to die and miss out on all the things that life has to offer between the age of 26-78 such as marriage, kids, mastering drums on rock band, grandchildren, playing bingo, etc. And although it would be really sad to die, I am not afraid of death. If I was to die in the next 5 minutes, the next 5 days, or the next 5 years, I am 100% certain that I will be in heaven with the God of this universe because I have accepted Jesus Christ as my personal lord and savior. And what's even cooler and reassuring is that I can't under any circumstance lose my salvation. In essence, I have eternal security. Let's briefly look at the Bible (i.e. word of God) and go straight into the truth and the amazing promises that are given to believers regarding their eternal security. Note, when I say 'believers' I am referring to Christians- i.e. someone who has, by faith, received and fully trusted in Jesus Christ as the only Savior (John 3:16, Acts 16:31, Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 5:1). Once saved, always saved. Here's why:

1.) Christ died once for ALL sins (past, present, future). You can't do anything to screw up your salvation because let's be real here people. God is omniscient . He knows about the sins you are going to commit 10 minutes from now, and 10 years from now. That is why God's grace is so AMAZING. God, being the all knowing genius that he is, knows our thoughts before we speak them (Psalm 139:2-4), knows all the hairs on our head (Matthew 10:30) , and knows every darn tuten bad thing we will ever do, yet is choosing to love us in spite of ourselves. He loved us so much he sent Christ to die, once, for all sins (Romans 5:6-8, Romans 6:10, 1 Peter 3:18) Wow, that is really nice of him!

2.) Nothing can separate us from Christ's love
Romans 8:38-39 "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

John 10:28-29 "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand."

3.) God keeps our salvation in a safe place for us. You can't lose something you aren't holding. Yes, I have lost countless cell phones, wallets, and receipts in my day, but thank God I am not in charge of holding on to my salvation.

1 Peter 1:3-5 "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time."

4.) The Holy Spirit seals us. God gives the Holy Spirit to every believer when he/she gets saved as a down payment of His promise to take us to heaven and give us our inheritance

Ephesians 1:12-14 "in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.

2 Corinthians 1:22 "set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come"

And that, my friend(s), is why I am able to go to bed every night at peace, and not fear death.

I like it, I like it a lot!

It's 2015. Matt Lauer still works for the today show and its that time of year again for "Where in the World is Matt Lauer" (not to be confused Where in the World is Carmen San Diego, one of the many nerdy games I enjoyed as a child). This morning, Matt Lauer has traveled to Liberia. But what's the occasion?! The camera zooms in on Lauer and it becomes apparent that the locals in the background are building a well. "Folks, what we are witnessing behind me is the LAST well being put in Liberia". Lauer walks over to the well site, where 10 gringos between age 18-40 are standing smiling and waving at the camera. Lauer approaches the leader of the gringos, introduces him as the founder of theLASTWell saying "Todd, in 2009, there were 1.8 million people in Liberia that did not have access to clean, safe, water to drink and now there are enough functional wells with enough clean water for the entire nation... this is unbelievable... rarely do charities have specific missions with specific end dates, much less achieve the specific goal in less than a decade, is there anything you'd like to say? ". Todd shrugs, then smiles, and simply replies " We encouraged people in their 20s, to help change the world, and we did it all in the name of Jesus."

WOW. That was my reaction when Todd Philips, the teaching pastor of Frontline (McLean Bible's service for young adults between 18-40), shared the vision of theLASTWell during a fundraiser for folks preparing to climb Mount Whitney. As you probably have already inferred, the mission of theLASTWell is "to provide safe, affordable drinking water to the entire nation of Liberia and preach the message of Jesus Christ to those we serve". The cost of this project is estimated between $10MM-$15MM. Now, it would be relatively easy to contact a Fortune 500 company to get the money, but that would defeat the purpose of TheLASTWell, which is to inform and empower young evangelical adults across America to come together in order to accomplish amazing feats of service for Jesus. If you want even more granularity, new wells can be built for $5,000 and dysfunctional wells can be fixed for $2,500-$3,000. (Living Water International is the organization that actually builds the wells). And it get's even more exciting hearing that a donation of only $1 is enough to provide clean water to 1 child in Liberia for an entire year.

So the question remains, how does theLASTWell raise $10MM-$15MM?! Already in the works are numerous hikes throughout the entire world, including climbing the tallest mountain peak on every continent. If you are interested in climbing Kilimanjaro in August 2009, or interested in climbing another mountain in the future, or donating money, please visit http://www.thelastwell.org/ Oh, and the picture is from July 2008 on the top of Mt. Elbrus, the first hike completed.

Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." - John 4:13-14