Nelson Hawkins, Jr.
- Spiritual Living , Understanding Your Faith
- December 11, 2019
- 0 views
The Protection of the Vine: Finding Fertile Ground as a Seed
Hey everyone! We have been going on and on about identity all autumn long, haven’t we? Hope you’re enjoying so far. This entry here is actually going to be the key to it all. Why? Because up until now we have primarily talked about the problems. Well, this week, I want to talk about the solution. And the solution is, Jesus Christ. Alright, post over. Everybody have a great holiday season. I’m kidding. Everybody who has ever seen one of my posts knows that: Now that the funnies are out of the way, let’s get down to business. Mending Broken Seeds We have talked about how many folks, including believers, are normally as adults navigating foundational hindsight damage they received as kids (again, not burying most parents…most parents just did what they could). But most folks simply don’t understand the principles of discipleship, or much less, how to overcome their pain and invest in someone else. We largely reproduce without knowing principles of reproduction, or principles of wholeness. So, as I said before, Jesus Christ is the solution, but how? Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the light, sure right? Right. But how does that work for us, who are largely broken seeds? Well, Jesus has so many other names and monikers that are associated with growth, empowerment, and redemption, the least of which not being the Vine. And we know that we are his branches, and we can only be nourished if we are connected to the Vine. It is through this connection that we are restored, grown, and brought into the fullness of our calling. After all, nothing empowered by Jesus Christ can burn out. But let’s take a look at what this looks like. Growing Your Seed, Finding the Vine So we have established finding the Vine, right? But we all need the appropriate foundation. And that is largely missing in our growth. But early in our growth, the Babe Phase, way we get to know God. And we have been coming to this for a while, but I want to talk about the Parable of the Sower. The Parable of the Sower is really interesting because the sower sows the seeds, but aren’t we the seeds? Aren’t we the ones that have various environments, only some of which produce real spiritual growth? Everybody loves a good Word; it’s uplifting and it makes us feel good. But what do we do with it? How well are we equipped to do with it? The reality is, we probably aren’t. Because history and overcoming our pain. But we all get a little momentum with change, but without the foundation, no lasting change will take place. But in order to produce the fruit that will produce true change, we have to take dominion over our issues by entrusting them to Jesus Christ (and by extension, the Holy Spirit), who truly heals and redeems all the things. That is the mark we have to press toward, that is who we have to seek, our prayers, our minds, our thought processes. This is how we produce the fruit from our…
Ann Lenaers
- Spiritual Living , Understanding Your Faith
- November 20, 2019
- 18 views
A Short Discussion About Faith
Question: Why are you so convinced God actually exists? Answer: That’s hard to answer quickly. In short, I have seen Him work countless real, tangible miracles in my life (click to see my testimony video) as well as so many others (click for playlist of other testimonies). I pray, and He answers. He changed my life completely! I have also seen countless historians, scientists, and people of other faiths try to disprove His existence or discredit His scripture, and all the ones who are truly rational in their approach always end up finding Him instead (click for an apologetics playlist). They realize He is real and the Word is true. The evidence is beyond substantial. Question: OK, let’s say that’s all true and He is real. If God is so good, why does He allow evil to exist? Answer: Free will or be a robot – those are your choices. Which do you prefer? Free will is a gift God gave us out of love. We are meant to steward that gift with responsibility… We don’t. Question: OK I choose free will, but then if He loves us, why does He send people to hell? Answer: He doesn’t send people there. They deny Him, choosing with that free will not to have a relationship with Him. Hell is the absence of God. He is light, hell is dark. God is good, hell is evil. God is love, hell is fear and hate. God is healing and comfort, hell is pain. He is still present in this life even if you deny Him. He is not present in hell, honoring your final decision. Question: OK so maybe I want God in my life, but don’t all paths lead to God if you’re looking for Him? Answer: No. Just like a navigation system gives you directions back to your house when you’re out of town, if your destination is God, Jesus is the way, and the Holy Spirit gives you the directions. One destination – one straight and narrow path. God made it simple that way. Accept Jesus and you will be guided home to your family. No other faith claims/offers that or teaches such great love, forgiveness, and peace. Question: OK, you’ve convinced me enough to try, so what do I have to do? Answer: Cry out to Jesus with your WHOLE HEART inviting him into your life, declare him as your Lord and savior, and leave your old life at his feet. Repent and ask to be forgiven and guided. Then follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit (which you receive as a gift) and the instructions laid out in the Bible. One foot after the other. You’ll get there. Question: Wow, is it really that simple? Answer: It starts that simple, yes. You’re life won’t instantly become perfect, but you’ll have His love and grace supporting you, His truth and wisdom growing you, and His power strengthening you through any hurdle. He will slowly help you feel whole and unshakeable, and the only reason you will want to look back is so you can deeper appreciate who He has…
- Spiritual Living , Understanding Your Faith
- October 30, 2019
- 2 views
The Fragile Seed: The Perils of Developing Identity
Hello everyone! I’m back again my friends, and I want to continue our study on identity. First, let’s review. Well, we first introduced/defined identity, and then we took a session on identity in the context of spiritual growth. Well in that last session, we talked about how folks are fixated on the flower, but not giving credence to the journey of the seed. But why is this important? Simple. While you have heard the term that bruised flowers still bloom, what do broken seeds do? We have heard about us being the salt of the earth, but if the salt is no good, it is normally no good for its intended purpose. And what would you do with a trampled seed? More or less the same. Connecting to Identity So let’s talk about identity. Because whether we like it or not, before we connect to the identity with being made in God’s image and likeness first, we have to build the other elements of our identity. And this time we are going to talk about heritage. Most of the Pauline epistles have passages on how to engage the family, and I myself was jarred by 1 Timothy 5. Why? Because it says that it is the job of the family surrounding the widow to take care of the widow. For those of you who have widowed parents, you may understand this struggle. But for the rest of you, let’s take a look. Remember last week when I said “Our parents are giving us everything (or should be, but that’s a discussion for the next blog)”? Of course you do. But what does the everything look like? It should look like fathers preparing their offspring for the world, mothers nurturing and laying the foundations on how to love and express. The problem is, we live in a world where a phenomenon called generational hindsight damage exists. Identity and Generational Hindsight Damage We have heard about “generational curses”, correct? Well, you can think of generational hindsight damage as the wounding that passes down generationally from these curses. Or rather it is the familial and societal input that disrupts families. And many of us have stories on this, some more vitriolic than others. Sadly, abuse comes in many forms, and while an emotional truth is that we all want someone to love us for who we are, what that looks like specifically in each of us is different. Some parents lack the ability to love appropriately, others lack the ability to love specifically, and some still have declined to attempt to love at all. All of these can be damaging in their own way. Okay parents, I’m sure some of you are like “I’m doing my best!” And if that’s you, great, I believe in you. This “Jack in the Box secret sauce” is for you too. While many scholarly journals talk about your struggle, I’m going to provide a perspective. So, whether you have children or not, think about your experience growing up with your parents. Nobody’s is ideal; still forgive (that’s a future entry). And to some extent, our parents have not only…
David Chandler
- Understanding Your Faith
- October 23, 2019
- 1 views
The Gospel and the Kingdom of the Cults
I can remember getting saved June 21st, 2003. My eyes were opened and all I wanted to do was read God’s Word, but I had a hunger to read about other cults, false doctrine and world religions. Why? Because I did not want to be deceived again. Jesus said to His disciples when they asked him what are the signs of His return. “Take heed that no man deceive you.” That is a very telling phrase there. Jesus went on to tell them that there will be FALSE Christs and FALSE prophets insomuch that if it were possible, will deceive the elect.” Allow me a little time to define what a cult is. It is a sect that claims adherence to the monolithic religion it branched from, but deviates from its central message. In the case of the Christian religion, Jehovah’s Witnesses claim to be Christians, but they do not teach Christianity’s central theme…the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, they make it about the founder of that particular cult. In the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ case, it’s Charles Taze Russell. In Seventh Day Adventism’s case, it’s Ellen G. White’s writings. They are put on par with the Bible. With Mormonism, they believe they have the Book of Mormon, which, in their view, is the last testament of Christ. These groups do not teach the Gospel as defined in God’s Word. So, what is that? What is the Gospel? How can a man enter heaven? Scripture is so plain about this essential subject. In Ephesians 2:8-9, we read that it is by GRACE ye are saved. Not of ourselves. It is a GIFT of God, not of WORKS, lest any man should boast. In other words, our salvation is a free gift Jesus Christ purchased with His own shed blood on Calvary. That blood was sufficient enough to wash away man’s sin and bring him back to God, not man’s works. For we read that our works is like filthy rags. All we have to do is receive this gift from God. It was Christ that did the work when he died on the cross of Calvary. When a person receives Christ as Savior, God looks on that person as though he never sinned. What a marvelous truth. We as believers should rejoice at that notion. Cults put their parishioners in bondage, saying you have to work your way to God. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe knocking on doors and proselytizing people will get them into heaven. Mormons believe basically the same thing. Catholics believe confessing their sins to a priest will grant them forgiveness from their sins. The reality of it is, it cannot. In fact, a priest is not an intermediary between God and man (sacerdotalism), only Jesus Christ is (2nd Timothy 2:5). The point of this article is, only Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). There IS no other way.
- Relationships , Spiritual Living , Understanding Your Faith
- October 16, 2019
- 0 views
Who Are You To Judge?
I have an evangelist friend who created a Christian alternative to yoga. She was formerly a dancer and loves a good stretch, so she infused her faith into a workout routine. I find it admirable the way she reminds us that our body is a temple for the Holy Spirit and that we should include Jesus in the way we care for our physical health! A few weeks ago she shared an article on social media talking about a new craze called “rage yoga” where people yell, swear, and drink alcohol during their workout. Accompanying the link to the article she simply wrote “This sounds like a really bad idea! A better option here” with a link to the page for her stretching program. After seeing this, a woman decided to completely tear into her in the comments. I have not seen such a bold keyboard warrior in quite awhile, and that’s really saying something in the modern world. She went off about how Jesus sat at the table with sinners and that is where she would be found. She accused my friend of not being a good Christian, suggested she was not fit for her calling in evangelism, and repeatedly condemned her saying she was passing judgment in a way that only God has the right to do – all for saying something might not be a good idea. This woman dug her heels into shaming my friend. Set aside for a moment my desire to defend my friend and sister in Christ. Looking at this objectively, this post said absolutely nothing about Jesus and did not actually criticize anyone. She just said she felt it was a bad idea without sharing her reason why. When she tried to reply to the accusations, she calmly explained to the woman that it’s not healthy to dehydrate and poison yourself with alcohol while working out and that swearing isn’t a good coping mechanism. These are just fact statements based on our knowledge of health. This further angered the woman as she continued to accuse her of passing judgment. This story paints a clear picture of something I’ve seen a ton of people do lately, especially in the Christian community. I’ve grown tired of the rudeness happening among the body. People get easily offended about things, then they jump to responding in a way that surpasses even an eye for an eye, becoming more like die for an eye. Christians are instructed to turn the other cheek, so I find these disputes hold a unique hypocrisy, lacking the grace in execution that they so strongly insisted wasn’t present to begin with. It’s time for us to mature in how we address our concerns. Point 1 – Our freedom in Christ is not a license for chaos. Even though we are under grace, we are still called to live a holy life to the best of our ability, letting our old spirit man die to the sins of the flesh and be born again in Christ. When Jesus sat down to the table with sinners, they were called to repent and follow him. Point…
Candace Paul
- Understanding Your Faith
- October 8, 2019
- 1 views
Aknowingspirit Speaks! Join our discussion group on Facebook
Sometimes it can be difficult to get all your questions answered about matters of faith. More often, it’s just hard to find like minded people for fellowship. We created a small discussion group exclusively for this purpose. The group will be public until we have at least 200 people. Join, invite your friends, and start a conversation! Click here to join Aknowingspirit Speaks!
- Spiritual Living , Understanding Your Faith
- September 4, 2019
- 0 views
Identity and Growth
Whew what a long summer! Alright, now that we are headed into autumn, which is ironically the harvest time, we will be talking about a type of harvest and manifestation, or rather, how things grow. And by things, I mean us. Let’s just get started, shall we? So for the last two sessions we have been talking about identity, and the struggle with identity, and more specifically what were the elements of our identity, and why we struggle with our identity. It ultimately boils down to our natural progression struggling with our spiritual progression to understand that first, we are made in God’s image and likeness, and then, we have a God-given purpose we must rely on God and His power to cultivate within us. We also are a part of a family and have a race/ethnicity, but those are easy(ier) to identify with (Psst: that’s that struggle). But what does that growth look like? Well, first, I want to briefly analyze the stages of natural and spiritual growth..just bear with me here: The Nurturing Phase (Birth-5yrs): Usually lots of crying and questions. The Discovery Phase (6yrs-11yrs): Usually we develop distinct personalities at this point. The Identity Phase (there’s that word again, 12yrs-21yrs) Surveying (12yrs-15yrs): We need to look around. Experimental Phase (15yrs-18yrs): We start to do. Closure of Identity (18yrs-21yrs): We “figure out” what we’re going to do. Culture Shock (18yrs-26yrs): What we know isn’t what we know. Career Selection (26yrs-32yrs): We choose where we are going. Family Life/Prep for Retirement (32yrs.-65yrs.): We get the meat and potatoes out of life. Some of you just read this and said “What? I’m ‘xyz years old’ and haven’t done ‘abc thing’.” Relax. Identity is nuanced, and so is choosing a life path. But why this list? Well, by the end of Stage 1, we normally have a bearing of the heritage and ethnicity portions of our identity. We may have been introduced into the things of Christ, but we haven’t had a challenge yet to really get to know Him. Our parents are giving us everything (or should be, but that’s a discussion for the next blog). We normally don’t get a real experience with God until at least Stage 4 (kudos to those of you who got this earlier), and have to reconcile what we learned earlier with what we learn about God later in life. But how does learning God work? Here are the stages of spiritual growth: Born Again (John 3:1-7; Ephesians 1:13-14): That Day 0 Faith. Babe in Christ (1 Peter 2:2; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9): God loves on us and we learn our Word. Son(Daughter)ship (Hebrews 12:5-13): The two P’s, Purpose and (Spiritual) Pruning. God lays the groundwork for our full measure. Identity becomes solid. Overcoming the World (1 John 2:13b): This is where identity takes hold and doesn’t let go. (Basic) Spiritual Maturity (1 John 2:13b-14b): We know who we are in Christ in operate out of consistent empowerment. (Senior) Spiritual Maturity (1 John 2:27, Ephesians 4:12-15): Consistent empower is second nature; God is our own source, and identity is immovable. Let’s note a few things…
- Spiritual Living , Understanding Your Faith
- June 26, 2019
- 1 views
Why We Struggle With Identity….
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17, NKJV) Before I get to the blog post proper, I almost never deal with NKJV. Not a knock on it, I just usually study from the ESV or the NRSV. <shrugs> About the Scripture itself though. Do y’all see this here? It’s kind of a big deal. Galatians 5:16-23 talks about the nature of the flesh, the nature of the Spirit, and how they do battle with each other, to literally prevent us from doing what we want (also see Romans 7:14-23). But why does this matter as it pertains to identity. Well, in the last entry, we talked about identity having four real elements to it: (1) Being made in God’s image and likeness, (2) purpose, (3) heritage, and (4) race/ethnicity. Well, most people don’t get authentically saved in their formative years (please don’t believe the statistics). Because most kids have a fundamental rebellion in their teen years (because they have to explore, more on that next time) and many don’t get to experience God for real until their 20s. This is when their heritage and race have been well established, and sometimes they are already pursuing (what they at least think) will be purpose. I can’t speak to everyone, but in my teen years, I knew there was a God and that He was supreme in the cosmos. But I didn’t know God. I went to church sometimes, and considered myself a Christian. And then when I was in college, a young lady did street evangelism ministry with me. Her: Where are you going when you die? Me: Heaven. Her: Why. Me: Because I’m a good person. God was like, “That’s adorable…” //imgur.com/ClQ956Q But why did I give the wrong answer? My identity didn’t line up, despite the fact that I thought I was a Christian. A few years later, I got saved, and got this answer right. (Although there were so many more to get wrong after) I would say that once we get saved and become that new creature, we have to switch all of our thinking over to that of Christ: mind, heart, nature…we even have to shift our gifting and talent to Christ…despite the fact that God put those in us to begin with. And that conversion is tough, because we know our heritage and our race (most times) our whole life, but most of the time we struggle with the “made in God’s image and likeness” part because we just weren’t wired that way. It takes a long walkthroughs in the Scripture, fervent prayer and supplication, and often years of long suffering to get to this point. Over the next couple of entries, we will juxtapose identity to our stages of life (natural growth), and our stages of spiritual growth. Join us then, okay?
- Understanding Your Faith
- May 6, 2019
- 0 views
Be Careful with Modern Bible Translations
A man posed this consideration in a Christian group I follow on Facebook. He used Proverbs 16:31, to support his argument that the Bible is no longer applicable to our time. The verse says, “Gray hair is a mark of distinction, the award for a God-loyal life.” At first his reasoning seemed logical. He said, since we know by science that gray hair is genetic and has nothing to do with leading a “God-loyal life” maybe we should question more of what the Bible says. He continues by suggesting that the example described is one of many, ancient people used to help explain a condition that modern science had yet to discover. Again, it sounded reasonable, but then I looked at the where he had gotten the verse from. The verse came from The Message Bible which is a translation written by Eugene H. Peterson. According to the introductory chapters, the intention of the translation is to keep the language of the Bible “current and fresh and understandable.” It is a noble goal, but might the true meaning be confused by doing this? To support my point, that same verse from the King James Version, clears up any misunderstanding. The verse says, “The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.” So, what the KJV is telling us, “hoary head (white or greyish hair)” is a mark of distinction if found in righteousness. It is not an “award for a God-loyal life.” Gray hair is only a mark of distinction if that person is also righteous. This understanding makes more sense, because there are many people with gray hair that have no loyalty to God. The modern translation conflates righteousness with leading a God-loyal life, and then makes the marker of assessing this, something as arbitrary as having gray hair! Yes, that doesn’t make sense… but more importantly that is NOT what is actually said. This YouTube video gives a pretty good breakdown on Bible Translations, what you should look out for and why it all matters.
- Understanding Your Faith
- September 12, 2016
- 0 views
It’s Not Your Gut… It’s God
We’ve all heard the phrase “go with your gut” which encourages us to act on a seemingly unexplainable feeling intended to safeguard us from potential danger. However, when we use this phrase are we improperly giving credit to ourselves when it should be attributed to God?