Life, love, and other such matters

Well, it has been awhile since I've updated my blog. Last time I wrote, I was in the middle of my junior year of college, working part-time, and engaged to the most wonderful woman on earth. 

Life has become much busier for me lately, as the following semester (this past spring of 2012) I began working full-time, as well as going to school full-time at night. Between all that and helping in various church ministries, and helping my fiance prepare for our wedding, life was pretty crazy.

Now I am writing as a married man, having wed my beautiful sweetheart Bekah on the 26th of May, almost two months ago. It was a wonderful wedding, and I really enjoyed it. It passed by so fast, and almost felt like a dream. I cried or tried not to throughout most of the service, which was ironic since my bride (who had told me that she would be the one needing the Kleenex) didn't shed a single tear!

Our honeymoon was great, and a really refreshing time of bonding for the two of us. We've been attending a 9-week leadership training program in Colorado called "Ellerslie Leadership Training". It's been a good time of spiritual growth and refreshment. 

This fall we'll be back in Missouri, where I'll be working on finishing my last year and a half of college. After that, we'll see where the Lord leads us.

So, that's an update on what's been going on in my life lately. A lot of stuff, but it's good stuff. I wouldn't trade being married for the world.

a few thoughts on Christianity today

We like our comfortable Christianity. We want our nice little utopia. We want commitment to Christ to equal going to church twice a week and praying before meals. We want enough of Jesus to save our souls, but not enough to change our lives. We want the rewards of heaven without the sacrifices on earth. We want the easy way, but in true Christianity, THERE IS NO EASY WAY!!! Taking up our cross and DYING TO SELF is the only path! Narrow is the road! Truly the way is broad towards destruction and much of the church is on that broad path!

Much of the modern Christian church has sold out to worldliness. We want a faith that is easy, a church that matches all of our preferences and choices, a gospel that suits our lifestyles, a Bible that can be stretched to include all that we desire, and a God who revolves around us and our good fortune. 

The point of Christianity is not endless doctrinal debates about every minutia under the sun!

We have become a church of doctrinaity and churchianity, not of true Christianity! The cry is not for more rules and separation, but rather for a living breathing passionate transformative relationship with the living God! The call is not to shun the world and cloister ourselves in our refuges known as churches, but neither is it to slavishly copy the world’s culture and customs!

The world doesn't know what church is about because WE DON’T KNOW WHAT CHURCH IS ABOUT!!! We just do what we've always done because we’re comfortable with how it is! Well it’s not going to be comfortable for those in Hell! We truly have become “keepers of the aquarium” rather than “fishers of men”! We are of the world, and the only way out is a return to Christ! Not to programs or to teachings or to seminars or anything but Christ!

With Christ and his glory at the center of our focus, everything is made right. The heart of the gospel is not some moral lifestyle and dutiful church attendance! The heart of the GOSPEL is not a pious hope of eternal bliss! The heart of the GOSPEL is the restored relationship with the Almighty who made us! A radical commitment that results in the boldness to say “Hear I am, send me! Use me! Let me DIE for you and your name!” 

Lord, may I be so consumed with you that no one else can satisfy! 

spiritual lorem ipsum

Lorem ipsum is

"placeholder text (filler text) commonly used to demonstrate the graphic elements of a document or visual presentation, such as font, typography, and layout." (Wikipedia)

In other words, lorem ipsum is filler used in place of real content for the sake of appearance. The actual text is a section of a Latin text written by Cicero, with the words out of order, so the text (even in Latin) makes absolutely no sense. 


Ok. So how does this relate to me? To you?

Well, I wonder. As belivers, are we often guilty of using spiritual "lorem ipsum?" If when we worship in church (or anywhere else), we aren't sincere, isn't that just singing for appearance's sake? If we merely pray the same empty words at each meal without truly giving thanks, isn't that just filler? If we read our Bibles just so we can check it off our to-do list, isn't that doing it just for the appearance of godliness? If our prayers are empty, our worship heartless, our relationship with our King grown cold, might we not be guilty of using spiritual lorem ipsum?

The Christian life should be more than filler, more than just meaningless activity for the sake of appearance (that's actually a good glimpse of what religion is all about). If all our "Christian practices" become empty, with no real content, then truly, our lives are in vain, and our testimony is worthless.

I pray your spiritual life would consist of more than lorem ipsum. For our walk with Christ is most certainly more than meaningless mumbo-jumbo from the pages of history.

(Originally published last year on another blog of mine, but I thought it was worthwhile enough to re-publish here).

let's try this again...

the sun arises

oh the beauty of a new sunrise...

newness awakes as the rays of the sun cascade down upon the earth...

I've tried blogging for a couple of years... and never managed to faithfully do it.

So, this is a fresh start. I'm going to merge all of my past posts on other blogs (both personal and ministry) into this one blog... hope you don't mind...

I tend to ramble, so I beg your kind indulgence in advance... but hopefully I shall overcome this nasty habit of mine...

I am also fairly random in my personality... just to forewarn you, reader of this blog...

I also am overly fond of the ellipsis... sorry...

here's to new beginnings, both virtual and physical...

-Rohn