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| "you can't help but be influenced by those around you..."
Ya - with all the things that offend me here at school, I find more
need of confession in my own prayer life of those same sins...
It is quite humbling and ironic that even though I notice and despise
evils about me, I find myself becoming inured to those very same vices.
In the words of my Moslem friend, "I am very much a sinner."
God help me.
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| Okay. this has been really bugging me for a while:
en·cour·age  ( P ) Pronunciation Key ( n-kûr  j, -k r-)
tr.v. en·cour·aged, en·cour·ag·ing, en·cour·ag·es
- To inspire with hope, courage, or confidence; hearten.
- To give support to; foster: policies designed to encourage private investment.
- To stimulate; spur: burning the field to encourage new plant growth.
cour·age ( P ) Pronunciation Key (kûrj, kr-)
n.
- The
state or quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger,
fear, or vicissitudes with self-possession, confidence, and resolution;
bravery.
Now, when I hear people in chapel say "I really encourage you to
__________" or "I would just encourage you to _________," I think that
just about EVERY TIME they really mean, "I suggest to you that you
should __________." Ever notice that you don't feel encouraged to do what someone suggests to you when their "encouragement" consists of "I encourage you to..."
You know what that is? LAZY SPEECH and BAD PREACHING. Like,
if you're gonna encourage people, DO IT! PREACH!
EXHORT! CONVINCE! REBUKE! BE PASSIONATE!!!
It utterly deflates me to hear people droan on, "I just encourage
you....blablabla...don't make that your stay here at the Master's
College... I encourage you to consider this... blablabla..."
Yes, the truth is encouraging in and of itself. But when only the
truthfulness of scripture in what someone says is meant to encourage
people, they can't take credit for it; to say "I just encourage you"
means that the person speaking is doing the encouraging. If they
aren't, they may as well just say "God encourages you to ______," or
ACTUALLY take the TIME TO ENCOURAGE. Like, does anyone remember
what it feels like to be encouraged?
You know what REALLY encourages me? Passion. Not mere
suggestion; "food for thought" is not encouraging to me. I think
that if I have to take the time to encourage myself after a sermon with
what was spoken, although true it may be, the speaker was a bit lazy,
or maybe just a poor preacher.
You know who a good preacher is? Ray Comfort! And Trent Douglass! Johnny Mac too!
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| my heart beats with painful steadiness. Its anthem wears my spirit to defeat:
uncertainty. desire.
uncertainty.
pain.
fear. uncertainty.
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| I wish all clocks were invisible for a day.
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| I saw the enemy tonight, moving in the hallway of my dorm. This
time it was blatant - dark, and obvious. I knew something was
going on. And something was. I mean I knew someone was
doing something they shouldn't. Then I saw it. My friends were in compromise. And I didn't say anything about
it. I joined in. How stupid is that.
I'm so angry right now. I just hate
myself. There was a time when I wouldn't put up with things like
that... I used to be different - I remember telling my friends to drop
those kinds of things - I remember refusing to let it happen in my
apartment. I remember having backbone.
I have no convictions anymore. I've just sort of... given up.
I hate myself.
I want this to end.
I've seen the enemy parade around enough. The Lord rebuke
him! I'm sick of compromising. I'm sick of silencing my
conscience. I'm sick of saying nothing while I watch my brothers
sin. And I'm sick of joining to share in the deeds of compromise.
"Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure." 1Timothy 5:22
"This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the
prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a
good warfare;
Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck" -1Timothy1:18-19
"God blessed is a man of conviction." - The Get Up Kids, man of conviction
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