Listen and learn

In the church today, there are a number of things people argue over. The wide range consists of music, liturgy, doctrine, pastors, deacons and anything that can be argued over. Because if it can be argued, it will be argued when you get a group of people in the same room enough times. One of the hot button issues is of course, tongues. I'm not going to get into the theology of tongues because it is a waste of time (i speak english, thats enough for me). But the Corinthians had a different view on it. The Corinthian church (who the apostle Paul wrote to on two occasions) was very distracted by the things of this world. All throughout 1 Corinthians, Paul is rebuking and instructing the Church at Corinth for adultery among leaders, causing strife, refusing to discipline a member among other things. But to me the most interesting is his instruction to them on the subject of spiritual gifts, specfically tongues. Evidently the Corinthians had been inquiring about tongues (most likely due to the fact that the events at Pentecoast had by now been known for some time) and how they could be able to speak in tongues. In chapter 14, Paul responds by informing them that the gift of prophesy is a much greater gift, because the prophet speaks truth directly to the people and unless a speaker of tongues has an interpreter, no one understands them but God. He goes on about this for a while, because the church at Corinth was in shambles, and was focused on the completely wrong thing. They were so enveloped by the romantic and fascinating idea of speaking in tongues, that they were ignoring the fact that they really just needed to hear truth. If any of them would have practiced prophecy, and rebuked those living in sin and the church that accepted it, they would have been able to move onto becoming a productive vessel of the Gospel. Instead, Paul had to do it for them and as a friend of mine calls it, "Bible smack" them. He references Isaiah and tells them of when the Israelites refused all the prophets teaching and went on living in sin. God allowed the Assyrians ("Men of foreign tongues") to come and conquer them. The Israelites did not listen to their own prophets when they spoke because they did not believe it to be abything special and that the way they were living was completely alright. Paul uses this reference to show the Corinthians that they did not need men who speaks tongues, but to just listen to those speaking the truth with them! If only we, as the modern church, would stop listening to those who speak heresies and weak doctrine. The people who stand up and say sin is alright because Christ died for all. Listen to the prophets among you, who are pointing you towards the Lord. Do not wait for the fantastic sign from God (i.e. tongues) to rebuke you. From my point of view, it is a fantastic sign from God that there is anyone who knows the truth anymore, that has not been morally defeated by our sinful and infective culture. We need to correct ourselves, and keep our eyes focused on the example Christ set for us. We won't get many chances to listen. The number of men willing to stand up and speak the truth is only going to get smaller. Make sure that when you hear one, and hopefully you'll know them by their love and speech, you try and apply what they say to your heart. I know, that when I finally face God, I don't want to have to tell Him that i heard the truth hundreds of times, but never took the time to listen, because I was waiting for something more "fantastic". The only thing He could say in response is that nothing, will ever be more fantastic than the truth.


1 Corinthians 14:20-21 Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature. In the Law it is written, "BY MEN OF STRANGE TONGUES AND BY THE LIPS OF STRANGERS I WILL SPEAK TO THIS PEOPLE, AND EVEN SO THEY WILL NOT LISTEN TO ME," says the Lord.

Washing of the feet

In John 13, Jesus and the disciples take time to go into the upper room to have a meal. Looking back, we realize that this is what we know as the "Last Supper". This takes place on Maunday Thursday, or the night before Good Friday when Jesus is crucified. Before the disciples and Jesus made their way to the upper room, the disciples had been arguing about who would be the greatest in Heaven among them. Look around, this happens every day in our culture. How often do we spend our conversations trying to one-up each other. I know i have a problem with that, and the only way to take care of that problem is to remember one word: humility. Upon their arrival into the upper room, no one volunteered to wash anyone's feet. It was mandated in that culture that the house slave would wash the feet of vistors coming into the house. The disciples of rabbis were far above this duty. So because it was necessary (their feet were nasty) Jesus did it. Now imagine, God in human flesh, wrapping a towel around his waist, getting down on his knees and washing your feet. If you and your roommates were arguing about who had to do the dishes, and Jesus walked in, shook his head at you and did them for you, you would feel arrogant. This is how the disciples felt. They recognized the fact that their rabbi was humbling himself well beyond the cultural standards, and they recognized that they should have been the ones to do this. Mission accomplished. Jesus teaches the disciples the value of humility. Wrong, theres more. Jesus was being crucified the very next day. He knew this, and still took time to show love and humility to the ones that would carry on after he was gone. Done. They take communion and all is well. Nope. The most beautiful part of this story is something that most people never realize. Jesus washed Judas' feet. The man that, before the night was over would leave and lead the authorities to arrest of Jesus. Jesus lowered himself lower than the one who betrayed him. What an amazing picture of what real humility is all about. It isn't about not bragging about something you're good at. It isn't making sure you don't boast over money or awards. It is lowering yourself so far, that you can't see that the person you're serving talks behnd yur back alot, or cussed you out the day before. Jesus is all about love, and he never ever missed a chance to show it.

John 13:14- Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet.

After, 1,000 years in the west and the churches
gettin bigger daily without understand'n worship.
Some regenerate but a lot ain't saved.You walk outside
and be surprised cuz the block ain't changed

Lately I have been listening to Christian rap. Kinda funny, because i'm as white as someone can get. But really, some of these guys have some serious stuff to say, and for the most part their lyrics trump a lot of the things you find in most worship songs. The excert above is from Lecrae's song "Send me". He makes an amazing point that has been bothering me for a long time. We, in America, think that our church is supreme and that American Christianity is the pinnacle of faith and giving and no other can represent what the Body of Christ should look like other than us. False. I don't know what the church really should look like ideally, but it isn't what we see every Sunday. We are so selfish and pompous as a culture, and we carry that with us into church every day. We don't understand true worship, because not too many of us know what it is like to really need God. Our materialism takes care of that. We want change, but we don't take the proper actions to attain it. If we truly wanted to worship God and show Him our love, we need to be serious about it and not expect it to happen because we go to church or a Christian university. Jesus' sacrifice was much too serious for us to take our faith and life lightly. If you are claiming to be a Christian, and don't act like Jesus taught you to act, you could be misleading hundreds of people to think that being a Christian is something completely different from what it really is. Jesus loves all of us. That doesn't mean he agrees with everything we do. Pluralistic thoughts that teach that grace means we can go do whatever we want are wrong. Grace isn't for when we jump into sin consciously. Grace is for when we fall and can't help ourselves recover. This has been my most scatter brained post because I don't know how to convey to people that most of the things that American Christians say is completely wrong. I hope that no one thinks i am being intolerant or any f those politically correct bad words. If i am, so be it. A true gospel presentation is the most loving, offensive thing someone can say. If we want to change the world, we can't do it on our own. We can't even do it together. It's only when you ut everything down, and let Jesus come in and change everything can you really get true change. Jesus didn't come so we could help ourselves, He came so we would stop trying to.

1 John 2:3- This is how we know that we know Him, that we follow His commandments

God is our salvation

For those of you who don't have an amazing girlfriend/boyfriend who loves you, i urge to try and find one. My lovely girlfriend recently decided she was going to buy me a Keyword Study Bible. For those of you who don't know, that is like the Cadillac of study Bibles. I am kind of giddy waiting for it to come in, because i'm looking forward to being able to read it, and dive in to the scripture and have all those study tools at the tips of my fingers. I am a Bible geek, and I love it. When people ask me what my favorite parts of the Bible are, I find myself usually citing things from the Old Testament. Obviously my favorite event in the Bible is the Gospel story. But I love the Old Testament too. Some people may never read the Old Testament because it is automatically boring. I assure not all of the books in it are like Leviticus and Numbers. A lot of people think that the Old Testament is invalid because Jesus is the New Covenant, therefore everything in the Old Testament is void because Jesus said so. Not true. I learn just as much from books like Joshua then i do Paul's epistles. A general understanding of the Old Testament is almost necessary for a minimal understanding of the New Testament. For instance, my favorite picture in the Old Testament is Joshua leading the Israelites into the promised land after forty long years in the wilderness. The Israelites were led out of Egypt by God, with Moses being acting as their leader the entire way. During these forty years they worshiped false idols, complained about the leadership of Moses and did the opposite of pretty much everything God said. For this reason, God did not allow any of the people who left Egypt (even Moses) to enter the land that He had promised Abraham hundreds of years before. Instead, God waited until all of them died, to let their children enter the promised land. Joshua was chosen to take over for Moses. The interesting thing is, that in Hebrew Joshua is actually Yehoshua. Yeh being an abbreviated version of Yahweh (the Hebrew sacred name for God) and Shua meaning "Salvation". The most interesting thing about it is, in Greek "Yehoshua" is written "Jesus". Joshua and Jesus share the same name, and that name means "God is salvation". Joshua leads his people into the land that had been promised to them by God, underneath the banner "God is salvation". Jesus is going to do the same thing! Jesus came here proclaiming "I am salvation!". One day, when He comes back for us, He will gather His people and lead them into the land God has promised us, all the while proclaiming "God is our salvation!". God is our salvation people! It is all over the New Testament, but did you know it was in the Old Testament too! The entire Bible points to us putting our faith in Jesus and depending on Him to take us back to God. Please, look at what you believe and figure out if you're really letting jesus lead you back to God. Are you putting your faith into Him so that one day you will end up in the promised land, or are you just attending church and going to Bible studies so that you lead a moral life. None of it matter is you are not carrying that banner that says "God is our Salvation!". The Old Testament has a lot to teach, start looking.

Joshua 1:9- "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

From Heaven

So, once again i have not posted in a long while. This time it wasn't my fault though. E-Blogger wouldn't let me sign in for about a week and a half. Shows what they think about me. This post is going to be very basic, but still i want to offer up a really valuable concept. Things that come from Heaven. Off the top of your head, you could probably come up with a few things that came from Heaven. When the Israelites were in the wilderness, they were fed with manna from Heaven. When Elijah was on Mt. Carmel, fire reigned down from Heaven and engulfed the sacrifices on the altar. Jesus came from Heaven, He was there from creation until he descended to Earth to be with us. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came from Heaven and placed itself on the believers. What is the common theme? It would be easy to say that they all came from Heaven, but there is a much deeper and more important constant in play. God provided what we needed, when we needed it. From Heaven. The Israelites needed food and nourishment, He provided a mysterious heavenly food that gave them what they needed to get through the day. On Mt. Carmel, Elijah needed God to show up and show that He was Lord, and that Baal was fake. He did, and did it in a way that any of us would be anxious to see. The Jews had been waiting for a savior for a long time. God gave them one. Jesus came down from Heaven and provided exactly what we needed. A bridge between us and God that was never going to collapse. Not even we could mess it up. The disciples needed a guide, the church needed unity and everyone needed the power and wisdom of God to proclaim the message Christ had left for them to spread. Tongues of fire descended on them, and 3000 people accepted the gospel and were saved. God is completely able to give us what we need. We try so hard to obtain it on our own, and we insist on things happening now. Be constantly looking for God working in your life. God gives us our daily bread, even when we don't ask for it. God proves His existence in all our lives every day, but we are too blinded by pride and business to see it. Christ is calling out your name, wanting you to experience the love of God through the sacrifice He gave on the cross. But you won't listen because you don't like religion and think there is no use for Jesus. The Spirit wants to fill you and minister to you, helping you throughout each day with the presence of God but we have filled ourselves with ambition and conceit. God wants to provide for you! Just like every good husband and father wants to provide for the ones he loves, He wants to give you all that you need and more! Become humble and accept it. I'm working on it, lets all do it together and this world would be a much better place.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Following His footsteps

Praise God! Bless His name and thank Him for everything He has done in your life so far. If you go to Liberty you may be in the same attitude of worship I am in right now because of what has been happening on our campus the past two days. For those of you who aren't here with me, let me just tell you that the Lord is working in amazing ways here at LU right now, and many people have found salvation, been reconciled in their faith, or maybe like me have just found that the attitude of worship is just the best attitude to have. Tonight we sang one of my favorite songs at church, and i feel like i have to share it with anyone who is willing to read this blog. "Give me one pure and holy passion. Give me one magnificent obsession. Give me one glorious ambition for my heart, to know and follow hard after you. To know and follow hard after you. To grow as your disciple in your truth. Cause this world is empty pale and poor, compared with knowing you my Lord. Lead me on, and I will run after you. Lead me on and I will run after you". That song is so amazing, a great summation of how our attitude towards God should be. When i go to God in prayer, and have no idea what to say sometimes i will just sing that song. My favorite part of it is when it says "follow hard after you". I emphasized the word "hard" because there is a huge reason why it is included in the song. If you have salvation through Jesus Christ, you're not called to simply walk after Jesus. He said "Come to me". He did not say "slowly make your way to me, while taking small breaks to fall into sin". It reminds me of the visualization that Paul Washer gives of following his dad through the snow. He tries so hard to match his fathers footsteps, but the strides are too long for his little legs. He keeps falling over, and getting up and immediately tries to match the next step. It's ridiculous because the boy won't be able to match his steps. His legs are too short, and he doesn't have the stamina to walk that fast. But if you were to watch him do that, watch him fall over and get up over and over again, you would know exactly what his intentions are. To follow as close as he possibly can to his father. That is how we need to follow Jesus. That is following hard after him. I love Jesus, but i don't show it nearly enough. I don't follow him as close as i can, none of us do. Pray that you can keep your eyes fixed on Him, so that no matter how many times you fall you can always get up and continue to follow.

John 11:16- Then Thomas said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, so that we may die with Him."

This is the time...

If you don't know me, there is something you might want to understand. Sometimes i will have random thoughts and ideas that i will become really excited about, and will want to share with as many people as possible. I guess this is good, because i hope to eventually preach and teach for a living, and that seems like a good quality for that line of work. Today I had one of those moments, and instead of trying to get people to listen to me i think i'll just write about it here and hope people actually take the time to read this. I was sitting at lunch, and the people i was with were talking about the presidential election. Obviously the most popular topic right now. They were talking about "our generation". They were saying that our generation doesn't know what they want. They do not understand anything more then the campaign slogans that these politicians spit out hoping that no one will dive much deeper then "Change" or "Straight-talk express". Our generation does not want to have to research the views and opinions of these politicians, they just want what seems best for themselves and the people around them. I have to say that after hearing all this, i agree completely. The cool thing to do today is activism. Become angry about something, and hold a sign that says so. Now before you turn off your computer thinking that this is just another political rant by someone who doesn't know anything about politics let me tell you something. My realization wasn't about politics, or about slogans or bumper stickers or protesting. It was about what we should be spending our time doing. Is it wise to enter the streets with picket signs protesting something that may be inevitable? No. Is it the best decision to enter arguments that you will lose, just to say that you didn't give up. Definitely not. I do not think that the wise decision has anything to do with yelling and screaming your views aloud to the world, but instead, this is the time to close your door, find quiet away from your roommates and friends, and open up scripture and focus on the betterment of your relationship with God through Christ Jesus. My relationship with God is not dependent on what box i will check in November, or what organization I support on Facebook. Our decisions should not be made based upon popular opinion and who is most vocal about their views. Our views and beliefs should be the product of quiet reflection and prayer, and listening to the voice of God through His word and movement in our lives. If our generation stopped thinking eloquent speeches and unblemished voting records were the source of change, and realized that true change comes from God, we would be the most enlightened people ever. If we realized that no man can consistently ride the straight talk express without falling, and understood that the most honest person was Jesus Christ when He said "I am the Way, I am the Truth, I am the Life and no man will come to the Father but through Me"(John 14:6). Find time to reflect on the truly important things. Christ does not have a term limit, and we definitely didn't have to vote for Him. He is on His throne for a reason, because He is the only one deserving to sit there.

"It will cost something to walk slow in the parade of the ages, while excited men of time rush about confusing motion with progress. But it will pay in the long run and the true Christian is not much interested in anything short of that."- A.W. Tozer

Acrosstics

The purpose of the title "Sunday with Jenkins" is that ideally i would like to write here every Sunday. Sorry about last Sunday, i was kinda busy learning how to spell words using bigger much more meaningful words. To those of you who do not understand what i'm saying, you are obviously not a student leader at Liberty University. Our campus pastors love teaching us very deep ideas, using acrosstics. I may be spelling that wrong, but i don't care. I found out by the second day of training, that i absolutely hate acrosstics. I don't know if it is because they're cheesy, or because they take pretty deep issues and cram them into 3 or 4 letter words. Issues that take a long time to explain should not be crammed into 3 or 4 letter words. That is why they take a long time to explain. It isn't all bad though. The week has been fun too, though. Getting to hangout with my girlfriend, my friends from last year and getting to meet and hangout with a great sister dorm. Like i said in my last post, i don't wanna complain or focus on the negative. This week has been really tiring (mentally and physically), but it has been completely worth it. Being a part of a community focused on Christ is more refreshing than most things you could experience ever. People with prayer on the front of their minds, people who refuse to do anything but push you to be better. If you're not surrounding yourself with people like that, you are not seeking the best for yourself. I had one of my brothers come wake me up for a optional morning prayer time. I made excuses as to why i couldn't go, only because i really wanted to just sleep. I was kindly met with a "JENKINS GET UP!" I automatically got up got dressed and went, and it was the most uplifting time of prayer i have had in a long time. I felt closer to God in that time then i had all week. I would have never gone on my own that day, I needed my brother to come and show me tough love. So as this year starts i am going to continue to surround myself with people who will push me closer to God when moving is the last thing i want to do. I am also going to make sure I am being that person for others. So i guess the theme that resonates in my head looking at this post is that there is no such thing as "Christian self-help". Don't ever let anyone tell you different. The point of the Gospel, is that we can't help ourselves.

Proverbs 27:17- Iron sharpens iron, so does one man sharpen another

Inauguration Day

I've never been interested in blogging. Seems silly, useless and pretty unoriginal. It probably is, but someone i respect a great deal does it and suggested that i start doing it too. Sometimes a suggestion from a friend is more powerful than logic. Lately it has seemed as if i have a lot of things to say but no medium to say them. This could be useful. It will hopefully be like shouting into an empty room, knowing that no one will hear you. I am getting ready to go back to school. Liberty University, the most exciting school on Earth.I am really excited for this year. Beginning my ministry as an SLD, starting my Bible classes, getting to hangout with my girlfriend and various assortment of good friends at school. A lot of people i know are dreading going back to school. I am thankful that i am in an environment that i can learn, be challenged, grow and have a lot of fun all at the same time. Life is what you make it. If i went back to school complaining of the rules, the work i have to do, the fact that i have to pay a lot of money for it, i would be setting myself for disaster. Complaining gets you nowhere. I have gotten to the point where I am very aware of what is coming out of my mouth. This is both good and bad, because it helps me keep myself in check. It also lets me know that if i say something hurtful or immature, it wasn't just a slip of the tongue. James 3 warns against using your words in a hurtful or immature way. A guy i love and respect showed me a good example of James 3. A group i was a part of was hanging out, talking and gossiping (it is more then just spreading rumors, so you know) and he walked up. A member of the group asked him to expand upon a funny question we had all been answering about other people who were not in the group. He quickly answered "No, in no way is that uplifting". A awkward hush fell over the group, until i changed the subject. Thinking about it though, my friend did the right thing. What is the point of speaking in anything other then encouraging and loving words? That is definitely a practice I am going to carry with me back to school. That is why i try my best not to complain about anything. God has blessed me with so much, i have no right to complain about anything. The second i complain, i am no longer being uplifting. I may become the "Debbie-Downer" of conversations, but refusing to speak anything with an attitude other than love is not worth opening my mouth.

James3:9-12 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Much love,

Jenkins
Joshua 3:5