There is an epidemic in this world…

…and it may not be what you think it is. No, I am not talking about obesity, which ravages the countless overweight people of our country and keeps the fast food giants comfortably afloat. No, I am not talking about the many diseases that run ramped amongst millions of people in our world. And no, I am not even talking about abortion. This epidemic has caused, and will cause, all of these to take place; this epidemic is called SIN.

I have never been through a real crisis of epidemic proportions before. I have heard of them and have seen them on the TV, or so I thought. Never did I realize that sin was the biggest epidemic of them all until I began to know Christ and have a relationship with him.

Growing up was a time when I subconsciously thought I could do enough good to make up for all the bad. The only problem with that notion is that there no amount of good that we can do to make up for the amount of bad. Most of this had to do with the gnostic and works based religious upbringing.

But back to this sin thing. If you are reading this and saying, “What in the world is he talking about?” Sin is a transgression of the law of God…the Ten Commandments, the Law of Moses, the…well, you get the point. If you go and look at them you will see that you probably have broken a number of them. “Oops! I guess I am bad then…”. Yup, you are. The first step is admitting it. Get that pride out of the way because it will hold you back like a spiderweb on a mosquito. Ok, fantastic…now I really feel good about myself. What now?

When an epidemic comes about in an area, immediate action is taken to correct and contain it. People in masks and hazmat outfits, immunizations and shots of all kinds, and measures are taken so that the least amount of people are affected. Why so frantic? Well, they realized that whatever it was it needed to be stopped.

The book of Romans is one of my favourite books in the whole Bible. It tells us over and over how to rid ourselves of sin. I think this is the only how-to manual anywhere on what to do to get rid of an epidemic. What is the cure? Simply Christ. Because Christ died a brutal death, he covered our sin, paid our fine and gave us a chance to realize that we are dirty rotten sinners. Repentance to and trust in the all sovereign God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the cure.

Romans 5:21
So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 6:6
We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.

Romans 6:13
Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

There. So the only cure for this is epidemic is Jesus.

“But what about the Law?”

What about it? If you do not believe that Jesus is the cure, then you will be up to your eyeballs in sin and you ill be judged by the Law. Submit to Christ and the epidemic is cured.

Hold on, I left something out. Just because we are with Christ does not mean that our lives will get rosie; in fact, they may get tougher since the epidemic is still going to be running out of control around you…amongst your friends, family and acquaintances.  So if you are always trying to avoid the epidemic it will always be evaded. This is done through Jesus.

Sometimes the epidemic looks better than the cure. Hmmm, kinda weird, but it does happen. We look away from the Saviour and things that do not jive with Jesus seem to be more enticing…because they feed the flesh, so to speak. We fall away…

If we know Jesus, this may be a slip up. Because we love him and he loves us, we will be sorrowful for what we have done and be ashamed…he will take us back and we will learn our lesson. Look away and fall away. No matter how many times we fail, he will always be there to pick us up.

Life as a Christian, not an Adventist...

Hey everyone!

I have finally gotten back to the point where I want to update my blog on a continual basis. Why? Well, for one thing this Facebook thing is getting way out of control and I believe that I will have more control of this kind of medium...sounds kinda silly, but it makes sense in my own head. So here I go again.

Ever since we moved here to St. Paul, I have been on an upward path. Focusing on the King of kings and Lord of lords and putting my full faith and trust in him...which required me to shed a number of things from my beliefs. I had to go from believing in a religion to believing in God and what he spoke of through his word. He has shown and revieled himself to Kelsie and I in so many ways.

Right now we are doing a Bible study called "The Way of the Master" by Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort. More and more I am seeing how important it is to share the gospel...which is to repent and trust in God. Not to give your heart to him and expect your life to be better-that is the prosperity gospel-but to give every aspect of your life to him and depend on him for everything. I have spent all my lifebefore St. Paul trying to earn grace by keeping the Ten Commandments that Jesus fulfilled on the cross. After reading so many verses in the Bible about this very thing in its right context, (Romans, Hebrews , etc) I can fully trust that I am saved after using the 10 commandments as a mirror to make me realize how much I need the saviour.

Many of my friends who are Adventist may look at this as backsliding or worse than someone who has never known and believed the Adventist doctrine. That is ok. I can deal with that. My faith is fully in Christ. My rest is in him. My sin has been covered by his blood. I am saved. I am going to heaven when I die...and yes there is a real Hell...if you do not follow Christ you will burn in it forever. I will not "sleep" until Jesus comes, I will meet him in heaven when I die.

I love Jesus more than ever. He is the way, truth and the life...nothing else is.

So I guess you could call me a former Adventist if you wish, but I call myself a follower of Christ. My Mom looked up what the Alliance Church doctrine was, and started picking away at it. I go to my church because at its core is repentance and trust in Jesus...not the old covanent laws of Moses.

I am really looking forward to publishing more on this blog, and want to use it as a tool for Jesus Christ and the spreading of his gospel.

In Him,

Aaron

Sleep is Good

So I have been really getting to bed early these last couple of days, and actually have been very tired. For some reason, I have been having a hard time falling asleep. I have done everything possible to try to get some zzzz's, but alas, nothing will work.

This morning as I was getting up 15 minutes before I had to leave for work, I laid in my bed and had a thought that struck square between the eyes...Satan wants me to stay awake so that I will not have enough time to get into the word in the morning. So I now know that Satan can work from both ends...not just in the moment but also in planning ahead.

Tonight I will get into the word as well.

AP

Christmas Time

Usually during the Christmas season I feel very empty. The holiday comes to a close and I then have to start the hum drum of everyday life. I dreaded the end. This year was different.

Was it because I got what I wanted for Christmas? Nope, my new Taylor acoustic guitar was not under the tree. Is it because I went to a hot country for the holidays? Nope, I am as white as the paper in my printer...there is no tan. Is it because I did something good for someone this holiday? Well, my attitude is not dependent on doing good deeds, so nope.

Lately I have not been afraid to share my faith to others. The past month has been an incredible shift in my thinking. Leading people to Christ is the most important thing you can do in your lifetime...nothing else is more important to the human race.

I have been listening to Todd Friel on Sirius 161 for the past couple of months on a regular basis. He presents the gospel so clear that, even if you are an unbeliever, you have no choice but to think about your life. The one thing that people do not want to hear is that they are sinners and that every sin they commit is like a rotting carcass...in other words dirty and filthy. Doing good things and being a "good" person is not going to cut it because he is a very just God. We have to realize that we need a saviour and acknowledge that he needs to save us. This means dying to oursleves and repenting, or turning away, from our sins.

But you may say, " Well, I haven't really committed any bad sins...hmmm, you are so wrong. Take a look at the ten commandments. These were given to act as a mirror. Have you lied? Even just once? Then you have broken the law and should be condemmed to Hell. Have you lusted after someone of the opposite sex? Jesus says if you do this you have committed adultery in your heart. Another one broken. Have you stolen? Another one broken. Have you ever gotten angry at someone? Jesus says this is committing murder in your heart. Another one broken.

I could go on, but if you have broken any of God's Laws, you should go straight to Hell when you die. "But this is so bad...my life is over!!", you may say. But the sick person needs to know that they have a disease before they can hear that they can be healed. The good news is this:

God sent his son Jesus and he was put up on a cross. He paid the fine for all of us so that all sin- past, present and future- would be cleared. It is up to us accept him and turn away from our sin and give him control of our lives. This is the good news of the Gospel...nothing else. Once we do this, we are assured eternal life with the God of the universe.

The Christmas season was the start of salvation. If there is no birth, there is no Easter. If there is no Easter, there is no savior. No savior, we all are lost.

I know it may be a bit late for this, but if you are still celebrating Christmas, think about what you are celebrating and take this very seriously. Give hin the glory...

The Sound of Music

So tonight I finnished the second of four concerts this week. This week every year is just crazy every single year, especially this year since one of our vital staff members is on the mend and unable to be there.

I am always nervous when concert time comes around. Not because I think I am going to look bad, but because I want my students to perform to the best of their abilities.

Tonight went really well...I have a lot of grade 7 students who are ready to take it to the next level, and a good group of grade 8/9 students that can take the reigns if needed.

I love my kids.

I Make Mistakes.

The other day I made a huge mistake. I did not realize it was so huge until I heard through the "grapevine" that these people were upset with me for what I had done. At first I was angry that people were talking behind my back. This was a very silly thing to do, since this only makes the situation worse in my mind and take the focus off of the real problem...ME!!

I think all of us have tried to justify a situation we have been in or try to deflect the blame we get on to someone else during a certain point in our lives. What does that do? Well, it could do a number of things. But admitting that we are wrong and confessing to the person that we wronged right away will not only make you fell better, but put the other person at ease as well.

When I was about 13 years old, I broke my best friend's arm. I kicked him with a baseball cleat and snapped his forearm for no apparently good reason at all. I really do not remember what happened after that, but I know there was a lot of resentment for a while. I felt awful about it, and even now I don't know if I ever asked for his forgiveness. Dean, if you are reading this, I am so sorry...I was so wrong in my actions. Please forgive me if you haven't already.

So what did I do with the recent problem? Well, nothing yet. I plan on talking with the people involved and admitting my wrong. This is much harder to do than it sounds, but in order fo me to go on in this life I need to have the humility of Christ and always put others first.

Half Truth?

Yesterday, I was plagued with the doubt...yes, THE Doubt.I have gone through some catastrophic change in my personal relationship with Christ. I have not been reading my Bible lately, and I know there is no excuse for that...and I know that this is the root of the doubt.I have to be careful about what or who I listen to as well if I do not read the word. The Devil will try to get his foothold into the depths of my mind as long as that is happening.

So the other day someone told me that I was not saved. This really surprised me, since he is a very knowledgeable christian man. He also has a lot of zeal, and some of it I believe to be misdirected. Just as I thought I was getting away from those kind of people, God puts then in front of me to challenge my faith.

After growing up in a religion that tells you that you never know if you will be saved until the day that Christ comes back, my ears really perked up when I heard these words...'"You are not saved." I really thought about it and the verse that always comes back to mind is John 3:16-

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

Now I don't know about you, but to me this seems very clear. If you believe in Christ (which if you believe in something you accept it to be true) you will have eternal life...or SAVED!!

I need to do more reading, but I do know that I have the assurance that Christ is my savior and I do believe in Him...I do not want to do anything against his will. If I do, I will repent and try to never do it again. But he will accept me back if I have accepted him.

So do I have the doubt anymore? No, I do not.