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| I have had the opportunity recently to attend a few sermons and testimonies from well known people. Last Tuesday I was able to listen to Rob Bell speak at Uptown Theatre while on his ‘The Gods Aren’t Angry Tour’. He was exciting to listen to. Rob talked for a little over an hour and a half about sacrifices and I was engaged the entire time. He has a way of speaking that makes you want to listen. His knowledge of the Hebrew language along with scores of ancient religions is something you do not get to hear very often.
Yesterday I was able to hear Brian Welch, a founding member of the nu metal band Korn, give his testimony. He radically gave his life to Christ and made a 180 degree turn. He quit the band and stopped his drug addictions cold-turkey. What surprised me most was that he gave up a multi-million bonus from a record label because God said, ‘Get out now!’. I’m not sure I could have turned away that much money but Brian was greatly rewarded in faith and joy because of his decision.
Last Friday I went to the Louisburg vs. Holton football game with Katie. I was able to see my family and a few friends from high school. The game was great one to watch. Katie and I got to Holton early and were able to get front row seats for the game. Louisburg defeated Holton 10 – 3. They play again this Friday at home, but I wont able to be there unless I can get someone to take my spot in a skit a few people are performing for Central Baptist Seminary.
This Wednesday I’m going to go to KSU to a along awaited Smooth Criminal reunion. I have no idea what we will do yet, but I have no doubt that it will be a blast. Hopefully I will have caught up on some homework by then. I have several religion projects that I need to start and finish. Lately I’ve been on a homework binge so I hope I’ll have enough momentum to get everything finished.
I’m anticipating a huge Christmas break backpacking trip to Puerto Rico with Cameron. We haven’t purchased the tickets yet and we don’t really have a plan, but that’s alright; we’re college guys. Swimming in a bioluminescent bay, hiking the rainforest, and visiting some friends I met several years ago down there are a few of our objectives.
Those highlights above are awesome but they were only the optimistic aspects of my life. A few things have been deeply troubling me at the home front at school but mention of those troubles would fuel the fire of several drama kings and queens. All in all life has treated me pretty well and I am truly blessed to be where I am. I’m starting to look for a summer internship to get my foot in the door with ministry. I would like to do something mission and/or youth oriented so if you have an idea or an opportunity please let me know.
jason sullivan
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My posts keep on getting further and further apart. I’ll give Xanga one last go-around. It’s about time I change some of the
settings on here as well. I’ve already
moved back into the dorms and I’m ready for school to begin. It’s going to be a crazy semester but I’m
ready to take it on. Here’s some stuff
to catch you up on my summer and last part of the semester.
The last semester has been the craziest six months of my
life; friendships have been shattered, life-paths altered, and a wave of responsibility
has been put on top of my head. Most of
my Xanga circle is well aware of the relational drama going on at Ottawa and
have even added their own piece to help stir controversy so there is no reason
to resurface everything again publicly.
If you would like to know anything come talk to me or send me a
message.
I did not return to New Orleans this summer as I would have
liked. I spent the summer working
through OU on a camp team that went out to six church camps in Kansas, Iowa,
Nebraska, and Illinois. It was a great
opportunity to gain leadership skills but this summer will probably be the
first and last time I ever do something like Camp Team. I couldn’t stand not knowing the director,
theology, and schedule until I was there.
I had some really great directors and camps as well as some horrible
ones. I learned something from all of
them, good and bad, so I can mark this summer down as a positive experience.
Surge voted me as one of the co-directors this year on a
very split decision. I believe Surge
will have a rough start but straighten out and become an influential Christian
ministry on campus once again.
I had a few days off last week so I took a trip down
to Arkansas to visit family and friends.
Cameron and I went cliff jumping one day and it was awesome. The cliffs were only 15 feet or so but we
also climbed back up them after we jumped off. We were able to make jump-grabs
and climb stuff we wouldn’t normally climb because there was water below us. It was pretty tough but a whole lot of fun.
Jason Sullivan
There are two kinds of evil in this world; the evil that men do and the evil that results when good men do nothing. | | |
| The time is coming for my next
update. A lot has happened in a
month. I went back to New Orleans with
two friends, had another amazing experience and got to reconnect with some of
the people I had left behind. More than
likely I will return, but I have no idea when.
I feel like in a month I have
grown so much in knowledge and in faith.
With that said I do not feel like I have made any giant leaps in the
area of faith. I feel like I have reverted
back to some of my lost roots as well as opened some of the vast doors that
have overwhelmed me. Everything is
becoming more real, more unexplainable and more complicated. I guess that is life’s road to maturity.
I think God is showing me that
patience is extremely important even when it is my furthest desire. I was set up with an amazing girl a few
weeks back. My initial thought was
“Man, this girl is so passionate about God and her faith, and she’s beautiful
as well. Go for it quick before I lose
her!!”. If I spent all my time and
energy [money and even emotions] trying to woo her and nothing worked out
between us then what a waste it would be.
I think God is showing me that patience is much more logical. Patience would tell me to establish a
healthy friendship initially then if [it is God’s will] something springs forth
it will be much healthier than if I were to enter hurridly into a
relationship. I would rather end up
with a good friend than a brief memory.
This girl has helped me along with
my personal relationship with God and also with my patience problems, showing
me that patience is really want I need/want when it all comes to an end. You say that my intentions are wrong because
my underlying goal is not my faith but the girl. It seems that way and to a point it may be true however I believe
people [member of the opposite sex], places [church building] and things [awe
of nature] can point others towards Christ, and can also provide accountability
and insight.
I have a friend that is struggling
[or hopefully struggling] with a large and confusing part of life. Beliefs have been changed and molded, I
believe, for the worse. Satan
masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). His ways can be perceived as good, but this
‘good’ is only numbing your sin until you are convinced there is nothing
wrong. I have said before that the
devil will tack on sin little by little and before you know what he has done
you are in deep. This is one avenue of
Pluralism.
Pluralism, in my humble opinion, is the religion
of Satan. I think America is turning to
a “feel good anything goes” religion.
It is very appealing but very wrong.
People tweak Christianity to legalize or justify their own sin or to try
to conform to everyone’s beliefs so no one is left out. The loss of a unified foundation and
cornerstone, Jesus and the Bible, has caused sin to wedge its way into our
churches and fragment it. Jason Sullivan | | |
| Thanks Jonathan, Carl and everyone else who posted and read my last note. [Check my facebook for Jonathan's comment] I
tried to answer a few of the questions but this [especially the last
part] is not complete. Again, read, comment, argue, whatever.
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Are your views the same now as they were before?
My views on these subjects along with several others have been molded
and shaped, bent and twisted but not broken. You could call this road I
have traveled maturing. I hope that my views have been shaped Christ
and not by a pressuring secular worldview. The things that we do or
refrain from doing should not be to get the approval non-Christians or
Christians but to glorify God and build others up in Him.
A year
and a half ago I basically condemned smoking, cussing, and drinking. I
still ‘condemn’ smoking because lighting up cancer sticks and wasting
money is just plain foolish. Cussing along with drinking has a
different twist now than before. First with cussing; we have to
determine what ‘curse words’ are and who deemed those words as such.
Words convey our thoughts and give depth to our passions. With that
being said sometimes, sometimes cussing can have a beneficial effect.
One lyrical example comes to mind. In Where’d You Go by Fort Minor,
Mike Shinoda uses a few choice words to convey the pain, hurt and
passion between a father and son’s relationship. I listened to the
original as well as the edited version and I felt more depth and more
realness in the unedited version. The intent is more important than
word usage.
Now with this said I do not believe that a
Christian should use cuss words in everyday language. You should not
give any reason for a fellow believer to stumble (Romans 14:21). The
population as a whole has deemed certain words as swear words.
Christians should live above and beyond the standard (Romans 12:2).
Everyone looks and judges Christians more strictly (James 3:1); the
people who are taught that cussing is okay and people who are taught
that using swear words is the farthest thing from showing a Christ-like
life. Do I think that we can convey what we want to get across without
using cuss words? Most definitely. Do I think Christians should refrain
from using these words? In most cases yes, I do.
Americans
have abused alcohol so much that it has skewed our perception of
consuming any alcoholic beverage. Jesus’ first miracle was the turning
of water into wine (John 2:1-11). This was real wine, 12% or whatever,
not 120 proof stuff to get someone smashed. The whole idea of not
drinking alcohol because we are Christians is not scriptural.
Moderation and your intentions are key if you choose to drink. Again,
being watched and looked up to as a Christian leader can play a part in
a healthy decision to partake in a beverage of choice.
Being
an upright Godly example to non-Christians, new believers and ‘veteran’
believers is extremely important to me and should be the case with
every Christan. I do not necessarily believe that cussing and alcohol
are sins but their abuse certainly portrays them as such. Christian
leaders should keep their distance from grey areas. They teach others
and others will follow their example and thus will be judged more
strictly (James 3:1).
Have you conformed to your beliefs or
Christ? Explore the reluctancy of Christians who focus on Satan and not
on Christ as well as Christianity and Churchianity
I believe
that I have caught a glimpse of the secular world unlike I had a year
and a half ago. Jesus Christ is still my firm rock. I think He has let
me tread on grey area to learn; to learn about my own convictions and
beliefs, to break out on the mold as a Churchian and start gaining
knowledge, living and teaching as a Christian should.
In this
response/part two or whatever you will call it my focus has been on
‘sinful’ topics and things that a Christian should be wary of. It is
good to explore these but your overall focus should not be on negative
things or things that you have to slow down and watch your step around.
A Christian’s focus should be on Christ. It should be on sharing the
Good News and establishing a closer relationship with God to name a
few. When a person devotes all of their time on restrictions or laws
then they are not very effective. This is what the Pharisees did. They
had an incredible religion but a horrible relationship. Jesus broke the
Jewish law at the time by healing a man on the Sabbath (Mark 3:1-3).
Jesus was the ultimate Renaissance man who broke all of the molds of
the church and the relationship to God.
The church has become
a religion in itself. I read a shirt this summer that said, “I lost my
religion at camp”. At first glance I was taken back, but after closer
examination I saw that the shirt was absolutely amazing. The way that
non-Christians view Christianity is inaccurate. Some ‘Christians’ or
Churchians give the Christ movement [Christianity] a hypocritical name.
Denominations are a whole other version of the cancerous religion
disease.
Denominations in themselves are not a cancer.
Denominational sets of beliefs are a good thing, a code that the masses
can agree on and follow. It is when people tweak these codes to
‘legalize’ their sin. The loss of a unified foundation and cornerstone,
Jesus and the Bible, has caused sin to wedge its way into our churches
and needlessly fragment it | | |
| I love being home and not having any school work but it's starting to
bore me. I'll probably give another update before/after my New Orleans
trip.
I found an old word doc that I had written a year and a half ago that
dealt with being set apart. Check it out and add, comment, or disagree.
Jason Sullivan
_________________
Christians should be set apart from the world (Romans 12:2). There
should be a noticeable difference between Christians and
non-Christians. There is no need to strive to be accepted. Jesus has
accepted every person that has turned to Him.
It makes me sad when I see my Christian brothers and sisters trying to
conform to the world (Romans 12:2). You all have so much going for you
whether you know it or not. God already has a plan for you (Jeremiah
29:11). You don’t need to impress anyone. Standing up for what you know
is right, even if you don’t want to do it, is an awesome description of
your character. Non-Christians will hassle you in the beginning but
that will end when they know where you stand on a certain subject. They
will respect you, which feels much better than folding into whatever
worldly activity you are tempted to participate in. Doing something
might not be “wrong” but if you do it will you be hurting your
influence.
As a legal adult I choose not to smoke, because that will hurt my
influence and reputation. I don’t want anyone who looks up to me to
start smoking because they see me smoking and think that it’s fine for
them. Yes, some things are okay for some that are not okay for others
but as Christians we need to think of the bigger picture (Romans 14 and
15). There is always someone watching you. It takes years to build up a
solid respectable reputation but only seconds to completely destroy it.
Drinking is also a touchy subject because it says in the Bible that
Jesus drank wine. If you drink before you're 21, you are sinning by
breaking the law, and that displeases God. If you are of the legal age
you have to realize that you may be a stumbling block for others.
Moderation is a very good thing, but it is much more wise to not drink
entirely or do anything that would be cause others to fall (Romans
14:21).
Most everyone has become lax on their language. It’s true that they way
you talk and the way you dress can have a big part on how people
perceive you. As Christians we need and want to be more like Christ.
Don’t let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is
helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may
benefit those who listen (Ephesians 4:29). This verse doesn’t just
include cussing but also includes gossip and being disrespectful to
people.
Conforming to the world can also lead to being lukewarm. God would
rather you be a non-Christian than a lukewarm Christian (Revelation
3:15-16). When you are lukewarm you aren’t really expressing yourself.
You are fitting into the mold. People make an attempt to appear popular
or to do the cool thing by melting into their circle of friends. But in
reality these people are just afraid to take a stand for what they
believe in. It is rare in today’s society that you see someone stand up
for what they think is right. Those are the people we respect; whether
we agree with them or not they earn our respect by doing what they
think is right.
I believe with all my heart that your actions can affect a person for
the rest of their life. Most of these actions might be of minimal
importance to you. Actions speak louder than words and many small
actions speak much louder than one rare action. | | |
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