Big Difference!!

I know it has been a while since I have wrote a blog. I am sorry to all of those who actually read my blog. So Jessi and mom I am sorry to disappoint yall.
For the last couple of weeks the issue of GRACE has been on my mind. This issue sticks with me because it is something my entire life I have struggled with. Growing up I never understood Grace properly. I was taught at a young age Eph. 2:8-9. It was one of the first verse I memorized in Awana, but the problem is not with the knowledge of what Grace is the problem is living life knowing that God acts in grace toward us.

I thought being a Christian was following the rules because Christians are supposed to be "good." I remember making deals with God. i.e. (God if you make it so I do not get in trouble for this sin, I will never do it again. God if you make me feel better I will pray everyday. God if you make my dad have grace toward me I will read my Bible. God if you bless me I will serve You).

THIS IS NOT GRACE, this is works. My relationship with Jesus was all about what God can do for me. I was selfish and did not really care about a growing relationship with Jesus. I was taught that God would not be happy with me if I did not go to church or serve Him the way the "church" taught me. This theology is incorrect. Jesus loves me. His Grace is sufficient for my short comings. I need Jesus because I cannot be 100% good. I went to church because Jesus would not bless me if i did not attend (so I was taught). My motives were evil and selfish. To me Christianity was all about me, not about Jesus. God has broke me over the last 4 years. Christians have limited God's grace to the lost. God's grace is also needed for the Christian after salvation.

My relationship Jesus is not about what I do for Him it is about what He did for me on the cross to wash away my sins. Grace is something that God has poured out for me. I do not have to earn it. When I think about my first experieces with church it was not far from the Catholic Churches belief system. Rich in tradionalism and works and lacking grace and Scripture. It is sad, but true. The problem is most Christians have been missing the point for so long, we have forgotten what Jesus did. Yes, we say "Jesus died on the Cross for our sins," but then we think our being forgiven is limited to certian things. Jesus' grace is poured out for you. Teaching that tradionalism is more important than Scripture is SIN. Sin that seperates us from GOD. I do not understand why the church has lifted Tradionalism up to a point where it is higher, than Scripture itself. I am not a radical for the most part many would consider me, tradional-conseritive. But, my preference are not Scripture. Jesus does not care if you read the NIV, KJV, HCSV, NKJV, or NLT. Jesus does not care if you sing Hymns, Southern Gospel, Praise or "7-11" music, (sorry I could not resist). Jesus wants us to CRAVE Him. Jesus wants us to WORSHIP Him. Christianity is about drawing closer to Jesus. We become closer to HIM, by reading Scripture and praying. God is still working on me and changing my persective on alot of different things. We do not become closer with Jesus by debating TRADTIONALISM. (I would not have said that 2 years ago.) God did not call me to debate God called me to PREACH the Truth. Now, I do sometime get wrapped up in debates, but really I am not smart enough to change people minds, I must reference the Truth and pray for conviction. God changes people not me. I have been radical changed as I seek Jesus and people with different views challenge me. I filter challenges through the Scripture and seek Jesus.

The point of all of that is to show that Christianity is not about me. I really do not understand why I thought it was. I can blame it on church and many other things, but what it boils down to is I was seeking the approval of men when I should have been seeking Jesus. "The preacher is not perfect." Grace is not about you, it is about what Jesus has given you. Eph. 2:8-9 Paul wrote, "For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift, not from works, so that no one can boast." We cannot boast in ourselves because grace is about Jesus. If you think that you must do somthing for Jesus to pour grace out on your life, then you do not understand grace. God helps those who cannot help themselves. We need Jesus. Jesus does not need you.

Sorry this blog was not very organized I need to just write exacly the way my mind was running today. Letting God's Grace reign in my life has been hard. I do not always forgive myself. I ask God to forgive me and I do not let God change me. Grace is freeing. Grace is not a tickets for sinning. Grace is poured out on us because of our sins. Confession is key 1 John 1:9. Confess your sins, turn from them , and let God's Grace reign.

WILL YOU SUBMIT???

Are you submitting to God? I will pause for answers! Awesome I am sure all of you just lied. Okay, do not get mad I am just joking. Why Submit to God? Why submit to anything? We are free spirited people with all of our own ideas and plans!! Why should I stop and think what God or anyone else thinks? I will do whatever I want. Because God made me this way and it is my life.

If you AMENED me during my outrage, you are in need of THE SAVIOR. IF you said that is not what I think, Because I know that there is a GOD and I know He sent His Son. I have trusted in Him I believe in the resurrection of Jesus. I believe He died, so that, I can have life. I have ask Him into my heart and the Holy Spirit cleans my life and I AM SEALED. If I just described you then guess what??? Your are Saved and Sealed to the day of Redemption. Now for the point of this BLOG, Why is it so easy to say "I COMMIT TO GOD" but we live life like God is just something that we do on Sunday. Many of us do not trust God with our lives we only trust with our mouths. We are standing on Sunday morning and worshiping God, but then on Monday we live our lives like HE IS NOT THERE!!!! As you look at the computer Screen right now I want you to say this phrase "I AM NASTY, GROSS, AND DISGUSTING, I AM DEFILING WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A CHRISTIAN, I LIE TO GOD EVERY SUNDAY." Wow, Kris pretty strong words!!! Thank you! When you live life like there is no God everyday until Sunday when you drag yourself to church to worship a Holy God, and when the convicting power of the Holy Spirit tries to take over you Kick Him to the curb and tell Him, "your only my God on Sunday." Then, You are nasty to our Holy God. "Christian" please listen to my Call. We need Revival. No just in our "World" but in our Church. For your neighbors sake please stop living life like you have no Savior. Philippians 1:27-30 Paul writes,

²⁷ Just one thing: live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, working side by side for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸ not being frightened in any way by your opponents. This is evidence of their destruction, but of your deliverance —and this is from God. ²⁹ For it has been given to you on Christ's behalf not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him, ³⁰ having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear about me.

Now as you read that passage my question is: Are you living a life worthy of the Gospel of Christ? Take a look at the word gospel for a second. What is the Gospel? It is the account of Jesus' life from the Virgin Birth to when Jesus ascended to Heaven to be on the right side of the Father. Okay, so how can we ever be worthy of that Gospel? Well, we cannot. That is easy enough since we all fall short of His glory lets just stop trying!!! I hope you yelled "that is absurd." Because it is. But that is what we do. We forget that we are to strive to perfection not just ask God for the get out of HELL card, so we can live like we deserve the punishment, in which He has delivered us from.

Now lets pause...........Shake your heads a little get ready for the next part!!!! SUBMISSION! My favorite sport when I was growing up was Wrestling. Not the Olympics, that stuff looks fake, but the real deal WCW-WWF-WWE. That is what I am talking about. I know all of the Real Wrestling haters are mad at me now and I am sorry. Anyways my favorite Wrestler is Sting. He does the Stinger Splash, the Scorpion Death Drop and the Scorpion Death Lock. Now lets take a minute to talk about the Death Lock! It is a submission move. The point of the move was to get his opponent to basically tap out or submit that Sting Wins.

If you are a Christian, then you should have already Submitted to the KING of KINGS and and Lord of Lords. Because salvation comes through Submitting to Him as master. However some of us after our love to the father wore off a little we got back up and hit Him with a Chair. Wrestling also has a lot of deception. We try to deceive God, who knows everything and we deceive others into thinking that we have total submitted, but you know that God is not your only master. Submitting to God is essential for your life. God wants to lead, guide and direct you! The last couple of weeks I have decide that it is about time to totally give God the control in my Life. I do not have a clue what He is about to do, but Jessi and I know that Christ is about to be unleashed in our lives and He is going to blow our minds. The book Crazy Love has changed our lives. Do you know that we serve a big God who wants to eliminate the places in our lives that we have not Submitted to Him? Right now take time to Search for these places. It could be Time, Money, Trust, or any number of things. Submit to Him and be willing to Suffer for Him. NOW Go and Sin No More!!!!! Matthew 28:18-20

Because of Him,

Kris

Why do I even try?????

Have you ever tried to be bigger than God? Before you fly off the handle and yell NO!!! at the computer screen just STOP lying. Because your not perfect. Think about it. Sometimes we take all of our problems on and never think about God. This week I figured somethings out. We rely on stress and worry and not God.
First, lets talk a little about the STRESS factor. Thanks to Francis Chan's book Crazy Love, God's convicting power has rocked my world this week. "Stress says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace toward others, or out tight grip of control." Is impatience your best-worst quality? It is mine. I cannot wait to finish this blog because I am I need to proof read it. See what I mean. I want everything I do in my timing not in God's. I know what you are thinking, "Kris how can you say that." I might of said it, but your actions show that you are the exact same way. Do you not think it is funny that we are guilty of over half of the things we judge others for. Now I know what you are thinking "Kris you Judge others" see what I mean you are doing it again. I was watching the biggest loser the other day, they was playing a game and if they lose then they had to eat high calorie food. As they ate the cookies, doughnut, peanut butter and Jelly, apple pies, and bagels, I was saying "that is nasty." When I have easily ate that many calories before and loved it. I blows my stinking mind that when we see others sin it is easy to judge, but we are blinded my our own excuses. Now back to stress, it is a SIN. In my life and yours. I am a sinner. Thank God for His grace. You can ask Jessi, this last 2 or 3 weeks I have stressed so much I have made myself sick literally with Stress and worry. God has brought me to my knees begging for forgiveness.

Worry is another of my many sins and another way I do not trust God. Stress and Worry go hand in hand. Chan wrote, "worry implies that we don't quite trust that God is big enough, Powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what's happening in our lives." This basically speaks for it's self.

HOW BIG IS GOD?? Well, guess what? He is bigger than you let Him be! God is not limited by your faith in the world. However, your lack of faith limits you from showing God that He is your World. I will end this Blog with some encouraging words that my wife tells me, when I stress and worry. JUST STOP IT.

Because of Him,
Kris

BTW, I am sorry about not blogging lately. I was not trusting in God's power and I was to stressed and worried. SEE I AM A SINNER!!

WHY DO I STRUGGLE SO MUCH SHARING MY FAITH?

We all struggle sharing our Faith. Even though we feel convicted about not being serious about others receiving Christ, we still struggle. Many people blame it own fear and I would agree. If I was to go around the Christian community and pole people about sharing their faith many would say either I do not share because I am afraid or I do share through the way I live.

First, if you fit in the first category "Fear Factor" do not worry your not alone. Most Christians are afraid to witness, me included. Every time I approach someone with the Gospel I am afraid, but if we do not tell them how will they know. One way to over come your fear is to be prepared. Study a method of sharing the Gospel memorize it, make it fit you, and use it.

Memorizing the method is good because preparation calms nerves. When I was in School I would often forget to study. Those days I would try my best to get out of the test. I would leave school early "sick" (my mom was a push over) and I could throw up on demand. The reason I would leave because I was not prepared for the test. If you are not prepared to witness then you will not. You must prepare and know how to witness to share your faith.

Make the style you pick fit into yourself. If you are witnessing BE REAL. Most people cannot stand a person who is fake. People will respond to you if you act like a real person.

You know your not perfect, so Stop acting like it. I encourage you to tell your story to people let them know that you struggled with sin and the blood of Jesus delivered you. Now, that you have been saved does not mean that life is easy and your never tempted. If you are never tempted, then you probably was never saved. JESUS himself was Tempted. So do not try to be super Spiritual, just be yourself.

Use it. The best way to get ride of a fear is to face it. My brother took me to the lake when I was younger. At the lake there was the Big Rock they would jump off into the water. I was Scared to jump at first. I would never had told any of them about it, but I was. So while i was walking over to the rock i told myself when I got there I would just do it. That's exactly what i did. Then for the rest of the day I was fine, I was no longer scared. Witnessing is the same way it is scary, however if you never do it, then you will never overcome your fear. If you are scared to witness please for the sake of your friends, family, and the people you meet, I beg you to tell them about the King.

Matthew 28:18-20

¹⁸ Then Jesus came near and said to them, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

If you share your faith through the way you live that is awesome, as long, you share your faith with you mouth also. Witnessing is calling for a response. Many people say I share my faith by being friends with lost people and not acting like them. If this is you then that's awesome relational witnessing works and it makes since. But if you never tell your friend about Jesus or you never ask them if they want to be saved, then all you are doing is trying to ease your own mind, and letting your friends go to Hell. If you Love Jesus and love your friends, then you will tell them about Christ.

When Jessi and I got engaged, she could have told people two different ways. She could have just walked passed them and hope they saw her Ring or she could have Told them with her mouth. If you are Jessi's friend and she told you that she was engaged or you saw her post on Facebook, because she wanted everyone she knew to know that I finally asked her. I do not why she told everyone, but I do know why I told everyone Because Jessi is special to me and I wanted everyone to know that She said yes to me even though I did not deserve her.

Jesus is an amazing God, He took me even though I did not want any part of Him. I was the reason He had to die. My sins took His life. One of my many sins was cursing, I struggled with my mouth. I did not have a filter unless of course I was around my parents or at church. But away from them at School I would use every bad word in the Book. So I would take the Lord's Name in vain, I would Curse God and He Still Loved my enough to die on the cross to Save my Soul. So, you can bet I am going to tell every person I can the story of how Amazing His grace truly is.

In conclusion, If you Love HIM and you have ask Him to come into your heart to be your Savior then, I Beg you Do not just show people with your actions that you are Saved, But tell them how Jesus turned your life around.

If you have never trusted in Christ as your Savior I want you to know that I love you and so Does Jesus. You cannot get to Heaven by your own power. There is NOTHING you can Do to become a Christian. You can Become a Christian because Of what Jesus did on the Cross. God Loves you so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die for You. The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God." We all struggle with Sin. Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The way our sins our clean is Jesus. 1 Peter 3:18 say "Christ suffered for sins, once for all" It is up to YOU. Jesus is reaching out His hand and it is up to You to receive His free gift of Salvation. Romans 10:13 says "If YOU confess with YOUR mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in YOUR heart God raised him from the dead, YOU will be saved."

If you have never accepted Him I beg you and plead with you Please Come to know Him before it is to late.

For more information Please contact me Krcrippin1@hotmail.com.

Have you ever doubted how powerful God is?

What did you answer? Give yourself a minute to think.

If you answered no, then I want you to think about this for a minute. At first I said no also. I said to myself I would never ever doubt what God is capable of I know Him. He is powerful, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lord, my Comfort, my Refuge, my Strength, and my Joy, I would never doubt Him. After saying all of that, I will now admit the Truth, sometimes I doubt Him. Wait just a second!!!! Why would a Preacher ever admit He doubts God's Power???? Before you Judge and say I am not a good Christian or whatever else mean things Christians say about other Christians. Have you never doubted? My New Year resolution was to Start a Journal and keep up with it. My first entry I listed my fears in prayer that I could over come them this year. The Key Word there is I, because I cannot over come them. Today I sat here in my office I realized that My Fear is not my problem!!! My problem is I doubt God's Power. We serve a God who can take all of you little problems and destroy them!

Do you understand God's Power? Well Neither do I, But I do know what God calls Himself. In Exodus Chapter 3. God and Moses are talking. Moses ask God "If I go to the Israelites and say to them: The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me 'What is His name?' what should i tell them!"

God replied and said, "I AM WHO I AM this is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you."

God is the great I AM, He did deliver the Israelites from bondage and He will deliver you from anything that is holding you up from truly serving Him. The I AM into days language could transfer to say something like:

"My Marriage is Broken..." I AM THE GREAT COUNCILOR

"My ________ Is Sick..." I AM THE GREAT PHYSICIAN

"I Cannot Go On..." I AM YOUR STRENGTH

"I am scared of the future..." I AM THE ONE WHO HOLDS TOMORROW

God Is the ONE who Conquers OUR NEEDS.

Sometimes in life we make God our buddy. Or try to make Him whatever we Want Him to be. But the fact of the matter is, God is more than a buddy HE IS WHO HE IS. and I know that is more than we Want. So stop trying to fit God in to a Box or a Bubble because your box or bubble cannot handle His Great Power.

In Conclusion I want to add, We serve a God who is Powerful and we all doubt Him sometime in our actions. If we lived life not doubting God's Power then true revival would take place around us. People would start getting saved left and right, because Christians would stop acting like God is a figure only when we Want Him around. We would start realizing that we need Him at every turn in our lives. And if we act like He is with us (Which He is) then we would start doing what we and others claim to be impossible and realize that nothing is impossible with an all Powerful Savior.

So today I leave you with this. . . YOU BETTER PREACH!!!

Why Should I Blog???

Jessi and I went home for Christmas and a couple people from SC told me that if I had a blog they would read it. So the point of me Starting this blog is to see if my friends lied to me to make me feel like a better Preacher. My intentions for this blog is to share with my friends or anyone else who wants to read, my personal incites on Scripture, Ministry, or sometimes I might just want to vent. This blog comes with Warnings, so please take note of this:

1st- I know I do not share the same views with everyone....more than likely you will disagree with me sometimes!

2nd- Many of you know that I love to Argue, so you have been warned. If you disagree with my view and want to discuss it I will.

3rd- MY WRITING SKILLS STINK! I do not spell well, I do not use commas right, my tenses will change, but I am passionate about what I have to say. If you like to point out every grammar error, so that, you feel good about yourself I am tuff I can take it, but it is not necessary.

4th- The Purpose of my blog is not to make us feel better inside, but to convict us of what we are doing or not doing, so we Change. (notice the use of WE it is because I will be writing to myself as well.)

5th- I am a PREACHER, this means I PREACH, I know I Sound preachy it is my intent.

Please keep these points in mind, as you read my future blogs.

Kris