Unmistakable Faithfulness

Sorry for the recent lack of week recaps.  Someone (cough cough Sarah) hasn’t been keeping up with her duty! 

Two weeks ago I spoke on Unmistakable Faithfulness.  The main point of the night was this: If you believe that God is faithful, you will never need to worry again.  Sound Cliché? Maybe. But, I think that scripture heavily supports that statement.

By Faithfulness, I mean “the quality of being faithful.”  In the Old Testament, faithfulness is often used in tandem with the word truth.  This is because they both derive from the same Hebrew root of Aman, which means to confirm, support, or uphold.  In the Greek, faithfulness derives from the word Pistis. In the active tense it means faith, and in the passive it means faithfulness.  Scholars actually differ sometimes in the New Testament in terms of translation on whether a passage should say “faith in God” or “God’s faithfulness.” 

Anyway, how do you test to see if someone is faithful?  One way is to see if they follow through with their promises.  Throughout the Bible, there are many stories of God making promises to people. Check out the story of Noah in Genesis 6.  God promises to bring a flood, and he also promises to keep Noah and his family safe.  If you are familiar with the story, both of these promises come to pass.  Can you imagine how foolish Noah would have looked if he spent multiple years building a giant boat and then the flood never happened?  What about the story of Moses and the Israelites in Exodus 3.  God was faithful to bring them out of Egypt and into the promised land EVEN THOUGH they constantly rebelled and did not trust Him.

God is faithful even when we are faithless.  We see this in the story of the Israelites, but Paul even mentions it specifically in one of his letters to Timothy.  2 Timothy 2:13 says “if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”  Faithfulness is a part of God’s character.  When he says something will happen, it has to happen.  And, nothing can stop it from happening because he is all-powerful.  You see, I can’t be 100 percent faithful to something because I don’t have power over everything.  I can say I will be faithful to come to Athletes in Actions meetings, but if a drunk driver hits me on my way, I don’t have the power to follow through with the promise.  God is omnipotent, so nothing can keep him from following through with that which He has promised. 

So…..what does God promise us.  He has promised us salvation (Romans 10:8, I John 5:13).  He has promised us help in temptation (I Corinthians 10:13).  He has promised us help in witnessing (Matthew 28:19-20).  He has promised that He works for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28).  This last one is sort of a “catch all” for worry.  Worried about money? God will work everything out for your good.  Worried about your future job? God will work everything out for your good. Worried about your future spouse? God will work everything out for your good.

If you believe that God is faithful, you will not need to worry.  When you start to worry, remind yourself that God is faithful.  Write it on your refrigerator.  Tape it to your steering wheel.  You can never be reminded enough about this attribute of God’s amazing character.

-Brandon

Guest speaker: David Williams

David Williams has been on staff with CRU for 9 years, and currently serves as the chaplain for the Cincinnati Bengals.  He was gracious enough to come speak to us on Monday night.  You definitely need to watch this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EylnH0d2ftw&feature=youtu.be

Unmistakable Grace (Week #6) and Unmistakable Rest (Week #7)

WHOOPS! Looks like we got a little behind on our blog recaps.  Let me catch you up with what has been going on in AIA at CSU. 

The last two weeks (with one week in-between with no meeting because of a national holiday) have been Unmistakable Grace and Unmistakable Rest.  I spoke on the former, and Samba spoke on the latter.  You can find the videos at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yfb2iMY3XBw and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn-Y3lKYclw&feature=youtu.be respectfully. Thankfully, they go hand in hand! 

Ephesians 2 explains that we are objects of wrath.  Humans are not good.  We are BROKEN.  We are guilty of rebelling against our Creator.  However, in His grace, God took our penalty upon Himself and gave us the opportunity to receive eternal life if we would only believe in Him.  Grace is defined as a FREE GIFT.  It is not something that we can repay.  Isaiah 64:6 says that even our best deeds are filthy rags in comparison to the magnitude of what God did for us. 

Think of it this way.  You are a convicted criminal standing before a judge.  If the judge(God) is to be just, He needed to give you your penalty.  However, as the bailiff goes to put the handcuffs on to take you to serve your penalty, the judge steps down from his bench, takes his robe off, allows the cuffs to be put on Him instead, and proceeds to serve your penalty.  That is what God did for us by sending his Son! That is God’s grace.  Giving us something that we did not deserve.  After that happened, it wouldn’t make sense for us to continue standing there to tell the judge all the good things that we have done which fail in comparison to our actual crime.  Likewise, we should not do things to try to earn our salvation or to repay God for what He did. Rather, we should serve God as a response to the grace He showed us. 

Now we get into Samba’s territory: REST.  You see, if you are trying to earn your salvation, you can never take a break.  What if you have only gone to church 99 times in your life and God expects 100?  How do you know where the line is?  And, what happens if when you inevitably mess up?  The beauty of grace being a free gift is that since there is nothing we did to earn it, there is also nothing we can do to lose it.  We do not need to wonder about what will happen to us.  If we have chosen to trust in Jesus, our future is secure. 

After hearing Samba speak, I reflected upon Jesus’ last word on earth.  “Teleo.”  Meaning “It is finished.”  Salvation is not something we have to earn.  Jesus paid the full price once and for all. Our sin was finished at that moment.  All we have to do is believe in Him. 

-Brandon

Unmistakable Kingdom Vision (Week #5)

Do you ever feel like there has got to be more?  Do you wonder what your purpose is, or what life is for? 

Nate Berkey addressed these types of questions on Monday night.  The following is the link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGXm2WxoOko&feature=youtu.be

Becoming a Christian has implications that reach beyond our own salvation.  When we make the decision to trust in Jesus, we realize that the world does not revolve around us.  Our identity no longer depends on performance, but on who God says we are in Him.  However, when we decide to follow Jesus, we also inherit a problem.  A global problem.  A problem that has life and death consequences.  A problem that we have the ability to correct.  The problem…..people don’t know Jesus. 

Nate defined Kingdom Vision as understanding God’s heart and call for every person on the planet.  He said when we become Christians, it alters every decision we will ever make.  We have the knowledge that can save people from eternal damnation.  We can’t just take that information and stare off into the sky for the rest of our lives.  We are Athletes in ACTION.  We have a mission to fulfill.  That mission is found in Acts 1:8.  Jesus calls us to be witnesses for Him in our communities, in our states, in our nation, and in our world.  We don’t have to do it alone either! Jesus promises in that very same verse that the Holy Spirit will empower us! 

I’m a guy who likes to think in analogies (probably because I’ve watched too many episodes of House).  But, for all the other analogy lovers out there, imagine you had the power to save someone from a burning building.  In that instance, nothing else would matter.  You wouldn’t be thinking about the game winning shot you hit, or about the fast time you achieved.  Nothing would be more important to you than saving that person’s life.  As Christians, we have the ability not to save someone from physical death, but to promise them eternal life. What could possibly be more important? 

Okay, so you have the WHAT.  Now all you need is the HOW.  Stay tuned, we will be talking about that throughout the rest of the semester.

-Brandon

Unmistakable Assurance (Week #3)

When you watch the news, do you encounter people who you feel are unforgiveable?  Jerry Sandusky….Rae Carruth.  People who have inflicted unspeakable pain onto others.  What about when you examine your own life?  Are there things that you have done that you simply cannot forgive yourself for? 

Samba preached the Word on Monday night out of I John 1: 5-10. (The video can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX7IW6bhgbc&feature=youtu.be&fb_source=message) 

Verses 5-7 make an analogy of light versus darkness where God is the light, and everything without God is darkness.  As Samba’s grandma used to say “When the light comes on, everything comes out.”  Samba also talked about cockroaches.  When you shine a light on a cockroach, it scatters.  In other words, light exposes things!  And, to follow the analogy, there is nothing that has not already been exposed to God.  Nothing we have done is hidden from His sight. 

As you can see, we have a problem.  God knows about all of our sin.  What do we do about that?  In the Old Testament, people used to have to transfer their sins onto a blameless animal, and then slaughter the animal as a sacrifice to pay the penalty for their sin.  However, we have one huge advantage, and His name is JESUS!  Jesus died as our sacrifice, knowing everything that we would do and knowing the full extent of our brokenness.  Jesus allows verse 9 to happen.  “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  Samba told us that this is the best insurance anyone can ever give you! Fireproof insurance that nothing we can ever do is outside God’s forgiveness.  We say we are unforgiveable, Jesus says His love is UNCONDITIONAL. 

Lastly, Samba talked about the confession we read about it verse 9.  Confession is necessary, because we need God’s power to overcome sin.  It shows that we agree with God, that our sins are truly our sins. It shows we are not hiding from anything.  But, we do not need to be fearful when we confess our sins to God.  When you apologize to another person, there is always a chance that they will not forgive you.  When we confess our sins to God, we have security in the fact that He will always forgive us.  No exceptions.  God’s love is so great, that nothing we could ever do is outside of it.  Confession frees us from the guilt Satan likes to use to hold us down.  It empowers us to stay strong, and encourage one another. 

Stay strong, and encourage one another.  God’s forgiveness is UNMISTAKABLE. 

-Brandon

Unmistakable Assurance (Week #2)

If you died tomorrow, or even in the next 2 hours where would you go? That may sound extreme, but if we are being honest with ourselves we know that a life can end at any moment and we never know when it will. Are you being honest with yourself, or are you unsure where you would end up? I know gambling is popular (we even have a new casino in Cleveland), but do you really want to gamble with eternity? There are times in sports where a team thinks that they have a game in the bag, but the opposing team comes back and wins...as Megan says in the video , "there is no safety until the buzzer sounds." But you don't have to wait until the "buzzer of life" sounds to have that security. This video breaks it down into 3 points, with relatable life examples, on how anyone can have 100% unmistakable assurance.

Follow this link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR-c-gIIPWA&feature=plcp

 

1)      INTELLECTUALLY we know that we are broken and cannot get to God on our own, so we need Jesus to bridge that gap (but knowing Jesus is not enough because even demons intellectually know Jesus).

2)      We need that relationship with Jesus, were we find our identity in Christ and are EMOTIONALLY dependent on Him.

3)      Because we intellectually know Him, and He is the source of our joy we COMMIT our live and will to God through obedience and trust.

 

If we intellectually know Jesus, are emotionally dependent on Jesus and commit our lives to Jesus, He lives in us and we can be secure and safe in that relationship.

 

Scriptures referenced:

- 1 John 5:11-13

^“11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. ¹³ I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

- Romans 8:16

“¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
(The Holy Spirit is in a relationship with the Father and Son, however they are 3 separate entities – 3 in 1. The Holy Spirit is what makes you feel that conviction or feeling in your spirit that comes along when you did something that you knew was wrong, but still did it. If you don’t have the Holy Spirit then you can conceivable do whatever you want and not feel bad about it. If you have any more questions about this feel free to contact me at s.kalain@csuohio.edu)

 -          1 John 2:3-6

“³ We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. ⁴ Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. ⁵ But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: ⁶ Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.”

3 indicators that we have freedom and security in a relationship with Christ:

1)      The promise of God’s Word (1 John 5:11-13)

2)      The Holy Spirit testifies to God that we are Children of God

3)      Changed Life

Point number 3 is very important because you can tell everyone that you are a Christian, but your actions will be the true indicator. If you are in relationship with the Lord then you are not going to only talk the talk, but also walk the walk. Think it’s going to cramp your style? If you commit your will to God, obedience looks totally different because it’s done out of a loving relationship. Therefore, we should look differently than our peers that do not know the Lord. Christians should stand out, whether it be on the court, field or track, because we are rooted in Christ and His love should shine through our lifestyle.

-Sarah

 

Midsummer Checkup

As our “Summer Survival Pack” says, summer can pose a major challenge to our faith and obedience to Christ.  It can be extremely spiritually isolating in that we are away from the environment and people who helped us grow during the school year.    To help combat this, we recommended filling out a summer covenant which included daily and weekly goals.  Goals could include finding a home church, reading the Bible every day, staying in touch with believers from school, or something more personally suited to your own pitfalls and tendencies.  If you have not followed through with your goals, or never made them to start with, IT IS NOT TOO LATE!  One of the devil’s best tricks is implanting the phrase “I’ll get back on track WHEN…..” into our heads.  It starts with “I’ll get back on track when I move back to school.”  Then it is, “I’ll get back on track after this exam.” Etc, etc.  You can never recommit yourself too often.  You do not need to feel guilty for your failures in the past, God’s mercies are new every morning.  (Lamentations 3: 22-23)

Part of our group summer plan was to go through the “Thirsty” devotional book that we passed out in the last meeting.  If you have done 1 per week, you should be doing the “Atmosphere” study this week.  If you fell behind, DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT.  The studies are not cumulative so you can jump ahead  to get back on track. 

I think everyone can relate to a general longing for fulfillment.  Athletic or academic achievement, popularity, beauty, relationships, drugs, and alcohol etc can fulfill us for a moment, but they are addictive in that they do not last.  “Thirsty” postulates that our problem lies not in the fact that we don’t drink “water” in an attempt to fulfill ourselves, but that we drink salt water (sin) which makes us even more thirsty.  So far this summer, we have been learning that we can instead turn to living water, the Holy Spirit, for fulfillment.  We learned that the Holy Spirit is not only an equal member of the Trinity, but that He is also PERSONAL.  He can experience emotion, He can perform actions, He can convict us and teach us.    Best of all, He is PRESENT in us and we have SECURITY in Him because He is our seal of salvation.  We are EMPOWERED by the fact that the “law of the Spirit” is greater than the “law of sin” We can WALK side by side with the Holy Spirit as our guide; RELYING on Him to LEAD us rather than trying to be holy on our own and inevitably turning to salt water. 

Okay….so I stretched a little bit to fit all the topic headings in, but the point remains.  When you find yourself fighting against sin, STOP FIGHTING.  Throw in the towel.  It goes against everything we have been taught as athletes, but GIVE UP.  Surrender to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to fight for you.  You can even add in some extra artillery by calling a friend and asking them to pray for you too.  

Brandon

Introduction

This blog is intended as a method of keeping up to date with how God is working through Athletes in Action at CSU.  We hope that you will be encouraged by how He has worked thus far, and will support us in prayer as we continue to submit to His plan. 

Although we have only met together for a year, and have only been a recognized student organization at Cleveland State for a few months, we believe that God has had us in His plans all along.  Our short history can be found at the following link: http://www.athletesinaction.org/news/post/2011/12/19/Cleveland-State-ministry-growing-through-SportLinc.aspx.