Monday, August 10, 2009

Follow Me

We all follow something, whether we admit it or not. It could be the latest horoscope or media update on our favorite actor(-tress) or singer. Could even be a few friends.

Jesus knew this about us, too. Throughout the four Gospels, we read of Him saying these very words to people. “Follow me.”

“Well, so what? Why does it matter what I follow after?” you might be thinking.

Last night, I read in The Holy Spirit and You by Dennis and Rita Bennett, “Christianity is not founded on the teachings of Jesus, but on the Person of Jesus. It isn’t what He taught, but Who He is, that matters most.”

This is so true, and it helps us to understand a bit more of why He said to follow Him. Let me show you.

If you read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the Bible, who would you say Jesus was? What sort of character did He have? He was certainly loving, caring, generous, compassionate, kind, selfless. And we could probably go on.

Based on this then, if we chose to “follow” Him, we too would adopt these qualities, wouldn't we? Absolutely.

The same is true if we follow something like the media, for example. It will change us one way or another. Watching all those perfect people going to clubs and drinking until they don’t know which end is up anymore sends the message that in order to be like them -to follow them- we must do the same. Doing as they do is one step closer to accomplishing our goal... It’s no wonder so many people drink.

But, the question remains, is the media a wise thing to follow?

I’m sure I don’t need to remind everyone how many people die from drinking. And I’m not talking about just drinking and driving (check out the stats on drinking and driving -http://www.salinecountysheriff.com/Drunk.html). 140,000 people, this link says. And this is just for America.

As for drinking alone, let me share some more statistics...

An article at Telegraph says 15,000 people die from alcohol related diseases each year. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2563443/Fifteen-thousand-people-die-from-alcohol-related-diseases-every-year.html

Another link said that 76,000 people died a year in India from alcohol abuse-http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_people_die_each_year_from_drinking_alcohol_in_India_only. It also says, “I would guess that the figures are underreported a bit because many families refuse autopsies for their obviously drunken relatives. These figures also don't reflect criminal acts like murders and suicides, many of which are directly alcohol related.”

And that’s only two locations! Now, this blog isn’t about drinking, so let me get back on track.

Media. If we follow it, it teaches us drinking is cool. Yet, drinking is nothing short of deadly. Media leads to drinking which leads to death. To shorten it, media leads to death.

Is the media really something we want to be following? We’ll be willingly following our ultimate demise. Think long and hard about it...

There is lots of truth then to what Jesus said. “Follow me” wasn’t meant to form a possy or become the largest group of people in the world. I give people more credit than that.

No, Jesus meant it for life. He meant it to save us by giving us a worthy Leader to follow.

Who or what do you follow?

~L.Pierce

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Some Journal *pfft*

Man, has the time flown. My journal didn't really turn out how I'd hoped. During the week of the conference my schedule consisted of mostly sleeping, eating, driving, and sitting with the occasional chance to sight see here and there. So, my time was pretty spent. Not a whole lot to offer in the writing department. Then when I reached my Grandmother's house in PA after the first week, I didn't have net access for my computer. There goes that!

Truth be told, I don't know what I would have shared about the trip anyway. It was so incredible and anointed, yes, but it was one of those times you have to experience for yourself.

But, let me try and give you a taste of the week of the conference anyway...

Ruby Tuesday's has seen a lot of me and Stacy. At almost every one we ate at this one song ALWAYS came on... "I love it when you call, I love it when you call, I love it when you call, but you never call at all." That was in essence all there was to the song. Drove me nuts, but their salad bar made up for it. Haha

The area where we stayed at in Mason, Ohio and went to for the conference in Kentucky were great! Upon arrival we heard ravings about this ice cream place called Graeter's and wouldn't you know it, there was one right next to the church where the conference was held. Several days in a row we had ice cream every day. I'm convinced if you've never had Graeter's, you haven't had real ice cream. In fact, you don't even know what ice cream is until you've had Graeter's.

There was also Skyline Chili we were told was a must try, but I wasn't impressed (no offense to them). Just seemed too much like a fast food restaurant. lol Not my thing.

One of the sites we got to see on our tour of the area was the Newport Aquarium. It was really nice! They had some really cool aquatic creatures. The highlight, however, was the one wall with a painting of, I believe it was a Loch Ness monster (using it's scientific name, of course). But it was the ONLY display that incorporated the Evolutionary millions of years. I couldn't help thinking to myself... That's all Evolutionists have is a painting on a wall. Being on top of the Creation versus Evolution debate, the conference showed several other examples of this very thing. So, standing in front of this portrait (though it was well done), I actually had to laugh.

There was so much more to Creation College 3, I couldn't even begin to share everything. I must say though how Jason Lisle stole the conference with his new book The Ultimate Proof of Creation. He spoke several times on it throughout the conference and it's PHENOMINAL! This approach is full proof to defending the Bible. Don't believe me? Try me.

It's so true. Our God is astounding. Get the book. You won't be sorry! :)

Oh, and last but not least... the Creation Museum. *sigh* Stacy and I went 3 times. Lol it was [insert big, complementary word here, I'm out lol]! What I loved the most was how they didn't shove Creation and the Bible down anyone's throats. They actually gave you both of the worldviews present today -Creation and Evolution. And they left the choice up to you. Unlike secular museums who only offer one view as if there isn't any other. The Creation Museum is another must in my opinion.

The trip was definitely a success then! I had such a great time! Stacy, thank you for being my traveling buddy. No one could have taken your place. :) Can't wait for next year, too! Creation College 4 is already dated and the location set. I'll be there!

Until next time, this is Lauri, signing off. Hope you all are having a great summer!