Deep snow is hard to walk in because it requires extra energy from us to move our feet in it, but it is very safe, snow is not slippery, and so it won’t cause you to fall and break your bones. Some pathways looks clear and safe, but if you examine it, you will find that the clear path you see is not so “clear†because so many people walked on it, the snow has melted and been compressed to a thin sheet of ice that’s muddy so it rarely looks dangerous to the naked eye. But everyone knows how dangerous those paths can be, even though they require no extra effort to walk on them and in theory they are much faster to take. That’s why I took this photo because whenever I see a scene like this one it reminds me of Mathew 7:13-14. Interestingly enough, I believe… read more
Salvation
When I took this photo of the white flower I remembered how in Christ we are new creation. But here I would like to just talk about the joy of being new creation in Christ, because it seems that joy is the first gift Christ gives us through the Holy Spirit when we surrender our lives to Him. Here is a little story… In the summer of 2003, I had just graduated from high school and by then I was in Canada for 4 years, I decided to find Christian chat rooms online. I had never been to a chat room before (or since) but I really wanted to join one because I needed spiritual advice on how to overcome lust, and I didn’t have any other source of help. So I went to MSN chat rooms (been closed for a while now) and I looked through few Christian chat… read more
For the last couple years I’ve been thinking about life and death a lot. I’ve been thinking about eternal life and the importance of the spiritual world but how earthly-minded I really am. I’ve been feeling how meaningless and temporary everything that is earthly. Last morning I was listening to John Piper’s message “Don’t Waste Your Life,†and he said the words of the title of this picture which describe perfectly how I’ve been feeling for a long while now. In the evening I went to downtown and the lakeshore with a Christian Iraqi friend, and it was a fun day filled with taking pictures. We talked a lot about Christianity and our purpose on earth. When I came home I started post-processing my photos but I felt a very heavy burden. At around 4 in the morning I decided I needed to pray because I knew I couldn’t sleep… read more
I have this message on my heart, it’s one that I’ve had for a long time. It has been a subtle theme in many of my messages but I’ve finally identified the root of it. It’s not a nice message; it’s one that I have spent many hours thinking about and studying. It’s based on Matthew which says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’†Matthew 7:21-23 During our trip to California something happened to me. Spiritually, it was a very difficult… read more
Last year was tough and this year is shaping up to be about the same, while I can’t speak to your specific need or heart ache, I know that there is a higher place to tread than this hard world we live in. Much like the deer in this image, our spirits are gaunt, barely able to survive on the scarce grass and leaves left over from the long, dry, and hot summer. Only the strongest have survived and they are weakening. What hope is there under such an aggressive hand as that of our God? So often it seems pressed upon us, it seems to crush us, even to death. Where is hope, where is strength, where is the green grass for our souls to feast upon? Truly the feast does not lie in the valley, but upon the mountain, on the heights, but alas, for how shall we… read more
We’re going to have to take this section slow, one awesome statement at a time. After Jesus had confronted the devil coming from the mouth of Peter he speaks these words in regard to setting our minds on the things of God. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.†Wow, and ouch and YES! I so want to come after Jesus, I want to share in his power, in his life, in his glory, but to do so I must die. I must be sacrificed, brutally, for the cross is no symbol at this point, it is a guillotine, a gallows, an axe used to whop off criminals heads. “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will… read more
I want to explain a portion of scripture that some may find confusing. I had a friend (who isn’t a Christian) ask me about the Bible talking about it being wrong to have wealth. Jesus does mention that the poor are blessed and that the kingdom of Heaven is theirs. What we must understand is that religious people at that time thought that if you had wealth then you were blessed by God. That meant that anyone who did not have wealth would have been considered unholy and not someone who would be likely going to Heaven. We must also understand that when Jesus came, He really shook up the apple cart. He did not come to hang out with religious people and promote what they were doing. He came to show them how they should be truly living their lives, He came to reach out to those in need…. read more
Hi, my name is Tyler A. van der Hoeven, I accepted Jesus Christ as the Savior for my sins at the age of four. Although my salvation didn’t mean a whole lot to me then, salvation isn’t about the saved, its about the Savior, and what He does to those he has redeemed. My testimony isn’t about me and all that Jesus saved me from, but rather its all about my Savior, the only Son of God, part of the triune Godhead, born of the virgin Mary, who lived on earth as the God/man and died on the cross, bearing the full, unrestrained wrath of almighty God against all my sins. I am the worst sinner I know, such a hypocrite, so prone to pride, to take the credit and pass the blame. It is such a wonder to me that God chooses to keep such a one as me,… read more