Last week, Boye Fajinmi and I began going through the book of Proverbs. We decided each morning, we’d read one chapter and keep each other accountable in that. We’re only at chapter 5 so far and already it’s crazy how the devil makes you think other things in life are more important or necessary. Or things “come up” and you don’t get a chance to read. But I’ve made it an effort to discipline myself in this and the same goes for Boye.
Solomon was the wisest and richest man that’s ever lived. It’s a pretty crazy combo if you think about it… I’ve been asking God for wisdom lately in the choices that I make during my day. It’s so easy to compromise to sin and I fall everyday. But I want to strive to be more like Christ. And reading Solomon’s Proverbs each morning has been the coolest thing into seeing what a wise man really looks like and pursing that goal.
Pray for Boye and I, because the enemy has not been wanting us to grow in God’s Word and he constantly puts up these distractions in our lives. And I encourage you to do this Proverbs challenge as well. In my own life it’s been rad… and I want you to experience it as well. Start today and start from chapter 1. And just go on…
Love you all.
-S
This is me right now…
But David tells me in Psalm 62:1-2 :
“My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”
Gotta love that!
“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
It’s like everything in this verse was written for me at this time of my life:
1. Steven, be joyful ALWAYS!
2. Steven, pray CONTINUALLY.
3. Steven, give thanks IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES.
- … for THIS, Steven, is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus!
How powerful is this!?!
Holy Spirit, would you remind of these things so I may grow closer to You…
Amen.
Lately, I’ve been interested in studying the doctrines of the Armenian Apostolic (Orthodox) Church. It seems like they have been catching on to this social media networking thing and I’ve been getting invites to “like” their Facebook page. It’s also been fascinating lately to see “born again Christians” heavily interact politically or even religiously with the Armenian Apostolic Church. And no, these interactions are not for evangelical purposes. But it was kinda hard for me to say anything, because I didn’t really know exactly what they teach or believe. In fact, I began thinking to myself that the Orthodox Church is where Protestant Evangelicals came from, so I should respect their traditions and my religious heritage.
So I started reading books and watching countless Bible studies that some of the Armenian Apostolic priests have been posting online just to get some first-hand teaching. Understand that I’ve been doing all this with the motive to really just learn what they believe. But what I have come to learn and experience through my studies not only shocked me to the core, but deeply saddened me…
It’s a common sight to see a priest come to a ceremony or event and walk through the crowd with his hand out in front of him as the masses approach him to kiss his hand. In Armenian, they call him “Der Hiar” or “Der Der” which is translated as “Lord Father” or “Lord Lord”. I mean, do I really need to go any further with this? Or should I put up the endless passages in the Bible where Christ commands us “not to call anyone on earth ‘Father’, for you have one Father, and He is in Heaven.” (Matt 23:9). Only a fool would kiss a man who refers himself as “Lord Father”.
“What did the Virgin Mary ever do to you that you shouldn’t pray to her?” That’s a question one of the local priests asked in a recent “Bible Study” he did defending prayer to the Saints and Mary. He was explaining that the Saints and Mary act as “intercessors” before God. They believe that Mary, who is glorified in Heaven, has more ‘direct access’ to God than we do. Therefore, if she delivers a prayer to God, it is more effective than us praying to God directly. Oh, by the way, this priest is known as “a more reformed and ‘born-again’ Orthodox priest.” I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry… It’s such a core Christian concept. 1 Timothy 2:5 clearly says “For there is one God and mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” There is no one else that can mediate with God for us! That’s why it’s Biblical to end our prayer saying “in the name of Jesus we pray.”
It’s also amazing how much they were emphasizing to continue praying for God to save their loved ones even after they are dead. Another concept he was teaching in the same study was the importance of baptizing your child when they are born to secure their salvation and have good health.
You may think I’m just bashing the Armenian Apostolic Church and saying that what they teach is heresy… Well, I am… I mean, I just talked about only several of the key doctrines of the church and to be quite honest, it doesn’t take a genius to realize how ludicrous this whole thing is. On top of that, they call themselves “born-again Christians’!? HA! That’s blaspheme! A true born-again Christian believes in the inherency and the sufficiency of the Bible. And on top of that, I see Christians even in the Evangelical Protestant circles interacting with these phonies for political power or for the sake of traditions.
To my beloved Armenian friends, STOP IT! Stop believing the lies of Apostolic Church and start reading your Bible asking the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth to you. We are not Christian because we are Armenian. We are all sinners on our way to destruction if we don’t believe, trust, and obey what the Bible teaches.
To the Armenian Apostolic Church, may God have mercy and convict you of your deceit.
rockettothesun: what does it mean to be a man? this is something that has become lost somewhere along the way. men today, and i use that term loosely, but men today aren’t men in the true sense of the word. they are merely men in the biological sense of the word. so what makes a man? what about what doesn’t make a man. being a man is not something that can be measured in notches on the headboard, girls dated, parties attended, drinks consumed, money earned, status gained. being a man is a heart issue, not a validation issue. this is a problem with men today. men today don’t know how to be a man. they know how to livein the man’s body, but they don’t know how to live with the man’s heart. it kills me to see how manhood has transformed to be something that is defined. this is a major problem with the youth today. so many, especially those living below the socioeconomic status line, don’t have that positive male role model at home or in their lives at all for that matter. no one teaches the kid how to be a man. he learns it. and let me emphasize this: there is a huge difference between learning something and being taught something. today we view men as those who are not at war with their own desires - they simply give in to them, give in to the flesh, the world, for the sake of gratification. in reality, a man is someone who is able to push against his desires to hold true to that which he knows to be right. he is able to guard his own heart instead of lending it out to anything and everything that comes along. men today have two main recognizable emotions: lust and greed. where are the women in all of this? they are the objects of man’s lust and greed. what about the feminine heart? it is forsaken for the sake of a warm body. it is not guarded at all. it is the man’s job to guard the feminine heart. it is the man’s job to pursue the feminine heart, not the feminine body. so what makes a man? it isn’t about sex or dating or drinking or money or status or cars or jobs. it’s about what is in your heart. it is about how you choose to protect and pursue the feminine heart. it is a reflection of god’s heart. we have a seriously skewed view of what a man should be and what is acceptable for a man to be. right now, men are all the things they should not be. we forsake what we are called to be in lieu of what the world tells us we should be. and i don’t want to be like that. i don’t want to objectify women. i don’t want to mistreat them. i don’t want my worth to be determined by how many women i have had sex with or how much money i have or how much i can drink. i want my worth to be measured in my obedience to god. in my ability to make the difficult decisions. in my ability to protect my heart and the feminine heart. in my ability to love others as christ loves me. the next time someone tells you to “be a man,” think about what they are asking you to do.
The more I spend time in God’s Word and reflect it upon my life, the more I realize how much trash I intake from the world around me, especially in the form of media. It’s hard to find a good movie now a days without having some kind of exploitation of sex, violence, or profanity. It’s even hard to find good creative music without hearing some kind of cursing. But it just hit me, or I should say, God really convicted me, of how much pointless garbage I intake through my eyes and ears. Honestly, it’s hard. Cause we live in a world with media surrounding us. Plus, it doesn’t help that I really love creative entertainment. So how can I, now fully convicted of this problem, live my life being extra careful with what goes in? The fear of the Lord, I think, is a good place to start.
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”
Proverbs 1:7
I wonder how many people there are that can honestly say they look forward to waking up and going to work or school. To live life knowing you’re doing exactly what you were created for. Where the concept of having a career or a job just to earn money doesn’t apply anymore. A place where your passion, your spirit and your zeal are collaborated into something practical that serves a higher purpose.
It took me until my second year of college to realize I can’t wake up every day doing something purely for the sake of earning a lot money. In my case, it was being a doctor or a dentist. Seeing the ones around me drive off in their Porsches to their mansions made me want that career even if I really really didn’t like it. But after one internship and a semester worth of medical classes, I realized that God had a different purpose for me and life just isn’t worth it to live for the sake of making a lot money. So I told myself, hell or high water, I am going to do what I love and be smart about it.
Though the words stress and risk are an understatement, I can honestly say, I love what I do. I’m currently studying business marketing at Biola University and as a talent agent, I have the opportunity to work with the best artists, musicians and entertainers in the world. God has given me this passion of the creative arts of entertainment for a purpose. Especially when there is so much disgusting junk that comes out of media today… But I believe there is still true beauty and creativity out there and it’s an honor for me to find and expose them to the world.
Pray. Ask God to reveal the passions and the gifts He has given you. Then use those passions for His glory alone! God blesses those who live their lives according to His will.
I created Hungry Mind Entertainment realizing that every human in this world is hungry for some kind of satisfaction. And as sinners, we often feed our minds with junk and the wrong things. HME exists so that the human race has the opportunity to feed their minds with beauty and true creativity that flows out of our artist’s work. So check us out whenever and remember:
“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need” - Matthew 6:33
I don’t usually eat breakfast. But this morning, I thought I’d go out of my way and prepare myself a scrumptious sun-rise meal since I had extra time on my hands. As I opened the fridge and pulled out a brand-new carton of eggs, I opened up the grey cardboard, and as I looked at those eggs, I kinda felt bad… Not because the eggs would have one day hatched into cute lil chicks… And no, I’m not into the whole animal rights things… But this morning I felt bad opening the carton of eggs because those white oval shaped things all lined up like that, actually looked kinda cute. Weird. I know. Whatever… So before I made breakfast, my imagination went wild with a sharpie that was lying on the counter. This was the outcome.
Oh, just in case you were wondering, they tasted fantastic. Little trick in cooking eggs I always do: drizzle a tad of maple syrup on them eggs as they cook. Go ahead, do it. It’s delicious.
First off, he was playing the Lion King theme on his flute, so that made me happy. He gladly let me shoot a pic then I told him let’s go to McDonalds and grab a bit to eat. He was down. Two bigmacs for Eddy, a big n tasty for Buster, and i got one of the chicken club things. Never enjoyed Mcdees so much before. Cause usually it’s gross. But this time, it didn’t matter what it tasted like. Because the way Eddy and Buster were eating their lunch made me cry and thank the One who provides food on my plate every day. No matter what it tastes like, no matter what it looks like. Be thankful.
