“What is love worth to you?”

Hey Guys!

Hope you are doing well! I am so excited to what God has in store for us this year!!

Something that God has put on my heart these first few weeks of Twenty-Ten is the UNCONDITIONAL, UNFAILING Love of God. It amazes me more and more everyday that THE GOD of THE UNIVERSE (in even bigger letters!) would even consider loving me or you for that matter (no offense). Not sure who you are, what your life is like, or what you believe. But I do know that He died for you as well as me and that is truly amazing. Every person doesn’t deserve Christ’s love but He gave it all and gave it for all. Wow. And ‘WOW’ doesn’t even describe how amazed I truly am. And it makes me ask myself the question, “What is love worth to you?” When I get down to it, what am I willing to do to express my love? Or what in my life is worth loving? Honestly, I find that answering that is far more difficult than I thought it would be. I am not sure if I can come up with an answer of what I think love is worth to me. However, the more I think and discover this unusual concept of Unconditional love, the more I find that God is the only true display of love.

You see, unconditional love is something not of this world. Even if you think you love your wife/husband/or even children unconditionally, think again. You might love them more than you can fathom but you love because of something. Example, you never love your children or wife until they were present in your life. Taking into account that we finite creatures it is hard to love something or someone before we are in the physical presence of them. But since God is Infinite (no beginning and no end, goes on forever and ever) he can only truly love us unconditionally! We, as humans, tend to lean in the “if, then” love spectrum. If someone does something for me, then I will love them. If I have children, then I will love them. God does not say if you do not sin, then I will love you. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Point of the matter being that God shows us what unconditional love truly is. And He shows us that through the death of Jesus on the cross.

When it comes to God, the question,”What is love worth to you?” is a simple question with a simple answer. JESUS is worth it. God loves us so much that Jesus was worth it. The death of God’s own son was worth it. That is amazing and truly unconditional!! So ask yourself this question, “What is love worth to you?”

Darren

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Hope 2009 was full of God’s incredible riches and that 2010 finds you closer to God than ever!

Darren

Merry Christmas!

Hey y’all! Merry Christmas, yesterday! Hope everyone has an amazing day!

It still amazes me that God, the creator of the universe, would send His Son for me. For you. We are such tiny, finite creatures. We had a beginning and will have an end (Scientific fact: We were born and we will die). But, God is Infinite; He has no beginning and has no end. He is the beginning and the end. Yet, He wanted me and you to be with Him in Heaven. That is why Jesus came. That is why Christmas is celebrated. Jesus came not just to be a child, but to rescue us. If the story of Christmas was just that a child named Jesus was born (as predicted nearly 700 years before it happened) and that was the end of the story, then it would just be a good story that has been passed down from generation to generation; basically, becoming a tradition. However, it is about what Jesus did for us that makes this story one of kind. The absolute greatest true story ever told and worthy of celebrating. He came to die and rise again. As the ultimate sacrifice for the world. Please this Christmas season read, study, and remember why we call it Christmas. Why we find ourselves in awesome wonder of the season itself. Because it is the season in which Jesus’ life began. The life that was going to be given for you.

Merry Christmas!

Darren

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!! Hope everyone has an awesome day! Eat a lot and enjoy family. Give thanks to God for everything He has given you! I know I have a lot to be thankful for!

 

Darren

Once again…Love.

Hey you crazy people in the web world. I hope you are all doing amazing! Well, here it goes….

My last post was about the movie documenting Michael Jackson’s last concert run called “This is it.” Even though I am and have always been an MJ fan, it was not about his music that I was writing. I was writing about how some people, who are not Christians, makes it a point to show love towards others and how much it convicted me. And really it should convict you, also. However, this time I am venturing far from Michael Jackson. Venturing to another celebrity. Someone who I am embarrassed to say I have watched on occasion. Sometimes when I am at home during the day I find myself tuning into her show. When you are poor newly weds and you have free TV through the beautiful digital airwaves you don’t have a lot to choose from (that may just be an excuse). Anywho, I have been amazed with the things I have seen on her show. This is not something that is only done every once in a while. This is an everyday thing. She completely changes people’s lives. I saw an episode last week where she helped a family from my own state of Georgia. She sent a camera crew to this woman’s house to surprise her. And boy was she surprised. Ellen Degeneres proceeded to give this mother and wife something incredible. She was out of work, couldn’t make payments on her bills, and couldn’t afford to send her child to the school she wanted to. Ellen paid her rent, utilities, tuition, and insurance for an entire year. Basically, everything this woman was struggling with Ellen paid and more. Now, when I saw this I was blown away. This is not a believer in Christ and she is changing people’s lives. Where are we? What are we doing? I caught an episode a few days later and she gave a family $25,000 to pay off their debt and another episode she paid the bills for a family and replaced their broken down car with a brand new one. Am I saying we should all go out and pay everyone’s bills? Or give people brand new cars? No! Well, maybe. If you can afford to that, then why not?

All I am saying is that this is another example of someone pouring out love. Giving to people who are in need more than we are. I think that these people are doing it for their own glory. But they are still doing it. I am challenging myself as well as those Christians out there to change a life. Give to someone who needs it. Sacrifice a latte from Starbucks because sometimes that is all it takes. And guess what? Do it for His glory. There is something that would make it different from Ellen and Michael. Giving to others, loving others, sacrificing for others in the name of Jesus. Not ourselves. Wow. Imagine the world if we did that.

Darren

PS. I love you guys who read this stuff!

Matthew 6

Giving to the Needy

¹“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

²“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. ³But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

“Out of Love”

Hey Guys! Hope everyone is doing awesome out there!

Last week I went to see Michael Jackson’s “This is it” and I must say, it was AWESOME! Now I have been a MJ fan since I was little. And I mean LITTLE. I remember watching the “Thriller” video my living room and having my head buried in a pillow because I was completely terrified. I am not one of those who only liked him after he died. I was a fan through thick and thin. I was a fan of the music, the dancing, and the genius that paved the way for so many people. He revolutionized the music industry. However, this is not a post on how great MJ was. It is about what we as Christians are doing wrong. This is something that has been on my heart since I saw the movie and really been on my heart for a long time.

During the movie Michael would show the people working for him incredible amounts of love. You could tell he loved the people he was in contact with. If he did not like the way someone was dancing or playing he would correct it and say this is “out of love”. He demanded perfection from his musicians, dancers, and producers yet still loved them. But the thing that really baffled me and really convicted me, was that statement: “It’s out of love.” He wanted to make sure that the people he was working with knew that was he was doing was out of love. It amazed me that he wanted to love the people around him so much that would finish a lot of sentences with “it’s out of love.” He wrote songs of loving people and changing people lives. It is said that he gave $500 million to charities during his lifetime. That’s a pretty chunk-a-change right there.

What is so convicting about this? Shouldn’t I just be happy he did that? No! It is so convicting to me that this man wasn’t a follower of Christ. He was loving the world and changing people lives more than most Christians do. That is ridiculous! The Bible says in Ephesians 5:1 and 2, “¹Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children ² and LIVE A LIFE OF LOVE, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” I think we as Christians should be doing a little more to be living the life of love we are called to. Think about how many opportunities we have each day to show people love. I know in my own life that I could pour out love to so many people but because it might not be convenient I chose not to. Love is why we are here. We are called to love. We could change the world if we just lived and loved people non-stop. Really we should do everything “Out of Love.”

Darren

Happy Halloween Everyone!

I miss the old days of going out to get free candy.  Who says we can’t go anymore?

Darren

Farts

So…Uh…Listen…

We all know that farts are hilarious.  In fact, they are one of my favorite past times.  At the age of 23, I am still amused by the sounds that are created during the process of farting.  It will never grow old.  Some people say that it is rude and immature.  Others say it is disgusting.  Yes it is rude, immature, and perhaps disgusting, but it never ceases to make people laugh.  No matter my mood, a fart can make me smile.  Sometimes the funniest farts are those fabricated in inappropriate places.  Which leads me to this….

Wednesday, I was preaching at the youth group at New Life as I do every Wednesday night.  However, during my message one of our youngest students decided to let a fart go mid-sentence.  Although it was funny, I was able hold in my laugh…barely.  Only by God’s power was I able to hold in that laugh.  Because I know for a fact that if I had laughed during the message there is no way I would have been able to get their attention back for the rest of the night.  BUT, then there was the closing prayer…when…he farted again.  This time I struggled, I mean severely struggled to hold it in.  I had my head down and started smiling during the prayer and this was a serious prayer.  As most prayers are.  It got to the point where my voice started to weaken because I wanted to laugh so bad.  I am pretty sure that I could have peed myself.  I was cracking up on the inside.  Afterwards, I thought to myself, “why was that so funny?”

When I met Jenny for dinner at Steak and Shake, I realized that I had yet to tell anyone about this or talk about it.  So, I told this story to my wife in Steak and Shake and proceeded to completely lose it and couldn’t get the story out.  And as a 23-year-old man, I found myself laughing about farts once again.  I remember having a conversation in high school with a friend and expressing that I think I could be 98 years old, on my death bed, and laugh about a fart. Even if I did not know anyone anymore, I could still laugh at a fart.

Moral of the story…

Laugh about farts…God made them loud for a reason!!

Darren

Welcome Back!

I have decided tonight I am going to get back into this thing…I know I have said it before but this time I mean it!  I saved a bookmark so I will see it daily and I will post more!  But for now…Bed time!  Last night of the MPD follow-up conference!! Ready to get home!

Darren

Colorado!

Hey Y’all!!Hope life in Ga is good!We’re out here in Fort Collins, Co and it is B-E-A-utiful!Started writing this one like a month ago and got way too busy with junk out here.We finished two seminary classes and doing a whole bunch of stuff for support raising.Can’t wait to get back to ATL and move into a new place.Not really sure where.But we are looking into a guest house above a barn on like 50 acres, so that’s pretty sweet!Be praying for that!

Anyways, God has been so amazing out here.He has shown me a lot about myself as well as a lot about other people.When you spend extended periods of time with people you meet you really see their true character shine through.It amazes me how little credit people will give you.Most of the time it is a lot more public than we think.

I have always wondered why we as Christians have to try to point out or fix others problems instead of fixing our own.Usually when we have way more to fix.I sometimes take for granted the friends I have in Christ back home.I know that no matter how I act or what I do, I am free of judgment!

I love you guys back home!Y’all are awesome!

See Y’all soon!

Darren