Jesus or Wealth

I know what text you think I'm going to use for this one...the one about the rich young ruler walking away from Jesus who said, "sell all that you have and give it to the poor then follow me." But you're wrong. Hopefully this catches you off-guard like it did me this morning.

Mark chapter 5 tell us the instance of Jesus and His disciples sailing to "the country of the Gerasenes" (?). And immediately they were met by a psycho who was demon possessed. This dude broke metal shackles into pieces! Anyway, the demon begged Jesus to not destroy him (them? the demon's name was Legion) but instead send him (or them) into a heard of swine. So, buddy Jesus, being the nice guy He was, sent them (him?) into the swine and the heard ran off the cliff, plummeting to their death. Here's where it gets interesting...

The people from that country found out what happened, SAW the formerly demon-possessed man, heard that Jesus sent the demon into the heard, and begged Jesus to go away! We've got to understand, that anyone who has a heard of pigs doesn't just have them for fun. Someone has a heard of pigs because they are making money from them. So, when Jesus healed the psycho, but killed another man's heard, the people were more concerned about what would happen to THEIR FORTUNES rather than PEOPLE GETTING HEALED if Jesus stuck around.

Are pigs really more important than people? Is making money really more important than people being redeemed? Please prayerfully consider this thought: are we telling Jesus to go away because we're afraid of the cost of letting Him take up residence in us?



Are we willing to tell Jesus to "stay" and give up everything for Him? That's exactly what He did for us. He gave up His life for us. Let us remember that this Jesus was and is God, the Almighty, the One who owns it all, but gave it all up for us. I believe that this is what He requires of us. Paul knew it and he could honestly say, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me."

Mourning to Laughter

Realizing that I choose to be completely non-productive in the evenings because I don't want to be challenged by reading the Bible, or other challenging books, or praying, or preparing for youth group makes me feel soooo LAME! Somehow, I got in a funk and I HATE it. It's time to repent, re-connect
with the God who gives life, and love, learn, lead, and live in view of eternity, and to help as many people as possible become totally committed to Jesus!

I haven't read my Bible for the past few days except for preparing for a sermon or stuff like that because I haven't been connected to "the Vine." If I'm not connected to God, why read His word? I haven't been reading a couple of books I've started recently (freaking awesome books: "Blue Like Jazz" and "The Irresistible Revolution") because what I've read of them so far challenges the CRAP out of me! I didn't want to be challenged because I know that doing anything without God is pointless.

But I'm back, Lord. I am sooo ready to be challenged! MAN, I realize how worthless my self-serving attitude and behavior is and I need to be saved from it! I need my passion for myself to be replaced with a passion for YOU, and that begins with prayer and ends in obedience.

Why prayer? That's the way I truly connect with God. I can do ANY spiritual discipline and not be connected to God. But I cannot truly pray to God and not connect. Prayer reminds me of the sacrifice that He already made, the forgiveness I've already received, and the open arms the Father always has for me when I've strayed.

Rescue Mission w/ Echo

Last night at the Rescue Mission was AMAZING! I didn't get to spend too much time with the whole group, but was able to wash a TON of dishes with Lyric and Katie. They're alright :\ JKJKJKJKJKJKJKJK! Love those girls! :D Although, it was sad seeing families of 6, ma and pa with their 4 children, one in a stroller, HAVING to come eat dinner at the homeless shelter. Makes me realize how unbelievably GREAT I have it. All I can say is, "Thank you God for blessing me! And continue to break my heart for the poor and the lost."

What's The Use of a Suffering God?

Recently I was asked, "What's the use of a suffering God?" Initially, I had no idea...which made me curious. After praying and thinking about it for a while, God started revealing some good stuff to me. Here was my response to the question...

Wow, there's so many places one can go with this. For starters, mankind is made in the image of God. So, for a God who will come off of His heavenly throne to bear with other's burdens and sufferings tells us a lot about ourselves. We were initially made with a heart that is bewildered by and breaks for people who suffer. Clearly, many people's hearts have grown cold to the constant injustices people suffer and therefore do not blink an eye anymore at a suffering person. I believe our ability to be broken with (for or over) someone is one way that we can be a godly witness to people.

Also, humankind was made to be in community. Again, going back to being made in God's image, if you think about it, He also exists in a divine community: Father, Son, Holy Spirit, all in one. So, for a communal Being to make communal beings is one thing. But for that Communal Being to participate in community with His creation brings it to a whole new level. Even still, for our communal God to be in communion with His creation who are suffering! That's the kind of God we serve. One who is not afraid of getting dirty for His "subjects" (as in He is our King and we are His subjects). Watch Emperors New Groove. Notice how the king had the old man thrown out the palace window for "ruining the Emperors groove." That kind of practice was and is truly not far from the truth. Many rulers would have people executed if they even appeared sad before their king/ruler (also consider Nehemiah who was afraid that he was sad in ch 2:1-3).

Finally, We have a God who truly does know our pain. In fact, He has often felt pain. Consider when God was grieved that he made man on earth at all (Genesis 6:6). Also consider the whole story of Hosea who tried to demonstrate what we do to Him and how He feels about us when we commit idolatry; it's like a wife running out from her husband and prostituting herself. When the husband goes and pays for his wife back (which is ridiculous in itself) she goes right back to prostituting herself again. We serve a God who knows pain. Sometimes the best thing for a suffering person is for someone to understand their suffering. Someone saying, "I feel your pain" is not enough. Someone who experiences pain with someone is healing.

Great Leaders

I just got finished with a meeting with my leaders (and it was GREAT fellowship!) and I just cannot say enough good about Matt, Jenn, and Ashley! They are such a great supporting team! Getting with these guys makes me realize that I simply cannot lead a youth group on my own. There is soooo much wisdom in the council of many (Proverbs 15:22)! I'm sooooo excited about their enthusiasm to lead/serve as well as their passion for God! Not only this, but God is providing yet another leader to the team! He's going to be a real asset and I can't wait to see what God does through Charles! But wait, there's more :D I just spoke with our potential worship leader as of January, and He's STOKED that we want him to lead worship for us and our youth!
All of this to say that God is SO good! He is such a PROVIDER! Jesus' words prove true that "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!" (John 14:14) That's all for today :)

8 Ways to Aviod Drama

So, I've been reading Colossians, and there's some great stuff all over it, but today, God really spoke to me through Colossians 3:12-14. Hopefully He'll do the same for you. There's a lot of different applications for these verses, but I though that avoiding drama and building relationships is pretty close to God's heart. So here's 8 WAYS TO AVOID DRAMA :)

Be Compassionate - allow others pain motivate you toward doing good for them, rather than simply telling everyone about their pain

Be Kind - It's easy to push people away when they are being difficult or if they are just different. Instead, draw them closer to yourself and "kill 'em with kindness."

Be Humble - Know (and practice) that you do not always HAVE to be right! Is it not better to save or develop a friendship than to be right?

Be Gentle - Imagine the difference between a savage lion and a gentle lion...look at a savage lion cross-eyed and he'll pounce you. Look at a gentle lion cross-eyed and he'll lick your face raw. In other words, don't fly off the handle when something upsets you.

Be Patient - If you can't settle a problem with someone and they're not ready to resolve it, don't give up. Continue seeking forgiveness and restoration within the relationship.

Bear With One Another - One of the most difficult things in life is to value and accept another persons FEELINGS! Feelings are often not logical, but if someone is felling a certain way, whether it's logical or not, THAT'S HOW THEY FEEL! Accept it, value it, and move on from there.

Be Forgiving -  Forgiveness is more for the forgive-er than for the forgive-ee. If we hold resentment toward someone and don't let it go, we're like a refrigerator keeping a plate of raw stake inside and won't let it go. Eventually that raw stake will smell disgusting and will contaminate everything else in the refrigerator.

Be Loving - Always be thinking, "does what I'm about to say demonstrate love for this person?" "Does what I'm about to do show my love for that person?" I promise, you will never do anything wrong if you carefully consider these 2 questions and respond appropriately.

A Fruitful Endeavor

THAT'S IT! Titus has been kicking my butt for long enough. It's time to move on. It figures that the day I move on from Titus, I'd be challenged more than I've ever been challenged before. Paul tells Titus, "Our people [Christians] must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful." (Titus 3:14)

So often I find myself trying to make time to ready my Bible, pray, and discuss spiritual things...which is good, but it that the end goal? to read my Bible more, pray more, learn more? I don't think so. Paul says that if Christians are not engaged in "good deeds" then our our lives are unfruitful! (Think about Jesus' parable of the soils in Matthew 13:3-9)

Earlier, Paul explains (clearly) the gospel and concludes his explanation with our response to the gospel..."But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds." (Titus 3:4-8)

Earlier still, Paul explains that "good deeds" are inseparable from being saved: "[Jesus Christ] Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds." (Titus 2:14)

Finally (or firstly), in chapter one, Paul describes the people who only think they're spiritual: "They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deeds." (Titus 1:16)

I have to admit, I've been quite unfruitful. I haven't been "careful to engage in good deeds." I certainly haven't been "zealous for good deeds." So, all of that MUST change. This is why I'm so excited about the new series Echo is doing, "Exposed."  We are going to be exposed to people with real, "pressing needs" and we're going to be careful to engage in meeting these needs. In fact, I think that once we see people with real, pressing needs, we'll be zealous for meeting their needs.

Are you someone who is careful and zealous for doing good deeds? Do you need some help finding pressing needs? Do you want to be a person who is careful and zealous for doing good deeds? If so, I invite you to Echo youth group November 18th as we learn about a severe need having to do with child trafficking right here in our city. If not, I invite you to make Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior. He died a sinless man so that the wrath of God intended for us would be satisfied. Now, through faith in Jesus we can have eternal life with the Source of all that is good, the God who created the universe.

Scratching the Surface

This is messed up...as I was praying this morning, I was attempting the "ACTS" method of prayer (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication), and I didn't even get past the "A." My prayer went something like this: "God, you are holy, righteous, true, and just." Now, I don't know if you can read the enormously impersonal feel to those first words, but it was there when I said them. I listed a bunch of His qualities as a list of facts about God rather than qualities I know from experience, and I thought, "why don't I become overwhelmed with joy, grief, sorrow, happiness, and anticipation when I say these qualities about God?" 

If you've ever met someone who you can truly say, "He/she is a truly holy person," wouldn't you think that you would have some level of conviction of your own unholiness? your own sinfulness? What about being encouraged by their holiness? encouraged that someone is doing it? empowered by the way they live their life alone?

All throughout the Old Testament God tells His people, "Be holy as I am holy." The reason for this is that God wanted to use His people (then, it was Israel) to demonstrate to the world ("nations" as the OT puts it) who God is. Holiness was one of His main concerns. God wanted people to look at His people and say, "Wow, there is something different about they way they all live their lives!" To which an Israelite would have responded, "Yeah, because we serve a HOLY GOD."

I wonder if ANYBODY would EVER say that about me: "Wow, he's different (in a good way)." The truth is, I don't think I know much about God's holiness, justice, and righteousness because I don't live it that well. What's funny about that is I DO know all about His FORGIVENESS! Man, do I know about that! And it is good! It's something that I do go through emotional mood swings about! I love His forgiveness...I'm devastated by His forgiveness...I'm awed by His forgiveness...I'm encouraged and equipped by His forgiveness. If I knew of His forgiveness alone, that would be enough to live a life worth living! So how much greater will this life be when I can celebrate, cry over, and rejoice in His other qualities?

I've been a Christian for 10 years and I'm just barely scratching the surface...

Ridiculous Expectations

This will be quick, I promise...

Paul's writing to Titus and in chapter 2 he gives an account of what Jesus did

1) He appeared
2) He brought Salvation to all men
3) He instructed us to deny ungodliness
4) He instructed us to deny worldly desires &
5) He instructed us to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in this present age!!!

Notice that this is the last thing Paul speaks of Jesus doing before he goes into what our reaction to doing these things are...

"...to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus."

So why is it that some actually believe that they can live any way they want while on God's green earth and still expect to be happy when they see "the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus"? Is this not the most ridiculous expectation ever?!?

My Confession

Holy flippin cow! You know those times when all the stars line up just right, all traffic lights seem to turn green for you, and every friend you've ever had tells you how great you are...yeah, I've never had that last one either :)...anyway, sometimes there are just days or even weeks where all things that are happening in your life seem to be pointing you in a particular direction. Well, starting with Francis Chan's Crazy Love (chapter 9) I've been pretty jacked up. Chan speaks of Christians that are "obsessed with God." One thing a Christian who's obsessed with God, Chan says, is a person who cannot help but to love and minister to the poor. I believe that I love the poor, and would, you know, give them some change or something to eat if I was confronted with the opportunity. That last sentence you just read may give you a hint at how I really treat the poor: "I  believe..." "confronted with the opportunity..."

I can't even say it: I love the poor! Instead I soften the statement with "I believe..." This alone makes it clear to me that my actions don't say, "I love the poor."

Wait, Francis jacked me up a bit (Thanks a lot Chan :) but that same week I was reading through Galatians and lo and behold...Paul is telling the Church in Galatia his testimony about how he became a Christian and began ministering to Gentiles. He gets to the very end of his testimony, where he (Paul) is speaking with James and John (a couple of Jesus disciples who were called by God to minister to the Jews). Basically James and John commission Paul to preach the gospel to the Gentiles and the very last thing Paul recalls is "They only asked us to remember the poor--the very thing I also was eager to do."

You know, I don't think I've ever been told to "remember the poor" and certainly I have never been eager to remember the poor. The poor have always been the community that I tend to steer clear from. "They're awkward," I argue, "I don't know how to relate to them," I'd say. But does that matter? NO!!! So is my heart sooo hard as to not really caring about the poor. It must be. Now don't get me wrong because what I'm about to say may be a little judgmental and upsetting, but I think the Church (yes, the whole Church) in N. America has become hardened to this forsaken, despised, and neglected community. If you disagree, reply to me a time when someone begged you to remember the poor..."They ONLY asked us to remember the poor." Or tell me about a time when you were so passionate about serving/ministering to the poor that you said, "serving the poor is THE VERY THING I was eager to do."

Clearly, something is wrong in the Church today. I know there always will be, but this thing we can change. Having a heart for the poor is a "easy fix"...to an extent. All we really have to do is pray to God that He changes our hearts. This may result in you not spending all your money on the new whatever that just came out. Instead you may be spending more time at the homeless shelters and paying for them to eat or to use the bus. Did you know that if every church in the greater Las Vegas area (to include Henderson, Sumerlin, etc.) were to adopt a homeless person, feed, shelter, and clothe him/her then there wouldn't be any homeless people in Las Vegas.

So I confess it. I don't know how I've done it...be a Christian and not really care about the poor. But it is now clear that God wants that to change. Will you join me? Will you pray for a heart for the poor? Will you look past yourself and consider the cause of the poor with me? I guarantee it's gonna be tough. Our lives won't look near as fancy as they have been, but on the other hand, we don't live for this life. A phrase my pastor coined is that we "live in view of eternity." That's what it's going to take to live this life eager to serve the poor. 'Cause the poor will seldom be able to give back to us. That's why Jesus words are comforting: "Whatever you did for the least of these, you have done for me."

I Hate Poetery

Seriously! Apparently any little one or two liner that comes to someone's mind...that doesn't even rhyme...they call it poetry and it kills me every time (hehe). I took a college class that focused on poetry and I hated every minute of it. But just a few hours ago, I stumbled on this verse in in Ecclesiastes (1:7):

All streams run to the sea,
  but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
  there they flow again.

He's writes this to explain how lame can be. It's kinda like that hamster running in the wheel...going nowhere, but this time, even nature itself is doing the same thing. The crazy thing is that of all the streams feeding into the ocean...THE OCEAN IS NEVER FULL! Instead the water starts going down the stream, ends up in the ocean, it evaporates, and rains down right back into the flippin stream to do it all over again!

This really helps me understand how truly meaningless everything the world has to offer. We can fill ourselves up with video games, relationships, good times, etc. but when some time passes by, it's as if nothing really happened. We are no more "full" than when we started. Think about all the streams flowing into the ocean! We can try to get "full" from thousands of different sources, but none of them will deliver fulfillment. We will always be wanting more, probably thinking that the next stream is going to be the one.

For about 12 chapters, the author of Ecclesiastes, who by the way had all the wealth you could imagine, like 800 concubines (if you don't know what that is, look it up in the dictionary), and anything else one could have in the year 900 b.c. (they couldn't miss the x-box because it wasn't a twinkle in his mothers eye, but whatever they did have, he had it). But at the very end, I mean the very end of his little book, the author says something really bold. He says, "The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with​ every secret thing, whether good or evil."

Fearing and obeying God is the one thing that doesn’t just flow in and through you. Fearing and obeying God brings results, it fulfills, it lasts FOREVER. Forever is a long time away for most of us, but what do we want to do: continue trying to be filled up by the rivers in our lives, that only leave us wanting more? Or do we want to fill up from the Source of all that is good, from the One who said, “I am THE way and THE truth and THE LIFE?

Being Led and Actually Following

It's pretty clear that God's trying to tell me something specific. Last week I read through Romans which, at its center (chapter 8) has some of the greatest stuff in the Bible: If we live according to the Spirit we will desire things according to the Spirit, but if we live according to the flesh we will desire things according to the flesh.

Now this week I'm reading through Galatians and it basically has the same thing: "Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another..." (Galatians 5:16-17).

This is messing me up! Right when I read this Galatians verse, I though of Holly's and my trip back from California (where we hung out with the coolest, oldest people in the world) and at one point, God made a thought enter my mind saying, "You should pray with your wife." I then thought that it would be a great idea to do that. Then...nothing. I began thinking about something else and shrugged off my thoughts of prayer. But here's the cool thing...literally minutes later Holly asked me if we could pray together!

It was at that point that I realized that I failed. God wanted to use me to bring my family before his throne and worship Him together, but I was not walking according to the Spirit. I kinda thought that I had been walking according to the Spirit simply because I had a good thought about praying, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Literally, my flesh set its desire against the Spirit...and my flesh won.

So, what the smack do I do now? Certainly, confession, repentance, and renewal are a part of it. James 5:16 says, "Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed." In Luke 5:32 Jesus says, "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." Finally David says in Psalm 51:9, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right Spirit within me."

Repentance is great and all (I DID IT! if you went to CALM last Sunday, you'll get this :) but is there a way we can NOT sin; NOT be led by our flesh? In thinking of this, I think of an old Cherokee story:

A father was teaching his son about the two wolves that are in a battle over each man. One wolf is good and will bring a man honor. The other wolf is bad and will bring dishonor. To this the boy responds, "How do I know which one will win?" And the father told the boy, "The one which you feed."

Just like these wolves who are in a battle over every man, so is our flesh in a battle with our Spirit. Just as the wolf who gets fed will overcome the other, so also does the Spirit or the flesh overcome the other as we feed it.

More thoughts on God's will

I would honestly venture to say that God's will for each and every human life is to conform more to the image of Jesus Christ (Rom 8:29). If this is the case, then questions like, "Does God want me to go to this school or that school?" are not really the right questions. So when you find yourself in any situation where you're not sure what God's will is, here are some questions to consider:

Will option "x" increase my faith in God?
Will option "x" make me more loving?
Will option "x" make me more forgiving?
Will option "x" make me more humble?
Will option "x" make me more merciful?
Will option "x" make me more of an evangelist?
Will option "x" make me more bold?
Will option "x" make me more gracious?
etc.

Basically, because it is most definitely God's will for us to become more conformed to the image of Christ, we can say that whatever option we have that God can (and probably will) use to transform us more to the image of His Son is our best option and more often that not will be God's will.

Clearly this "formula," which I hate calling it, has boundaries. For example, it would make me more like Christ to stop world poverty, cure all diseases, encourage every believer, and still have time to watch The Office, Thursdays @ 9pm on NBC. But clearly, this is not God's will for me. There's no possible way I could tackle all of these in one lifetime. (I could however pursue one or more of these little by little)

The only thing that may be stopping us from finding God's will this way is that we don't fully know who Jesus Christ is, or maybe we forgot. Either way, READ THE GOSPELS! Be always finding out who Jesus is.

There's also another "formula" that can be included in the "conform-to-the-image-of-Christ" formula which I heard from a greatly respected pastor, Pastor Vance Pittman (if you ever read this, sorry if I butchered this...), who laid this out: when you have a word from the Word, peace about a future decision, when you have prayed (earnestly), and when situations align for a particular decision, then you probably have found God's will.

Did we all get that?

We must be in the Word; the Bible! if we want to hear clearly from God
We must have a "peace that transcends all understanding" (Phil 4:7)
We must be in PRAYER about our decision (Phil 4:6)
Finally, situations must allow for us to make the decision (1 Cor 16:5-9)

God works powerfully through each of these.

Led by the Spirit?

I’m still trying to figure out why Paul would write Romans 8:5-8 to “all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints” (Rom. 1:7). There is no command in Romans 8:5-8. It’s just an observation: “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.” To sum up the rest, a mind set on the flesh = death and is hostile to God and cannot please Him. A mind set on the Spirit = life & peace.

Maybe Paul said it because he wanted to encourage the Church in Rome. Later Paul tells them flat out that they are “not in the flesh but in the Spirit.” Therefore, they must have had their minds on the things of the Spirit. Right?

I’ve got to be honest. Although I place all of my faith, hope, and trust in Jesus and therefore know that He saved me from sin and death and has given me assurance of this by giving me His Spirit, I often times don’t have my mind on the things of the Spirit. How can this be?

On the other hand, it is very clear to me when I don’t live according to the Spirit. It feels like guilt. It feels like I’m out of place. Maybe, just maybe, could this be a mind which has been transformed by the Spirit? Could the very experience of guilt and misplacement before God be the Spirit inside of me telling me to come back to God? When I’m knee deep in my shame, and guilt has overcome me and there’s no where to go but to God, is that one way that God continues to show me His undeserving grace and mercy?

I can say this for sure, God’s love certainly leads me to repentance. And this is definitely a work of the Spirit. Nothing brings me more peace; nothing makes me feel more alive than unending, undeserving love, grace, and forgiveness.

    Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,
        and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
    For the Lord is a God of justice;
        blessed are all those who wait for him.

                                                        - Isaiah 30:18

Halloween Caroling?

I've got to know what people think about Halloween Caroling. It sounds just at awesome as it does stupid at the same time! Check out some of the songs we could sing (or hum if there's no words):

This is Halloween by The Citizens of Halloween

Halloween (the movie) Theme Song

Thriller by Michael Jackson

The Devil Went Down to Georgia by The Charlie Daniels Band

The X Files Theme Song by 101 Strings Orchestra

Red Right Hand by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

God's will

It's always been frustrating trying to know or at least understand God's will. What am I supposed to do now? Where is God leading me? Do I choose this course or that course? Do I curse at my parents or just deal with it? (obviously the last one's an easy one :)

But what if these are all the wrong questions? What if God's will is sooo much bigger than any single decision we make? What if for every situation we find ourselves in; any opportunity that presences itself; every relationship we have to develop, God has one and only one will for us?

Romans 8:29 says, "[God] predestined [us] to be conformed to the image of His Son" (ESV)

Or as another translation says, "He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son" (The Message)

So, how can I be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ?

Maybe this is the one and only question; maybe this is the dominating will of God for every decision we make; maybe for every situation we find ourselves in; every opportunity that presences itself; every relationship we have to develop, God will for us is to be conformed to the likeness of His Son.