Alright...
Here's the deal: leaving for Kirkland tomorrow to go to GC....yeah!!!!! I so can't wait...it's been a year since the last GC and I've been waiting since then for this year...it's gonna be amazing. Things fell perfectly into place for me to be able to go this year: I was scared that finals this quarter were gonna be during GC, therefore making me unable to go. But as things happened, finals were Monday and Tuesday of this week and I leave for GC tomorrow (Thursday). I was so happy when I realized that I would be able to go. Get to see Diane again...Mark and Tai hopefully...hang with some amazing people for 3 days...listen to some great speakers...indulge in absolutely amazing worship...oh geez...I so can't wait. (Side note: sorry for all the ...'s.) I'll be there for 3 days with really no cell phone use...so please don't call, cuz it'll be turned off, which is totally unusal for me because my cell phone is never off, just on vibrate. So yeah, that's what's happening this weekend. Earlier this week, I was at bible study over at Kyle Warwick's house. We're watching a video series by John Bevere (don't know if any of u have ever heard of him) called A Heart Ablaze. I always find myself waiting impatiently for study to be over so I can go home and watch my tv shows, or call someone. But this week was a little bit different. Sure, I wanted to go home so I could call my sister, but other then that, I was actually paying attention. The message that we watched was about the whole notion of "once saved, always saved". I had always believed that...I think that was how I was raised and so when I was a kid I didn't know any better and didn't do any questioning and didn't have anyone to tell me that there's more to it. In the Bible it says that we're saved by grace, not by works, that no man should boast. This causes some people to believe that all they have to do is pray the sinner's prayer and they're in...they don't have to live a good life, they don't have to be an actual Christian. I always fit this category...I lived a good life, but didn't really do anything with it or make my faith personal. But it also says in the Bible that we need good works to back up our faith...it's not just about asking Jesus into our lives and then doing whatever we want, living continually in the same way as we had before we asked Him in. We have to do good thing, we have to actually work on our faith. Don't get me wrong...I'm not saying that good works is all we need either. You can't do good things and go to heaven. You can't earn your way into Heaven by being a good person...none of us can earn our way in. We're sinful and Jesus came to Earth and died to save us, to give us a way to Heaven. That doesn't mean that we deserve it. All I'm saying is that faith and good works need to go together. I know it may sound like I'm preaching or lecturing again...but I won't apologize. I just think this is important for people to hear, and so I'm sharing it with the people I care the most about. Don't get angry at me.