the new life.

"But that is not how you learned Christ!- assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give NO opportunity to the devil."

~ Ephesians 4:20-27 [ESV]

"Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."

~ Ephesians 4:28-29 [ESV]

"Don't grieve God. Don't break his heart, His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don't take such a gift for granted. Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk."

~ Ephesians 4:30-31 [The Message]

I love this last verse...

"Be kind to one another, TENDERhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

~ Ephesians 4:32 [ESV]

thoughts.

thoughts are overwhelming me this week.

Passion starts on Saturday and I am anything but prepared. Physically, I am prepared. It's easy to go. I just drive down to Atlanta and bam, there I am! Spiritually, I feel unprepared. That should be easy as well. I've heard many times in my life, "come as you are." Why I am so scared to come as I am at this point in my life? I think I am nervous about what God wants to stir up in my life.

Someone has grabbed my attention in my life. She is great, sweet and all around wonderful. I can't deny to put this on my blog, because right now she is a part of my life. She is currently on a cruise with her family enjoying warm weather I imagine. I'm jealous of this because warm weather and beaches sound EXCELLENT to me right now. It has been quite chilly this week!!

I have made myself a goal to have an extremely lazy week, other than working of course! I'm sure this won't help to the numerous thoughts in my head!

Another point: I got to see my friends Kati and Hanna from Estonia on Sunday night! I am looking forward to spending more time with them at Passion along with Daniel and Timo from Estonia. To add to the group of friends that will be in town, my main man Kerry will be staying at the house, he is currently living in Texas. Another guy whom I met this summer in Estonia will be staying at my house, his name is Jake and he lives in North Carolina! This will be great to see all of these people!

Please keep all of us in your prayers as we will be traveling back and forth from the venue on Saturday through Tuesday for Passion. More information on Passion can be found at www.268generation.com

Please pray for me, as I am having a hard time praying for myself!

-brett

a closer look.

I personally would like to memorize the verses that Piper put in the article that I posted in my last entry. Honestly, I have never been big on memorizing scripture. Although, anyone who I have talked to whom is wiser than I am has told me how important AND life changing it can be. Therefore, it must make sense that we memorize these verses in our lives to fight lust and temptation.

With that said I am going to dive into these verses and place them on here. I do encourage you to look at these verses in your own studies as well as read them in context with where they are in the Bible. If you do not own a Bible; www.youversion.com is a great place to look at scripture.

AVOID

"Flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart." 2 Timothy 2:22 ESV

"Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires." Romans 13:14 ESV

SAY NO

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7 ESV

TURN

"That is not the way you learned Christ!-- assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians 4:20-24 ESV

HOLD

"My dear Christian friends, companions in following this call to the heights, take a good hard look at Jesus. He's the centerpiece of everything we believe," Hebrews 3:1 The Message

ENJOY

"Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days." Psalm 90:14 ESV

MOVE

Read Romans 12:9-21 (These tasks will keep you busy for a while.)

After reading these verses go back and read Piper's post on my last blog entry, see it in a new way. This morning I have seen it in a new way and I have somewhat begun to grasp this challenge.

Please continue to pray for me.

-brett

the battle.

It has been quite some time since my last entry and I do believe it is a great place to begin blogging again. I'm going to jump right into things and place on here today something that I would like to learn. This is not something I have control over in my life right now and I am placing it here so that it can be a reminder to myself and to help give tools to you.

John Piper once posted something called "A N T H E M" online. It is a tool for fighting temptation. I would like to share this with you and ask that you could pray for me as I go through this battle. I hope to trust in God that He would be my strength. I am not great in the area of spiritual discipline, but honestly who is? It wouldn't be discipline if it was super easy!

With that, here it is. God be with you on this!

"A N T H E M

Strategies for Fighting Lust

By John Piper

November 5, 2001

I have in mind men and women. For men it's obvious. The need for warfare against the bombardment of visual temptation to fixate on sexual images is urgent. For women it is less obvious, but just as great if we broaden the scope of temptation to food or figure or relational fantasies. When I say "lust" I mean the realm of thought, imagination, and desire that leads to sexual misconduct. So here is one set of strategies in the war against wrong desires. I put it in the form of an acronym, A N T H E M.

A - AVOID as much as is possible and reasonable the sights and situations that arouse unfitting desire. I say "possible and reasonable" because some exposure to temptation is inevitable. And I say "unfitting desire" because not all desires for sex, food, and family are bad. We know when they are unfitting and unhelpful and on their way to becoming enslaving. We know our weaknesses and what triggers them. "Avoiding" is a Biblical strategy. "Flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness" (2 Timothy 2:22). "Make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires" (Romans 13:14).

N - Say NO to every lustful thought within five seconds. And say it with the authority of Jesus Christ. "In the name of Jesus, NO!" You don't have much more than five seconds. Give it more unopposed time than that, and it will lodge itself with such force as to be almost immovable. Say it out loud if you dare. Be tough and warlike. As John Owen said, "Be killing sin or it will be killing you." Strike fast and strike hard. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" ( James 4:7).

T - TURN the mind forcefully toward Christ as a superior satisfaction. Saying "no" will not suffice. You must move from defense to offense. Fight fire with fire. Attack the promises of sin with the promises of Christ. The Bible calls lusts "deceitful desires" (Ephesians 4:22). They lie. They promise more than they can deliver. The Bible calls them "passions of your former ignorance" (1 Peter 1:14). Only fools yield. "All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter" (Proverbs 7:22). Deceit is defeated by truth. Ignorance is defeated by knowledge. It must be glorious truth and beautiful knowledge. This is why I wrote Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ. We must stock our minds with the superior promises and pleasures of Jesus. Then we must turn to them immediately after saying, "NO!"

H - HOLD the promise and the pleasure of Christ firmly in your mind until it pushes the other images out. "Fix your eyes on Jesus" (Hebrews 3:1). Here is where many fail. They give in too soon. They say, "I tried to push it out, and it didn't work." I ask, "How long did you try?" How hard did you exert your mind? The mind is a muscle. You can flex it with vehemence. Take the kingdom violently (Matthew 11:12). Be brutal. Hold the promise of Christ before your eyes. Hold it. Hold it! Don't let it go! Keep holding it! How long? As long as it takes. Fight! For Christ's sake, fight till you win! If an electric garage door were about to crush your child you would hold it up with all our might and holler for help, and hold it and hold it and hold it and hold it.

E - ENJOY a superior satisfaction. Cultivate the capacities for pleasure in Christ. One reason lust reigns in so many is that Christ has so little appeal. We default to deceit because we have little delight in Christ. Don't say, "That's just not me." What steps have you taken to waken affection for Jesus? Have you fought for joy? Don't be fatalistic. You were created to treasure Christ with all your heart - more than you treasure sex or sugar. If you have little taste for Jesus, competing pleasures will triumph. Plead with God for the satisfaction you don't have: "Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days" (Psalm 90:14). Then look, look, look at the most magnificent Person in the universe until you see him the way he is.

M - MOVE into a useful activity away from idleness and other vulnerable behaviors. Lust grows fast in the garden of leisure. Find a good work to do, and do it with all your might. "Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord" (Romans 12:11). "Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58). Abound in work. Get up and do something. Sweep a room. Hammer a nail. Write a letter. Fix a faucet. And do it for Jesus' sake. You were made to manage and create. Christ died to make you "zealous for good deeds" (Titus 2:14). Displace deceitful lusts with a passion for good deeds.

Fighting at your side,

Pastor John"

so, what's going on?

As of right now I am trying to get use to a schedule of early mornings and long days! I have been back at my Starbucks job for just a week and a half now. I work early in the mornings until the afternoons. I have no idea how to fill my afternoons and evenings.. suggestions?

I really would like to get a mentor sometime soon. I am having trouble walking day to day without an older "more experienced" dude smacking me around. It's always nice to have someone with wisdom and experience pour into my life. There is only so much I can figure out on my own.. actually, I really have trouble figuring anything out on my own!

My friend Kerry is in town this week with his family! I am hoping to spend some time with him and the fam. They are awesome people who I consider some of the most loving people I have ever met.

I have enjoyed playing drums each weekend at the youth groups of Mountain Lake Church. It is a blessing that I get to play there and I take it for granted often. It's hard sometimes to keep the servant's heart when you're focusing on playing and getter better. My hope is to learn how to completely give this talent back to God in a way of worship and a way of leading others into worship. I pray and keep on believing that huge things are soon coming for Mountain Lake Church's youth. This past weekend was great worshipping with them.

Please keep Mountain Lake's leadership in your prayers as they continue to grow the church!

Please keep me in your prayers that I may continue to be disciplined and that I can keep the joy of living for Christ. Sometimes I feel quite stuck. I have noticed that I am a pessimist by nature. Although I do believe that if I let Christ rule in my life ANYTHING is possible. This is where discipline comes into affect...

Thanks for tuning in, spread the word about this blog! Interested to hear what is going on in other's lives!

so, what's going on in your life?

-brett

ps check out leeland's new album "love is on the move"

http://leelandonline.com/blog/