1 Year Mark

Well soon it will have been one year since I quit my job at Mattress Firm. Seems strange...working there seemed so much longer ago than that but at the same time it doesn't feel like a year has gone by.

I originally quit because I had an awesome opportunity to work with my dad at Merrill Lynch...but afterwards that didn't work out and I decided since I had some savings I should try to go for my dream of acting. Began taking acting classes, doing plays, and some small extra roles in film/tv. Now a year later I reflect and I can't help but think that I'm still no closer to my dream. Sure I'm ten times better at acting from my class, and I have some more experience....but I don't feel any closer to getting actual paying roles.

Though its probably my own fault, I know the next steps I need to take...get professional headshots and get an agent. Its sad--I used to have so much money that I could have afforded headshots no problem....now when I need them money is so tight. I've been trying to save up for some. Once I do that I have an agent in mind who I'll approach.

I did find out that I was actually a member of SAG as a baby (my mom had my join to be in some commercials) so its possible I might actually be able to join it easily once I need to! That's a blessing for sure. SAG isn't easy to get into from what I hear.
I used to have a motorcycle....and I had a girlfriend back then, its hard not to miss her. But I have also gained much in that time. I know I have a much better relationship with God, and that's kept me from any sort of backwards pining stuff. I'm just really ready for this to start. I'm ready for... something to happen. If God wills it, it'll happen.

Rock Climbing is FUN

I got the chance to go Rock Climbing (ok not on a real cliff but at the Stone Summit Gym) with Kyle and Jeremiah yesterday. It was TOTALLY fun. I've never done it before and I gotta say that I felt like a kid again doing it. I used to be big into climbing trees as a kid and I haven't done it since.

Getting to the top of a huge three story wall and looking down is amazing, the feeling of being so high is exhilarating. Well, you'd think after sky-diving it would be no big deal, but its harder to see the ground from way up there. Anyway, I think I found a great new hobby.

I also really enjoy how much strength and flexibility it requires, was a great workout. Oh yeah and I will mention that the girls at the place were....

Yeah so I'll probably be going there a few times a month! Should have gotten some pictures but I didn't. I'll take some next time. I'll find a good one off the Internet to put up here...You'd be amazed to see some of the athleticism some people showed, climbing nearly upside down, 100 feet up, holding onto tiny stubs with two fingers...just insane.

Don't Accept No for an Answer....Even from God?

I was reading the Bible and learned something that really gave me a lot of encouragement. If you've read some of my previous blogs on prayer and faith then you'll recall how I learned that Christians are to pray on God's promises in boldness. But in everday experiences sometimes it seems that my prayers aren't answered. Sometimes it seems that God is saying "NO".

Now I've heard some Christians before talk about this sort of thing and they will say that once you've receieved the answer --NO-- from God its time to submit to his will and give up. This never went well with me because it seems to contradict all the verses about faith and praying on God's promises ect ect. So here is what I learned...

There are a couple scriptures of Jesus that illustrate that we are not to give up in prayer. That we are to pray until we recieve what we asked for. Here are two of them that really opened my eyes.

The first is in Matthew 15:21-28. Whats happening here is that a Canaanite woman (Jews didn't like Canaanites much) is following Jesus crying out for his help to heal her very sick daughter. Since Jesus is God in the flesh...and she's asking for his help...this represents prayer. Jesus hears her and doesn't answer (verse 23). This is like when we first start praying and we feel like God isn't answering us. Then she cries out louder for his help and he turns to her and says: NO. (verse 26) ....so lets stop here. If she then left and went away, if anyone asked her what happened she could have said, I asked (prayed) for help many times and he (God) said no. So that settles it...and she would be correct. However, the scripture doesn't end there. Instead of giving up after hearing Jesus (God) say no, she asks again. (verse 27). So lets get this straight...Jesus (God) said a definite NO to her request (prayer) and she continued to ask again after getting a NO.

And it finishes with verse 28, "Then Jesus answered, 'Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.' And her daughter was healed from that very hour."

So she asked (prayed) again after hearing a NO, and Jesus (God) answered her prayer and was pleased by her great faith... this is astounding! This shows clearly that we can and should pray even after getting a NO from God. And what about her request, was it a small prayer? No, it was a HUGE prayer, for healing. While God can accomplish all things, to us some prayers are...bigger..than others. It would seem to us that physical healing is bigger than asking to find your lost car keys. But God used this example that he knew we thought of as a "Big prayer" to illustrate that in everything we should keep praying and not give up!

Jesus also gives two parables about this subject of not giving up in prayer with Luke 18 and Luke 11:5-8. So when you pray in faith, don't ever give up praying--even if you hear God say no. For what greater faith is there than to pray even after God tells you no. Don't ever give up! Through that kind of faith he will give you what you asked for.

"If you believe, you shall recieve whatever you ask for in prayer."
Matthew 21:22

Acting for Christ

So I got hired by the Christ Acting Agency! .... just kidding.
This blog is about a question that I haven't been able to answer for myself.

How can I act and glorify God at the same time...what does that look like?

Well for one thing I don't have many role models to look up to. Kirk Cameron maybe? I mean Hollywood is a mean nasty non-christian type of place. So being that I love acting, I've really been just racking my brain on this subject. Because lets get one thing straight, I love acting but Christ does and always will take first place in my life. I'll choose him over anything. But its not always so clear what that means in the details.

Ok so some things are obvious. I'll go extreme here, I wouldn't ever want to act in a movie where its glorifying Satan. Like as I'm playing a demon who works for Satan and the movie is about how he's not so bad. Ok crazy over-the-top example but I had to start somewhere. It seems to me that there are two aspects to consider. One, what is the message that the movie or show gives and is that something that God would approve of. Secondly, what is the role I'm playing...am I playing a role that goes against the things God would approve of. I have to consider the fact that by playing a role, I am in many ways a role model advocating that character.

So if I'm playing a pimp in some light hearted comedy, then people will see the movie and laugh ect ect but the message I'm giving is subtly this: that a pimp is harmless and nothing too wrong with that lifestyle. I mean this might sound absurd that no one would think that, but subconsciously when we as a society see something made "light of" over and over again it begins to become accepted. I don't want to be a part of that. BUT, what about a shady type character in a movie with a GREAT message. ---As in the movie is about how terrible this person's life became because of their mistakes and sins ect. In that case I'm playing a role that isn't godly but the message delivered is...so what about that? Or , what about the opposite, say I play a very good character of moral standards but the movie pokes fun at him and the message is something akin to ---don't live like this guy. See? Confusing.

Here's another extreme (can ya tell i like extreme examples...) what if I was playing the DEVIL himself in a christian movie about the salvation of Jesus Christ! I mean talk about the worst possible role in the best possible movie! What then? The movie could lead many to Christ but I'm frickin playing the devil! That can't be good, or can it? This is why I can't figure this one out. I've prayed about it, and I don't feel peace about any of it yet.

Power Prayers

Lately things have been really good. It seems like my whole family has really taken ahold of the fact that we can pray for God's blessings and he really answers. There have been so many answered prayers lately, and I know that the reason for it is the way we've been praying. We've been praying differently lately...

Instead of asking God for things because of what we "think" we deserve or even our motives, we ask because of what God said. Its so different. I used to pray for things and I'd put a caveat in my prayer that kinda said...do this because I promise to do good with it....or answer this prayer because it will help me....or give me this blessing so I can glorify you. But now, I instead will put in my prayer....don't do this because of me, but do it because you said or promised it in the Bible. And I will actually quote a verse in my prayer of where he said or promsied what I am asking for.

Praying like this has been POWERFUL.

Because of this my family and I have had so many prayers answered and its really strengthened our faith in God's ability. We pray more often now about more things because we know that he answers.

Here's an awesome example: My mom has been out of a job for the past year because of the injury she sustained at her old job LA Fitness. Without getting into the legal mumbo jumbo, she's had an outstanding Workers Comp lawsuit thats been just drudging on and on. Meanwhile she hasn't been able to find work and money's been getting tighter and tighter. Well yesterday we all decided to pray together about it on the verse John 14:14. We prayed that God would finish up her settlement. That same day after we prayed her lawyer called and said the settlement was now near completion and all that remained was negotiation!! Today we got together again and prayed on a verse in Isaiah (i should remember which but i don't) that said how God stands up and fights for his people. We prayed that the amount awarded in the settlement would be a huge blessing. 5 minutes later her lawyer calls her and said its finished and the amount was WAY more than she was expecting!!! Praise God, he really does hear us and answer prayers in faith!!

According to His Will...Misunderstood?

So I was reading the New Testament today, particularly in John when I came across something Jesus said that sparked a revelation. But before I get to that revelation, I have to explain why this was a revelation...

If you read my earlier blog of "Jesus - Do you Pinky Promise?" you'll recall how I found out that you can pray on the promises that God made in the Bible with faith that he'll keep those promises. After all, God is perfect and holy and cannot lie. Well one of my favorite promises, which is actually given to us by Jesus through multiple scriptures is summed up in Matthew 21:22.

"If you believe, you shall recieve whatever you ask for in prayer."

Well as I stated before, most Christians get uncomfortable with this verse because they would say how you have to make sure that what you are praying for is God's will. Well in case you were wondering, this is the verse that would be the basis for that argument. 1 John 5:14-15

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask-- we know that we have what we asked of him." (bolding on my part)

So that's pretty clear Chris. The condition of this promise is what you are asking for has to be in congruence with what God's will for you is. As in, lets say you are praying that you get a certain job, well if its not "God's Will" that you get that job he won't give you what you prayed for. Is that what this verse is saying? .... This verse always struck me as odd because it didn't line up with the other times Jesus promised that we get whatever we pray for as long as we believe. Did Jesus forget to explain that it must be God's will in those many circumstances? OOPS! Sorry guys, Jesus FORGOT! /sarcasm off. Ok of course not. So something isn't adding up here...

And this is where my revelation comes in. I was reading in John and I came across this verse which explains everything. John 6:40

"For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life" (bolding on my part)

What this is, is Jesus telling us exactly what God's will is. Its not a guessing game for us. We need to let the Bible define itself. In fact, I think its interesting that it's even the same author (John) with both books, so we know he'd use the same wording. So the way I'd sum up the verse is this: God's will is for us to believe in Jesus...so lets substitute that instead of the words, "his will" in the first verse to get the real meaning:

**This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to (Belief in Jesus), he hears us. And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask-- we know that we have what we asked of him.**

This makes a lot more sense now and it lines up perfectly with what Jesus said in Matthew 21:22. Belief in jesus and faith in God's promises are the keys here.

Disclaimer: I think its great to pray for God's Will for guidance and direction. But when we are praying for something specific, there is no need to throw in a "...if its your will" in there. That's not how Jesus told us to ask.