kyletrigg.

Set Your Sails Well

Thoughts Post-Birthday.

Well the biggest Facebook day of the year for me has come and passed me by. As far as Facebook goes I am left with little but numerous wall-post notifications from an array of people that include close friends and family to people I have lost contact with over the years.

As you can tell from the title of this here blog post and from this first paragraph…my birthday happened this past week. Always exciting to see the notifications rack up. After I finished counting the notifications to fuel my inner-narcisistic ego (I’m working on it…) I was left thinking about where I am at, where I have been, and where I am going.

I really appreciate the life that I have been given… I truly live a blessed life, I have been able to experience things that most my age have not been fortunate enough to experience. I have been able to travel a little bit, win championships in different sports, play music for many people, meet people and have friendships with folks from around the world… I have never gone hungry, I have never gone naked, I have never gone unloved, I have always had a supporting family… and please believe that I know how incredibly blessed I am, and I truly try to never take that for granted. 

However, on the other hand… I have also tried to taste what the world has to offer me throughout the years. I know the pain that it brings, I know the emptiness that it results in, and I know the brokeness that it leads to. I have experienced it personally, I have seen all too many of my friends live through that as their reality. 

So it got me thinking… I have experienced much over the years… what do I want for the upcoming years of my life?

I am sure you have either been asked or have asked someone on their birthday “what would you like to get?” It’s a popular question, to say the least… and you get all kinds of responses.  As I was thinking about this question on a deeper level than just materialistic items, I was thinking ‘what do I truly want out of life for the years to come?’ after thinking about that for awhile I came to one simple conclusion.

I am here to tell you, to promise you, that what I want for my birthday, what I will declare for this birthday as my sole-soul-wish (say that fast) is as simple as a single line from a famous hymn…

“Take the world, but give me Jesus.”

There is nothing in this world I desire more than to have the ‘world’ removed from me and have more of my creator. Everything I have ever experienced on earth fails, drastically, in comparison to the true life that Jesus has given me, and continues to pour out on me. 

He is all I want. He is all I need. He is what I pursue. He is my identity and security. The world leaves me broken, Jesus makes me whole. He is life, love, and all that my soul screams for. I have found life, and life to the full, in Jesus alone.

In the few short years of life that I have lived I have ‘tasted’ what the world has to offer and I have seen the pain, and brokenness that it leads to.. and I have ‘tasted and seen that the Lord is good.’ … this life, the life that God has graciously given me is the life that I desire, this is the life I will live, and this is the life that I will share with all those around me…

After all, as Kanye says, ‘this is the life that everybody asks for’ (they just don’t know it…)

My Thoughts Post-Osama Bin Laden’s Death.

Arguably the biggest news of the last decade passed just a few weeks ago and unless you have secluded yourself for the last month you have certainly heard the news. The news is that the most notorious terrorist our world has known for the last several years has been put to death. While many people have joined the conversation on the morality of his death and whether we should celebrate his death, or mourn that a human being has been killed. I am not going to talk about that….  The point of this is a little bit different. It is a confession.

I need to confess my initial reaction when I heard the news of Osama’s death.  It showed a side of me that I am embarrassed to admit, it showed arrogance and it showed pride, and it showed an ugly side of me. But I think it’s something that is worth sharing…

So… here it is. I confess that my first thought when I heard on CNN that Osama Bin Laden had been killed was ‘I would not want to be Osama Bin Laden and stand before God after doing all that he has done.”

Let me explain this a little bit… You may not think that is such a bad thought, I mean, afterall, Osama has done so much evil in the world, he is responsible for so much pain and devastation. Compared to me… I have never killed, I do not think I have ruined the lives of thousands upon thousands of people the way Osama has… however I did steal Dolphin bath soaps when I was three years old, but I hardly think that matches up with the wrongs that Osama has done on a legal level…

But nonetheless my initial reaction was categorically wrong.

The reason why this is so wrong is because at the end of my time here on earth, when I stand before God (which I will, and you will too…) I am in every way just as guilty as Osama Bin Laden in the presence of the Lord. 

Like I said, though I have never killed a person, I have never been the leader of an organization that is responsible for mass-murders, and things like that, I still completely  deserve death, I deserve hell, and I deserve the wrath of God just as much as Osama does.

That is a humbling thing to consider.

That even though I may try to live as good a life as possible, and you may do the same, you and I in the presence of the Lord are just as guilty of sin and deserving of death as Osama Bin Laden. We are called to live a life that models the life Jesus lived, we are to live a life of hitting a mark that God has called us to, this mark is a ‘holy’ life… and when we fail to live a holy life, which we ALL have, the consequence is death, it is hell.

I know that isn’t roses and dandelions and that doesn’t go over well in conversations all the time, but it is ultimately the truth. There is no variation around that, no matter what we want to believe. The Bible is so clear; the only way to the father is through Jesus.

So even though to men I may appear to be a ‘better person’ than Osama… I am a sinner, I have fallen short of the life God has called me to live, and therefore I deserve the same fate that Osama has… eternal separation from the one true God.

When I realized that I am deserving of what Osama has I was brought to me knees in gratefulness for God’s gift of grace through Jesus. It reminded me of the sinner I am, and reminded me that without Jesus I am just as lost and hell-bound as Osama.

But ultimately it reminded me of how desperately badly I need Jesus, and how rich in grace and mercy God is to me, that He has called me to be His own.

As harsh as it might be to consider that we are all as guilty before God as Osama… the beautiful truth of the Gospel is that we can be reconciled before God. Jesus has taken God’s wrath that we deserved, died for us, and rose again three days later… and because of this, because of what Jesus has done for you and I we live reconciled to God.

Though on my own I am just as guilty as Osama…it is through Jesus alone that I know my future is diametrically different than Osama Bin Laden’s.

It is through Jesus alone that I have hope. It is through Jesus alone that I have all things.

It is through Jesus alone _______.

I could repeat that over and over and over again.

Through Jesus alone.

Fundamental Importance of Preaching.

This blog is all about the fundamental importance and necessity of preaching, teaching, and apologetics in the world today. If you are a follower of Jesus I hope you realize that you should talk about Jesus… if you haven’t had that realization yet, I hope that the next five minutes of reading this blog will help you realize that you need to. By preaching I don’t necessarily mean behind a pulpit (it can be through music, art, ANYTHING, as long as the clear message of Jesus is being explained/taught). This is what I mean by sharing the news of Jesus wherever and whenever you may find yourself.

I have been reading through the book of Acts a lot this past year, and I absolutely love the book. I love the adventures that take place within the 28 chapters. I cannot help but imagine the rush, thrill, and incredible ride that the earliest apostles would have personally experienced on a daily basis during these days. They saw the Holy Spirit come, they saw people being healed miraculously, they saw the dead raise to life physically and metaphorically, they had death threats, they had shipwrecks, they had fierce opposition, they were eye witnesses of seeing a movement of 120 people grow, literally, by the thousands in a relatively short amount of time, and a whole host of other things. What an amazing thrill that would be!

I see Acts being all about the coming of the Holy Spirit and the earliest grassroots of Christianity. Acts is about Jesus’ disciples and followers bravely bringing the good news, the life changing news to anybody that would listen (and sometimes even those that would not listen). Acts is about the beginning of the Church. Acts, according to many scholars, can be summed up by Acts 1:8 which says:

“You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

(As a side-note… that is one of my favourite verses…. This is the calling of Christians to bring and share the Gospel to those around us. The equivalency of Jerusalem would be our immediate neighbors, Judea/Samaria would be like our province, and I don’t need to explain what today’s equivalency of to ends of the earth would be. We are to be witnesses to our community/town/province/state/country/whole world.)

It is safe to say that I love this book. There is a lot we can learn from this book about being intentional followers of Christ. This book is all about a group of passionate followers of Jesus starting a world changing revolution.

And how do they do that? How does this world-changing revolution begin? One of the ways this movement begins is by strong, biblically based, theologically sound, passionate preaching.

Almost every chapter in the book has preaching in some capacity. It is not always a long sermon, not always in a synagogue, not always planned… but in every chapter (with the exception of one) the message about Jesus is being talked about, shared, or explained.

You want to start a revolution with your church? A big portion of that relies on strong, biblical preaching.

That is why I am passionate about preaching. That is why you, if you are a follower of Jesus, should be passionate about preaching. And before you write me off and say “I’m not a pastor, I am not a good public speaker, I am not this or that, etc…” Please, keep reading.

(You don’t need to read between the two lines if you don’t want to, it’s just a quick picture of preaching in the book of Acts. A real quick breakdown with a few of the many examples of preaching in the book…)

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Acts 1- Jesus teaches the disciples not to lave and tells them to go out to Jerusalem, Judea/Samaria, and the whole word. Then Peter preaches to thebelievers.
Acts 2- After the Holy Spirit Peter preaches to everyone there.
Acts 3- After healing a blind man Peter and John preaches to the 
Acts 4- Peter and John preach before the 
Acts 5- After being persecuted Peter preaches again before the 
Acts 6- The apostles make more room in their schedules to preach by choosing seven more men to help them with their responsibilities. “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word”…
Acts 7- Stephen preaches while about to be stoned to the Sanhredrin.
Acts 8- The church was persecuted and it says that… “those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.” We also see Philip preaching and explaining Is. 53 to the Ethiopian who repents and believes and is baptized. 
Acts 9- Jesus speaks in a life-changing way to Saul of Tarsus (eventually Paul, who wrote a large portion of the New Testament.) It says that after several days in Damascus with the disciples Paul immediately started to preach in the synagogues.
Acts 10- Peter preaches at Cornelius’ house (we see the word being taught to Gentiles)
Acts 11- “some of them however…began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.”   Again, we see the scattered, persecuted Christians preach wherever they find themselves.
Acts 12- “But the word of God continued to increase and spread.” No matter what persecution the people faced they would teach about the Lord Jesus.
Acts 13- Barnabas and Saul (aka Paul) sent off on a missionary journey where, basically, they did not stop preaching.
Acts 14- Paul and Barnabas preach in Iconium, in Lystra/Derbe, and in Antioch… All the while passionately preaching.
Acts 15- Peter preaches to the believers at the Jerusalem Council.
Acts 16- After being thrown in prison, Paul and Silas preach in prison to the jailer and his whole family who all believes and are baptized.
Acts 17- In Thessalonica “As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead.” For three weeks Paul preached. This chapter also has the famous Mars Hill sermon.
Acts 18- In Corinth “Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.”
Acts 19- In Ephesus Paul boldly preached in the synagogue for three months, he started a riot. Talk about having influence…
Acts 20- Paul preached in Traos. Sure, he put someone to sleep (who fell out the window and died…) but by the power of God, Paul raised the dead man to life. Here, he also preached to the Ephesian elders.
Acts 21- Paul shares his experiences and stories of what had happened (see all his preaching above) to the brothers/sisters in Jerusalem. After that he goes to the temple to preach and is arrested because of it, instead of giving a defense of why he is innocent… he preaches to the listeners.
Acts 22- This is where we read what he said instead of his defense.
Acts 23- Preaches, intensely, to the Pharisee and Sadducee full Sanhedrin. So intensely in fact they started to plan how to kill him.
Acts 24- Again, while on trial before Felix, Paul preaches. He does not defend himself, he preaches about Jesus. Shows his priorities…
Acts 25- Paul was not given a chance to speak because he was on trial and was under arrest… therefore he was not able to preach… but his first chance to talk about Jesus and he does.  The reason for his being arrested was because of talking about Jesus.
Acts 26- Paul has the chance to speak, and speak he does… about Jesus.
Acts 27- Paul attempts to sail for Rome, when he hits a storm, instead of losing hope Paul uses that as an example to speak the truth/courage into all that were with them about what God had told him.
Acts 28- “Boldly and without hindrance he (Paul) preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.” That’s how the book ends. I think it’s a hint to us today…

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Whether you looked at that list or not… it is very clear that nothing could stop the earliest followers from talking about who Jesus is and what He had (and has) done for them (and us). 

I realize that culture is different nowadays and so it may look differently in some ways… But this really put into perspective, for myself, the fundamental necessity and importance and role of apologetics, teaching and preaching and speaking about the Gospel in today’s Christendom. 

I have come to learn that when we realize the full extent of God’s love, what Jesus has done for us, and what He has saved us from, we simply cannot help but talk about and share the good news of the Gospel.

No matter who you are you ought to speak about what Jesus has done for you. You don’t need to be obnoxious and shove it down people’s throat… do it in whatever way feels natural and comfortable for you, pray for God to give you opportunities to share the story of Jesus… but whatever you do or say, make sure you are, in some way, sharing the story of Jesus. 

You do not have to have a pulpit, you do not need a three point message, you do not need to be as eloquent as professional speakers you see on TV or your pastor, in fact you do not need to be a pastor, you do not need to be an ‘adult’… you can preach and speak about Jesus whenever, however, wherever you may be. In fact you are supposed to. 

If you are not intentionally sharing the story about Jesus, you are missing out on an incredible opportunity to change the world around you.

Just bring the truth of Jesus to those around you, to your community, city, province, country, and to the ends of the world. I would love to see a movement of believers passionately and intentionally speaking about the Gospel however they can, wherever they may be.