Fill Yourself With Joy

So, it has been almost a year since the last time I posted anything! Time has gotten away from me. Since my last post "Adopted Sons," I have graduated high school, worked at a summer camp, started my first year of college, committed myself to a wonderful, long distance relationship with my lovely girlfriend, and most recently I finished my first semester of school! Long story short, I have learned a few things this past year. More specifically, I have learned to find joy in just about everything I do. The ironic thing is that I have been really struggling to do this the past few weeks, which is honestly why I feel the need to talk about it.

We live in a world full of sin and it is so easy to get caught up in the "patterns of this world." Sadly, we live in a world full of judgment, discrimination, unhappiness, and low self-esteem. Left and right we are being told we are not good enough, not pretty enough, that we are not the best. Honestly, living in this world is tough. As we go throughout our day, living life, these negative messages are constantly fed into our brains. If you look in from the outside, its hard to imagine how anyone can find joy in this. I am not saying that every body's life is unhappy and depressing, but I am saying that we live in a very negative and sinful world.

Everyone has a reason to be happy. No matter what people are going through in life, there is always something or someone that provides people with the happiness they desire. As Christians, we have all the reasons in the world to be joyous!

"You will live in joy and peace.

       The mountains and hills will burst into song,

       and the trees of the field will clap their hands."

                        - Isaiah 55:12

 

As cliché as it sounds, God loves us, which in and of itself is a reason to rejoice forever. The one thing I have really learned about joy over this last year, is that you can find joy in everything God puts in your life. Whether it has been a hard day, your child is acting out, or your plans do not go according to the way you thought them out.

 

 

"All things work to the good of those who love God..."

                       - Romans 8:28

 

 

I have learned to find joy in everything, even if it is bad because I know every little thing is going to be alright (Bob Marley reference, I could not help it). Really, it is going to be okay. I do not know what you are going through, I do not know your life, but you will get through the trials and struggles. God is here for you, and because of that, we get to live in joy and peace. He gives us that peace and joy because nothing else can.

Adopted Sons

"...he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,..."

           - Ephesians 1:5

Isn't that beautiful? Adopted. A very strong word that means so much here, and has much to say about how God loves us. It specifically means "to bring a person into a specific relationship, esp to take on one's child as your own." In this verse Paul describes Jesus' love for us as an adoption! How great is that. God wants to adopt us into his family. 

Ever since the beginning of time people have thrived on acceptance. People will do anything in their power to be accepted somewhere. Teenagers will go to great lengths to change the way they look or act, just to fit in. Kids doing whatever it takes to play with the "cool kids". And to be honest society is brutal.To fit in you have to be perfect. You need money, women/men, the car, the job, and the attitude to be on top. And if you fall short, well you may as well get in line and wait for your shot at glory. But God isn't like that. Paul says "us", that means everyone. God predestined ALL of us for adoption. He wants ALL of us to be in his family. But just like adoption today, we have a choice. We can stick with him and join his family or we can wait around till the "right family" comes around. 

Just like if you were to become a part of a family, you would be entitled to the things the rest of the family has, Paul says in verse 7 that we will have"redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, and the riches of his grace." God wants to give all of us this, we just need to be in his family. I don't know about you, but that sounds great! We are all different, but we are all the same in this: We are all sinners. And Jesus came to save us because of that. He wants you to join his family. 

Your Brother in Christ,

               Derek Tilt

Less Than Normal: Whats Holding You Back?

Less Than Normal: Whats Holding You Back?: Why do people push Christianity away like its a sickness? Or avoid it like it is a crazy ex-girlfriend? Is the idea of grace and forgiveness...

Whats Holding You Back?

Why do people push Christianity away like its a sickness? Or avoid it like it is a crazy ex-girlfriend? Is the idea of grace and forgiveness really something to be shunned and put off? Why? Why are you (or your friends) tip-toeing around the subject of Jesus as a weird or crazy thing?

If you are a Christian (avid church goer) ask yourself; who is to blame? The "non-believer" or is it the church?

If you are not a Christian, tell me what it is. Is it because we believe in "a man in the sky bossing us around"?

Lets start at ground zero. I, as an avid church goer, blame the church. There I said it. IT IS THE CHURCH. By the church, I mean the congregation, the people who run it, CHRISTIANS.

Here is why:

• We preach love, but we act judgmental
• We are flying hypo critics

Christians are so judgmental! We are not welcoming. I firmly believe that ANYONE can get into heaven.

**God accepts you the way you are, but wants you to change for Him**

(Loves you but doesn't mean what you do is okay) 

"...but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,..."

          -Romans 12:2

And even I have been very judgmental at times, but the church has done a HORRIBLE job at accepting people into church. For example; the gay, bi, lesbian community. The church pushes these people away like they are the sickest people on earth. SHAME ON YOU... How the heck are we going  to fix the people we want to fix if we don't allow them into the ONE PLACE ON EARTH where they can be forgiven and helped.. Now that I have said that, I don't believe that homosexuality is okay. It is a sin. But there is forgiveness and healing. We cannot help those that need help if they can't even make it to our doorstep. We do not reach out with love this way.

I apologize to those who have been pushed away from the church because of me or any other christian.

So now, you Christians, we need to now ask ourselves how we can be more accepting and loving. Practice what we preach, and grow the church of God. 

So to you non-believers. I know we may be judgmental and off putting, but put aside the people for a moment. What is it about the christian faith that puts you off? The "morals" we try to abide by are not unreasonable. Forgiveness, love, peace, and kindness, are all by society's point of view, great to uphold and make you generally a "good person". Is the idea of sacrifice hard to grasp? Is it because we believe in an all powerful God? Or is it a fear of rules? I really don't know what you think because I have never been on your  side. But please tell me or if you have a Christian friend ask them! 

Your brother in Christ,

              Derek Tilt

Let It Go

I find myself often frustrated with the fact that I all ways mess up. I feel like everywhere I turn I'm doing something wrong. Don't get me wrong I have had some great successes this year, getting accepted to the school of my dreams (with a great scholarship), I've kept my grades up despite my senioritis. I have behaved well, not getting into trouble. But still, why do I feel the constant weight of being not perfect, on my shoulders?

The answer is pretty simple and I feel stupid because I didn't realize it sooner. I need to let it go. Three short words. LET IT GO. We find ourselves in these struggles, big and small, but we as human beings try to hold on to them and fix them ourselves. But the honest to God truth is WE CANT. We can't fix everything. No tool, no doctor, no inspirational quote, can help us let go of something forever. So many people hold onto things for far to long. Bad relationships, unhealthy addictions, objects, lost loved ones, all plague our minds.

 Why can't we stop?

We put emotions into everything whether or not you think you do. Every facebook post, instagram picture, person you see, and even the objects you touch, you feel a certain way. Some are outright emotions while others are more subliminal. But the fact is that you FEEL. Often times we feel and we get connected to these things. Once again this is not a bad thing, but how we handle what we get connected to, is very important. The things we get most connected to are what cause the most trouble.

Here is where I will raise another question. Why do we need to let go? Why is it so important? 

 Well here are several reasons:
                 1. They cause an unnecessary weight on our shoulders.
                 2. They can turn into "worth"ship.
                 3. They are unhealthy.
God sent Jesus to carry the sins of the world on himself when he died on the cross. I fully believe that he did this and that it was for a reason. God calls us to give up our worries to Him. By doing this our focus turns to him and he deals with it the way he wants to. See, if we are to give everything up to God and LET GO, we are doing what He says! When we connect with people or things we are giving them "worth" in our minds. While this is not bad, often times we give things too much worth, then these worries or objects become first in our hearts in place of God. This all together causes unhealthy stress and just takes up space in our minds.

As the New Year begins, I will be taking a step back and letting go. I encourage you to do the same! Instead of coming up with these "resolutions" and putting more weight on your shoulders, let go of things and start fresh. Give it all to God.

Your brother in Christ,
                   Derek Tilt

Grace is a Gift

Well, I was driving in my car when a song came on that brought up the question, "What would you say to God if He was right in front of you?" Here it is:

"Why me? Why us? WHY?! After EVERYTHING we've done.. You didn't have to, but you did. I will put aside everything they have done, but look at me! A screw up. I've sinned so much. Nothing I can do will make any of that up! Yet you did it anyway! Why? I want to do better, I want to have more strength, but the world is pulling me away from that. I fall short every time. And even if there was something I could do to make it all up, I wouldn't be able to accomplish that, without ruining it five minutes later. Forgive me, give me your grace, without it I would not be here, and I would certainly not be walking into Your Kingdom when I die. Save me.."

So why? Why did he do it? So many people think that they can earn their way into heaven by their good works. But its not possible, "Grace is not a paycheck, its a gift." No matter what you say, think, or do, NOTHING can pull you away from the love of God. And because he loves us, He invites us into His family, and gives us His GRACE. Grace is receiving something though you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you don't deserve it.

People who run themselves ragged trying to do good works (which is great), sometimes miss the fact that God's work is what gets us to heaven, not what we do. He died on the cross FOR US, to SAVE US from Hell. If we had to do works to get there then what was the point of Jesus' death?!

Lean on God, let Him carry your cross, accept the Grace He is GIVING you.

As a brother in Christ,
            Derek  

Class of 2013

I can't believe its here. Really. We are seniors. When they said it would go by fast I really didn't think it would go this fast. The many days put into school, hours of pain enduring homework, and the countless memorable moments shared with friends will come to a close in 9 months.

We have 9 months to make memories and build even greater friendships that will last a life time! As much as I want this year to be over with and begin a new stage of life, I can't hide the fact that I am a tad bit scared and excited! Some of us will move on to bigger and better things while some of us will take a slower road. This year lets make memories and come out strong.

CLASS OF 2013

People Like You, Make Me Sick

You can't make anyone happy. Not one person in this society is happy with everyone around them. And pleasing people is just about as impossible.

You can bend over backwards for everybody you come into contact with, just to help or satisfy them, and people will still complain or need something else. There is this kid who is a full time student, pulling 2 flexible jobs, is involved with many extracurricular clubs and organizations, and pays for his own car and everything. This kid is pretty responsible, so much that a lot of people depend on him and ask him for help. This may not be a bad thing, but while this kid puts on a mask of happiness, he struggles. He is stressed, tired, but he can't stop what he does because if he does, a lot of people will begin to distrust him or disapprove. He feels like if he says no, people will be upset. So being the kind person he is, he just does what he is asked to do. Despite the fact that he runs around doing all he can without his head exploding, people (other kids) have the audacity to tell him he can't do it,he is under them for the fact that what they do "matters more".

I'm sick of saying yes. I'm sick of being the nice guy. I am so tired of all these lazy, helpless, arrogant, children that call themselves young adults. You don't have a job. You have a car your parents bought you. You get what you want without working a day in your life. Kids my age make me ANGRY. I am a happy loving person, but in all seriousness, I am FURIOUS when i get around these slobs. I get physically sick to my stomach.

I wanna stop my ranting for a minute, and applaud those of you who do work, and are involved. I am not mad at you, but I hope you feel the same way I do. But if you are reading this and you know I am talking about you, good. I'm sick of you. I really am. Don't claim you work hard, don't complain about your life and how its "SO HARD". Get real. We are in high school. You need to get mature and figure out what you're gunna do in your life.

Being A Christian Isn't All Rainbows and Butterflies

It really is funny how people, when they come to Christ, expect thier life to suddenly change into this happy land of perfection. There was once this testimony on KLove; "My life was terrible, but now that I have excepted Jesus into my heart, my life is PERFECT!" ...No. I do believe that by God's grace we are saved, and there is a transformation in your life when you come to Him and repent. But I don't believe that when we become a christian, that we are perfect, for many reasons:

1. "We are by nature, SINFUL and UNCLEAN."
2. Jesus' life on earth was HARD
3. Christians, all throughout history have been rebuked and mocked

First off, everyone has bad days, right? Bad, not perfect, bad. There is no getting around the fact that we humans have bad days. Why? Sin. As plain and simple as it sounds many people forget that. We, as humans, are naturally inclined toward sin. The desires of this world are sin! Its inevitable. We can not get around that.

Joel Olsteen had this sermon I watched, and he said "God made you to be successful, to live a stress free life." He said that... I respect him as a brother in Christ, but No!! This can be argued with the life of one man: Jesus. He wasn't rich, he was poor and most of the time homeless. He was put on a cross, to die the most horrific death known to man, that is not "stress free". Life will not be easier, but what are these 70-90 years on earth compared to an eternity in heaven or hell?

Hardships as Christians are inevitable, but we have the best weapon that gives us the Peace that passes all understanding: God. In today's messed up society, Christians get weird looks, or just avoided completely. It is sad but its true. It is very rare to find that the most popular kid in school, or the richest person in the world, to be Christian. But why is that? It just isn't "cool". So sad.

But to jump away from the negativity; think about the universe for a minute. It never ends.. How incredible is that?! So crazy to just imagine something that never ends. Now picture eternity, like the universe it never ends, however unlike the universe, eternity will have an effect on you no matter what. Everybody will be spending eternity somewhere, heaven or hell, no question. But where will YOU go?

Life is better with Christ, and without we are destined to perish in hell. I am here to tell you that you will be saved from hell, not to give you the false impression that you will become perfect.

Hands Can Do So Much

Hands are used by most people, all day, everyday. Hands do so much, give, take, recieve, touch, hold, love, and help. Among the good things they do, they also do bad things. Hit, harm, kill, flick (off), and hold an extremely discusting amount of germs. What are they meant for? You might say 'Derek, come on, they are meant to get the job done, nothing more.' But my response to you is, then what are we for? I guess you could compare our hands to ourselves; hard working, always moving around, and like us, when the job is done they rest. So if we, like our hands, are meant to just "get the job done", then what?

"No its different, we are people and they are hands". Yes, but cats are cats and dogs are dogs, the both do the same thing, entertain humans and keep us company. But they arent the same. If we like hands just got the job done then call it quits, then i might be questioning life. There is more to life then just the work of our world. God calls us to use our hands to work for Him. In all the things we do we must do it for Him.

If you think about it, sometimes our hands speak louder then our words. We greet each other with them, hold hands with that significant other, or hide ourselves by putting our hands in our pockets. There is no getting around the fact that hands, act like us. They shake and sweat when we are nervous. The clench when we are angry. And reach out to God in a time of need. Our hands do way more then you can imagine.

The purpose of our hands is to get the job done, but what job are you doing? God works in amazing ways, and He tends to show Himself though the actions of His people. Not that He doesn't do anything, but rather, we are the working hands of God. We can make a difference, and its always talk and no walk, change it. Make your hands do the work of God, because if you do it through Him, you WILL see a difference.




PEACE. LOVE. JESUS CHRIST.

My Life? Or GOD..

For those of you of you who are not Christians, I invite you to read along. For those of you who are, or claim to be, before you go on.. Take a moment to ask yourself (aside from God) what is the number one thing in your life?

Now how much does that have an effect on your relationship with Him?

Work, play, spouse, friends, money, and on and on and on, get in the way of Jesus Christ. As my favorite preacher Mark Driscol once said, "If you were to die, and be revived (more like a coma), what would be the first thing you would run too?" Some to your mothers, others your family, and tragically some would run back to work to make more money. This really shows where your heart is. Jesus didn't run to his mother, he didn't go to eat. After He was resurrected He went on preaching the Word of God. His heart was in God, for God, and He IS GOD!! Where should your heart lie..

My next question is this: Where are you?

Where are you in your relationship with the Father? Are you new to this Jesus thing? Or have you grown up in the faith? If you are new to this I invite you to grow, Jesus is the Peace that passes all understanding, and your life will be better with Him. It won't be easy, but it will be better. For you Christians, do you really have a relationship with God? If you go to church every Sunday,Good for you! Keep it up! But that is not enough.. You can go to church all you want and not gain a thing.

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
                                                     ~Romans 12:2

Having a relationship with Jesus isn't only knowing, its not all Bible Trivia and memorization. Those are both GREAT things. But its NOT enough. Relationship with Christ is living. LIVING!!!! You must live in, through, and for HIM! You must renew not only your mind, but your heart. It is so easy to live for this world, a life of sin, the simple road. Yeah you might have a fun, nice, easy, sinful life, but you will crumble, you will burn, and you will die. BUT there is Hope, and that is in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Come to Him, change your heart, mind, and soul. You will never die, because in Heaven.. there is no death, sin, destruction, pain, or sorrow.

So, I encourage you friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, join me in living through Him. I can't lie and say that it is easy, but I can promise you that you will one day see Jesus face to face. You will have peace. You will have a hero, a Savior, a Father.

My Last Question: Is it you, or God?

In Christ alone, my hope is found,
                             Derek Tilt

I Have A Date... With Destiny

I firmly believe that everyone has a "destiny" or a calling if you will. And I think that no matter what happens in your life you end up where you are supposed to be.You can go back and forth with yourself over where or what you do. But in the end, that shows it was supposed to happen. As you all probably know, I am a devout christian. I believe that your fate was decided long before you were even born. The fate of the universe is merely in the precious hands of God. And when your life comes to a conclusion, THAT is where you were meant to be.

I have made mistakes in my life, that's all apart of my story. We all have our stories (or callings), some are hard to go through while some of us have it easy with no real big problems. I was opened to this idea at summer camp this past year, and after hearing other stories from people who I thought were perfect, I quickly realized I wasn't so bad. But we all had one thing in common. We all came together, at a perfect time, at the perfect moment, where God had planned. We all shared our hearts, in a small circle to come together through Christ, and realize that we are all common through Him. We are all messed up, not one sin is greater than another in the eyes of God. We are all sinners.

It was here at this summer camp that I began to change inside and really think about what is important, and where my calling was. When you finally realize that everybody is messed up, you start thinking. Thinking about where your life is really going. For me, my life keeps leading me to the place where I am most at peace, church. I cannot think of anywhere I would be happier "working". Leading people to Christ, being a student leader in the church now, I can do that. I want to teach younger people about God. But, how am I going to get there?

Everybody has a dream and everybody wants to reach it. And our fate relies on whether or not we reach that dream. Whatever I do now, will effect my future, Big or Small. How I live my life now will have an impact on my life ahead as well. I (we) need to live life like I (we) want it, through Christ all things are possible. Go find your destiny, and figure out your story. I will listen if you need to tell someone your story. Ask and I'll tell you mine. Together we can change the world.

Making a difference through Christ, Derek Tilt (another sinner)

Abortion: There Are Better Choices

There are so many choices that we face that have huge impacts on the rest of our lives; College, jobs, career, wife/husband, family. But there is a choice that is present in our society that I really don't think should be an option, that is abortion. Abortion is the legal killing of a human fetus.

Once a sperm cell penetrates the egg, you have got yourself a growing human inside the womb. That is God's creation, a gift, given to us by and through him.

The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the industrialized world. The Center for Disease control says that one-third of girls get pregnant before the age of 20. The feelings of shock, fear, joy, excitement and in some cases, shame, set in with most of these pregnant teens. And some are faced with a choice: abort, or live up to thier mistakes. First off, to any girl who has had the choice and chose life, I applaud you for your courage and strength. To those who chose to abort, I'm not mad at you, I just hope you live with the guilt and pain of knowing you killed a child. No matter what you people say, a fetus, no matter what stage, is a growing child of Christ, and you are a FOOL if you think other wise.

If you abort, YOU did this ON PURPOSE. You said, "This CHILD does not deserve LIFE." And you took it, and you deserve to be locked up for life. Bottom line.

You can come up with a million and one situations to make this "right". One thing I have heard a billion times is "OH UH well... What if she was raped?!" I find that completely asinine. One solution: ADOPTION! There! Problem solved! I would much rather have a child grow up not knowing his or her father/mother, then for them to be DEAD. Lets just say they weren't raped, the parents were to stupid to wrap it up. Grow up! If you want to make the "adult" decision by having sex, you can surely be adult enough to take care of a child. Just sit down and buckle up, because life is not going to be easy.

Yes, it is her choice, but you have to go pretty low if you even contemplate the idea. And I will just say that I am praying for your soul. To the girls: PLEASE for the sake of your CHILD, think about what is right and pray that you do the right thing. 

People Like You

People like you are the reason for our messed up world. Its people like you; hypocrites, liers, judges, followers, conformers, over-confident pricks... FAKES. Its you hypocrites who go back on your word without even second guessing yourself. You liers, who pick people up while at the same time letting them down. It is you judges, who look upon everything with a critical eye, as though no one in this world can match up to you. Followers and conformers, for you I have the most pity. You have no clue as to what is going on in this world other than you need to try and "fit in". NEWSFLASH to the over-confident pricks..you are fooling anybody, get over yourself. No one cares what you lift, know, or can do. You think you are loved by everybody, but in actuality you are their least favorite. (You know that one guy everybody talks about when they aren't there, yeah, that's you.)

I think we all fall under the category "fake", as we all put on this socially acceptable costume that only the world can be fooled by. All this, to me, is a result of low confidence. Just imagine, if you were at peace with yourself(confident). What would be the need for the lies, jealousy, judgement, and hate? We all lose sight of whats important, especially as teenagers, ourselves. If we have no confidence in ourselves, whats left? Our fake identities really. People need to understand, that you are you, and nobody can change that. If you have the urge to wear something weird, do it! Own it! If you want to listen to something other than the mainstream crap, do it! If you own it, and have the utmost confidence in it, who's to judge you? Stop playing this game of hide and seek with yourself, because you are going nowhere.

So, be yourself. If everybody does the same thing, we will be happier than anything you can imagine. A world where everyone is free, happy, and at PEACE with not only themselves, but everyone around them.

Lets Change the World

Have you ever looked around the world, and wished for world peace? The ironic thing is... You do, but you do nothing to change it. I find that 'ironic' is overused and misused too much in our time. This is ironic because by doing nothing to change the world, you are in fact (in the grand scheme of things) contributing to the social unrest that lurks among this planet.
I have gone through a great change this past couple of weeks. I, like Obama, wanted a change. As I contemplated in my head whether or not to go through with my plan to be myself, one thing kept coming up in my head. "Is this all really worth the time, money, stress, and loss of peace within myself?" The simple answer was NO. But the simple conclusion; was indeed, to stick with what I got. The more difficult conclusion,with which I went, was what many people would call crazy. I needed to get my priorities straight. What was more important? Family? God? Cheer? Work? Lets just say, cheer was not on the top of the list.

I am happy to admit that I am a new person, well, not new just "recovered". What I realized I had fallen subject to, was the world. I conformed. Probably what you are doing right now. Doing what society has told you or brainwashed you to do. But why?!

This world has lost the Passion for the Peace. What drives you as an individual. Looks, music, money, WAY of LIFE. All things society itself has imposed upon everyone. Passion for the Peace to me is just being yourself, really. Not caring what people think, for doing what you know is right for yourself and others around you. My question to you is this; how can you be diffrerent? What drives you to be the person you really are? I guarantee that when everybody can start getting over thier differences, the world will come to a peace.

When you change, people will know. They will see you with a confidence that you have never had before. You will be free. I am. I will never go back the way I was. I have NEVER in my life been so alive in my heart. So.. Make a difference, and change your WORLD.

Santa Knows Sign Language?!

During the hustle and bustle of the holidays, we often forget some people who we don't even acknowledge normally: the deaf. In a suburb of Denver in the Cherrycreek mall, Santa sits down to visit with children who can't hear his jolly laugh. This special elf not only uses his time, but he also knows sign language! And when asked how he knew, he said 'I have two elves who are deaf.'

The Business of Mind Your Own

For my first blog I guess I'll start off by complaining about how people can't keep to themselves. I, among many other people, am probably a bad person to be speaking on this topic-mainly because I often poke my head in other people's business. But anyways, I really think that a very large cause of the problems in the world are caused by people not minding their own business. This causes unnecessary drama, which turns to anger, which sometimes leads to violence, and on and on (depending on how crazy you are of course).

 Being on a cheer squad, I think its safe to say that I have seen SO MUCH drama that even Days of Our Lives would say 'too much'. But in our defense it is human nature for everyone to be a little "curious". But curiosity is what has driven us to what we are today, if Columbus wasn't curious we wouldn't be here, and if someone wouldn't have thought it would be funny to sell a Shakeweight on TV, we wouldn't laugh at it everytime. Its Okay to be curious, but like George.. we get ourselves into trouble.

So yes, we all get curious, but we can change. We can choose to NOT spread what he or she said. We already have enough problems to deal with so why make more? You mind your own business and I promise thing will get better. So with that I implore you, no, I CHALLENGE you, to keep to yourself.

"The public have an insatiable curiosity to know everything except what is worth knowing." -Oscar Wilde