God Hates Religion

Here's a thought that you probably will find rather shocking. It's a pretty blunt truth but hey, let's say it like it is:

God hates religion.


A lot. He abhors it. Religion is not who God is. He did not come to Earth and say "Hey, you can come live with me in Heaven and be saved as long as you are morally upright and follow each religious law". He did not say "You will be saved by doing this, that and the other thing". Being a "Christian" isn't going to save you. You don't live your life according to a set of rules because being "religious" will not save you. God is not a "religion" and boy, do some people have that screwed up in their heads.

I've been studying the book of Mark the past couple of weeks and almost every passage refers to the religious pharisees trying to catch Jesus doing something wrong. They always disapproved of everything Jesus did. The religious people hated him. Let us also not forget that it was religious people who killed him.


(Jesus heals a paralyzed man) "Now some of the teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 'Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?' Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them 'why are thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man 'your sins are forgiven,' or to say 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on Earth to forgive sins".  - Mark 2:6-10

(Jesus eats with sinners) "While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: 'why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?' On hearing this, Jesus said to them, 'it is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners". - Mark 2:15-17

(Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath) "One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?' He answered, 'Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need?...They entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions... The Sabbath was made for people, not people for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath". - Mark 2:23-28

(Jesus heals on the Sabbath) "Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, 'stand up in front of everyone'. Then Jesus asked them, 'which is lawful on the Sabbath?: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?' But they remained silent. He looked at them in anger and deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man 'stretch out your hand'. He stretched it out and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus". - Mark 3:1-6 


The so-called religious people lived by a set of rules and not by a faith in Jesus. Jesus called them hypocrites, saying "you have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions... You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!" (Mark 7:8-9).

You guys, here's the truth. Legalism, moralism, laws taught by religious leaders telling us how to live...that is not a relationship with God. That is not who God was nor what he's about. He doesn't care if you live your whole life trying to be a "good person". He doesn't care if your Catholic, Jewish, Atheist, Christian, or whatever. Those are all just titles and mean nothing. The one thing he cares about, the one and only thing that matters to him, is that you believe in him.

"For it is by grace you have been saved through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift from God". - Ephesians 2:8

I know so many people who are genuinely great people. They are sweet, helpful, loving, and care about other people. But truth is, unless they believe in God, they are not going to Heaven. But that doesn't mean they need to be a pompous religious know-it-all either. Reading your Bible, going to church, praying everyday, and serving the poor aren't getting you to Heaven either. These are all things that will happen naturally as you draw closer to God. Earnestly pursuing Christ will lead to a desire to actually want to do those things. When you fall in love with who God is, it's no longer a chore, but something you're excited to do.

Religion. God knows I hate it. I hate what it's done to America. I hate what it's done to non-believers. I especially hate what it's done to believers. Christians can get so down on themselves if they don't live up to religious standards. Sometimes the amount of moralistic living is enough to drive even the strongest Christians away from the faith. Satan lies to us and says we need to live a certain way or God won't love us. Satan tries to make us feel guilty if we don't go to church or read our Bible that day. He tries to make us think maybe we were never truly Christians at all.

You know what? I'm not a Christian. That's just a title that complicates everything. This world has a skewed view of what Christianity is. I'm not going to identify with that anymore. I don't have a religion. I have a relationship. I believe God sent his Son. I believe he lived a perfect sinless life. I believed he died on the cross. I believe he did all of that to save me from my disgusting sinful life and to be with me forever in Heaven.

That's it.

That's all I need. Because of this belief, I know I'm going to Heaven and that's enough for me to live for. I don't need a religion to tell me that. My prayer is that all of you will stop pursuing a useless religion and start pursuing Christ. It'll change your life.

Nothing Can Seperate

This blog is going to be short and sweet.
Usually I'd put this off until morning, but I felt real strongly that I should post this tonight.

Truth is, God cannot love you any more or any less than he does right now.

That's it.

You cannot win His love. You can't do all the right things, be morally upright, or trick your way into getting God's love. Just like a dad, holding his newborn son for the first time, doesn't say "I'll only love my boy if he (fill in the blank)". Our Father in Heaven doesn't love us based off of what we do. He already loves us with an unconditional love.

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" - Romans 8:38-39

He loved us first before we even knew Him. He made us and chose to love us, even though we were sinners. He wants to be with us and he is constantly in a desperate pursuit to win us over. 

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" - 1 John 4:10

You cannot lose His love, either. You may feel like you've done too much wrong in your life, that God couldn't possibly love you, or that He has given up on you. He's always right there and doesn't disown you. Just like a dad doesn't disown his son if he misbehaves. He still loves his son and has always been right there. It's the sin, or the junk in your life, that's keeping you from having a full on, mind blowing, amazing relationship. The love is still there, but the it's the sin that makes us feel isolated. He may feel distant, but He never is.

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" - Hebrews 13:5


Stop trying to "win" God's favor. Stop thinking he doesn't love you. These are all lies. God and His love are the "same yesterday, today and forever" - Hebrews 13:8

Love is Time

When you love someone, you give them your time. 

It's so true right? 

I wrote an article for Her Campus UNI entitled "You Know He Likes You If..." and it was basically an article with opinions from various college women about how they can tell if a guy is in to them. As I looked through their answers, a common theme ran throughout:

When you love someone, you give them your time.

It's the pursuit. It's the commitment. It's the sacrifice. What it all comes down to is the giving of yourself and your time. That's how you know love and show love. 

Writing that article made me realize how ridiculous us girls can be at times. We spend wasted time on boys that we hope will talk to us and eventually date us, even if deep down we know they have no intention to. I can't tell you how many times I've heard both guys and girls say 'if he wants to pursue you, he will'. Simple. Hard to swallow. Truth. 

Now, I've come around to accepting this truth over the past couple months. I've had to swallow my pride and stop chasing, hoping, and wishing. I have learned to be patient and to stop complicating things so much. It's simple. If he wants to pursue me, he will. And how will I know he's pursuing me? Through the amount of time he dedicates to me. This can be seen by the amount of texting each day, taking the time out of his day to hang out with me, or take the time to have actual conversations that goes beyond small talk. He might even do something with me that he doesn't care to do nor has time to do, but does it anyways. These are all pretty strong indicators of a man pursuing you. He does it with his time. 

The more I thought about this concept, the more I thought about my pursuit of Christ. I say I love God, but if one of the strongest ways of showing your love for someone is by sacrificing your time, then I really need to reevaluate myself in that category. How much time do I spend hanging out with God, serving others for him, or digging into the Word? How much time do I give myself each day to talk to him? Thirty minutes before I go to bed? If this was my relationship with a man, I'd be the worst girlfriend in the history of the world. 

Truth is, our relationship with God is exactly that: a relationship! One that involved communication, quality time, serving one another, and genuinely loving each other. When you love someone, you would never fathom only speaking to that person once when you wake up before work, then once before your go to bed just to tell him about all your problems that need to be fixed. You would show your love for that person by giving him your time. 

When you love someone, you give them your time. How much time are you giving God? 

Amazing Because It Is

This song "Amazing Because It Is" by The Almost has been in my head for about two to three weeks now and I am not upset about it one bit. It's been speaking some huge truth into my life. (Shout out to a friend of mine for introducing me to this song - you know who you are). 

I'm the type of person who lets fear drive. I'm the type of guy who let's it drive".

This is me. Anyone who knows me knows that my life is fueled by fear. This fears range from extremely irrational to very understandable but either way, I have a fearful heart and it has been taking a toll on me physically, mentally, and emotionally. I was listening to a Mark Driscoll sermon about "Jesus and Anxiety" (look it up on iTunes) and he was naming off some of the physical signs of an anxious person: 

- unusual mood swings, anger  and depression

- adrenaline rushes that make it hard for your body to calm down

- exhaustion

- nervous twitch

- disassociated or checked out 

- paranoia and suspicion (not so much a physical sign)

- weight change

- moments of panic

- feeling overwhelmed

- fantasying about dying (yes, even Christians do this)

- insomnia

- self medicating with alcohol or drugs (which obviously lead to health problems)

- irritability

- wreckless driving

- IBS, headaches, heart trouble, chest pain, chronic illnesses, mental victim, stomach troubles

- shopping sprees (also not physical, but I thought it was ironic..since I am a frequent shopper and now have a fashion blog - whoops!)

Why am I mentioning all these signs? Because almost all of these relate to me and this is how I know I let fear drive. My prayer is that none of you have to deal with fear and anxiety, but let's be honest, it's prevalent in our society. On a side note, just know that when I speak to you about ways to overcome fear and why we can't let it ruin our lives, I speak to you out of brokenness and humbleness because it's the exact issue I deal with on a daily basis.  

Now I'm going to throw you for a loop.

Today's blog isn't about fear and anxiety. That's a topic for another day. Today's blog is actually about God's grace and how simply amazing He is!

Yes, it's true, I am a fearful, anxious worry-wart. I am broken and a quite frankly a mess. Contrary to popular belief, being a Christian doesn't make life "easier". It's actually harder. If you're truly striving to live a life worthy of the gospel, then that means you don't have the freedom to live a life for yourself - a selfish, independent life. You can't give in to your sinful flesh and indulge in certain pleasures. We are tempted to return back to our old selves. We have seen the light, know what it means to walk in the truth, and now we have to abide by these rules set by God. And it is hard. At least I was naive to all my problems before God showed up. I didn't realize how corrupt my mind was or how many times a day I sin. Now I am blatantly aware. And it sucks. 

But realizing how much I suck has been the best thing for me. 

Cuz I'm addicted. I'm needy. I'm lost. Without you. I need you. I need you. 

Oh God, I need you. I need you so bad. I am a ridiculous wreck without you. With you breaking me of my idols and revealing sin in my life, I have become more dependent of you. I am realizing that I cannot do this life alone. There's something more that I'm living for and it can't be for myself.  

We all deal with the same stuff.

"No temptation has overcome you that isn't common to man. And God is faithful, he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it" - 1 Corinthians 10:13

We are all tempted. Even though I struggle, I at least know that God will never leave me. I can always, always count on him. Even if I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. He is my crutch. My question remains: what do people who don't know God do? Who do they run to? Who can they count on? truth is, we cannot live this life on our own, for ourselves, apart from God. We all suck and are in need of a savior. 

Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound. That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost. But now I'm found. Was blind but now I see. 

God, thank you for loving me even though I suck. God, thank you for blessing me far beyond what I deserve. I am a horrible disgrace to your name and yet you stick by me and love me anyways. I mess up, I knowingly do wrong, I don't love others the way I should, and yet you never let me go. You are the peace in the storm, the faithful provider; my strength and protector. I am so beyond blessed to have such an amazing Dad in my life! Undeserving of such amazing grace. Thank you God.