God without religion

Seven years ago I told my friend at work that I'm a little curious about God. My friend told me they have a Bible study group for 20-somethings at her church that I could check out. "Oh no, I wouldn't wanna do that, I'm not religious", I said. My friend explained to me that she's not religious either but that she has strong faith. I remember thinking that I had no idea what she was talking about. It took me many years to learn the difference between having faith in God and being religious. I used to think the two automatically came together.


The easiest way to explain what it means to be religious could be to say that religious people follow other people. People who have faith in God follow Him, not people. Religious people also love rules and often tend to judge others for not following all the rules, while they themselves pick and choose which rules they want to follow. Religious people can often be more about "appearing Christian" than actually following Jesus for real.


If people tell you they are Christian but you can tell by their actions that they aren't really that different from regular people, chances are these people are religious. If a person is a true follower of Jesus you will be able to tell by how they talk, work, serve, love, live and by what their life goals are. This doesn't mean that the follower of Jesus is free of faults, but you will be able to tell that something about this person's life is different, even without the person revealing that he is a Christian.


Religious people easily get stuck in following a group of people's view on God, while a person of faith has a personal relationship with God. We establish our personal relationship with God by reading his word in the Bible and by having conversations with him through prayer. One of my favorite chapters in the Bible right now is Luke:6. It's so good! :)


Each one of us needs to make sure we are really following God himself, and not a group of people's opinions. We don't believe because somebody says we should believe in God, we believe because our eyes have been opened and we have seen what He has done for us in our own lives. The more you have seen God move in your life the stronger your faith in him will become, and the more you come to Him for help and guidance the more He will move on your behalf. Prepare to be amazed and in awe at what He can do if you only have faith in Him. We serve an awesome God! :)

Hillsong NYC

Hillsong church in New York city is the church most of you have probably heard about at this point. There's been a lot written about Hillsong in the media since some of it's members are famous celebrities. Ja Rule, Vanessa Hudgens and Anna Sophia Robb from "The Carrie Dairies" are some of the celebs that go to Hillsong and have mentioned their church on social media. Beyond all the hype, Hillsong Church has something that's real. Pastor Carl Lentz has a style of preaching that hits home and is easy to follow and comprehend.


Hillsong Church is a church that started in Sydney, Australia but now has locations in most major cities in Australia, North America and Europe. If you're on the lookout for a new church Hillsong Church is worth checking out. You can listen to a sermon by pastor Carl Lentz from Hillsong NYC in the video above. Except for NYC, here's a list of some other cities where you can find a Hillsong church:


London

Amsterdam

Paris

Stockholm

Copenhagen

Barcelona

Los Angeles

Sydney

Melbourne

Defining Moments in life

"It's not the days of your life, but the life in your days that count."
Adlai Stevenson

Heavy Love

Let's commit to give each other some heavy love people! :) Tell those you love that you need them. Life's short, don't settle for shallow love.

Ben&Katie

Living "The Life of Love" looks different for everyone. Ben and Katie felt called to move abroad and be teachers in Haiti. After they had gotten married they stepped out of their comfort zone and gave up "The American Dream" for serving others in an underdeveloped country. It's a story of courage and love.

Living The Life of Love-What could that look like?

There are seven billion people on this planet so living The Life Of Love is going to look very different for each one of us. Jesus simply said "come, follow me", we are called to live a life following in His footsteps. We all have different skills and unique gifts, but each one of us were created to fill a specific need in the world. We are all very important pieces of the puzzle.

Jessie and John have hearts that ache for the orphans in this world, they have chosen to walk in Jesus' footsteps by loving and adopting orphans. What does your heart ache for? I like what Mother Teresa said about love:

"We can not do great things on this Earth, only small things with great love."
Mother Teresa

"I alone can not change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples."
Mother Teresa

"I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things."
Mother Teresa

Unexpected truths

One thing I never understood, although I grew up in a Christian country, is who Jesus truly was. I find it quite interesting that it's possible to grow up in a Christian part of the world and still miss the core of what Christianity is about. I read a blog post a few months ago where a Swedish fashion blogger wrote about how she is Christian and believes in God coming down to earth, being crucified and that he rose from the dead. Many people (who were not Christians) commented on the blog post and wrote "you mean Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead, not God."


I realized these people, and me, never grasped the core about Christianity. The core of what Christians believe is that God himself came down to earth, 2015 years ago, because he loved us so much that he wanted us to truly know him and understand what he created us for. He took on a human body because he wanted to demonstrate to us how he wants us to live. This body was named Jesus.


During the days God walked on earth, in the form of Jesus, he showed us who he is and how we are meant to live. He taught us to love our enemies, treat others like we ourselves would like to be treated, forgive people, be content in every situation etc. After God (in the form of Jesus) was killed and had risen again he gave his disciples the holy spirit. The holy spirit is God in a third form, it's God's spirit living within us. God's spirit now lives within each one of us, and if we learn to listen we can hear Him, guiding us through life. We are no longer alone.