"When The Sons Become Fathers"

I am so tempted to post, but i cannot. there is too much work to be done and not enough time for that AND sleep and everything else. i enjoy school work. i enjoy being busy. i'm weird, crucify me. this is gonna be brief.

"where there is no vision, the people perish...to align our vision with the divine perspective is to attain holiness." - Mattie Montgomery, When The Sons Become Fathers. < BUY THAT ALBUM! please. it will change your life.

God doesn't want your religion, your righteousness, or your reasoning. God wants you. He wants your heart. He doesn't want to give you His will, His gifts, or His power, He wants to give you Himself and His heart, because from there flows every entity. of anything. God included. Power and Majesty flow forth from the throne of God like a river sweeping up all who stand before it. Go before His throne, enter in to His presence, find His heart, and chase it. Run after Jesus Christ like you have never run before and there you will find every aspect of life fulfilled. EVERYTHING. will everything be perfect? no.. but you will be. what's the point?

vision

When you seek the heart of God, His very core, you will find His vision. You will see as He sees and you will be utterly transformed beyond fathom or explanation. You will love as He loves and you will pray like you have never prayed before. When you catch His vision, you will then attain His will for your life, and it will spread like fire to the nations. He is raising up a movement like nothing we have ever known. prepare. if you take one thing from this post, take this..

Jesus Christ took your wrath. 

welcome to true love. if He died for you, don't you think He would want what is best for you? enter in, He's waiting for you.

inhale//exhale

I would just like to say that the faithful promises of the Lord are your shield and your protection (ps. 91:4). God is crying out to all of us, smitten with jealousy, saying, "TRUST ME." He just wants our eyes and our hearts. His word never comes back void; He loves you too much. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act (ps 37). just trust Him. always. It keeps working for me. When you feel like you're losing it.. trust Him. when all seems lost and hopeless.. trust Him. when everything is fine and dandy.. trust Him all the more. take joy, trials produce character. "step out into the water, stop looking at the waves" (gwen stacy). pray pray pray pray pray pray pray pray. Jesus. that's all.


now.. basketball. praise the Lord.

"YOU.. ARE NOT.. WORTHY of me." - America

after attending the Passion conference a few weeks ago, I was asked to write a reflection paper for class. That's what this post is. This is my reflection and response to the Passion conference and a picture of what my heart looks like. it's long... sorry. if you don't read, if this is never read ever by anyone ever.. oh, well. enjoy?

All My Fountains

                If there were two goals I could set while typing this, they would be 1) to cry and 2) to make you relive the revelation of Jesus I did. My reasoning for the first goal is a desire to continually remember and react intentionally to the “experience” of the Passion conference. God completely revolutionized my entire mindset; He had been teaching and preparing me specifically for that weekend. He made crystal clear what my purpose in this life is and how to achieve it. Secondly, I desire a similar response for your life. This is a reflection paper, so it should be professional, but I intend to make it a little more personal to draw you into my mindset, if I may. To kick start my intention, I included a short post from my blog (feel free to judge) on the following Tuesday:

This weekend was the Passion conference in Fort Worth, Texas and God was moving His people towards Himself in such mighty ways. There is so much to say and so much to share, but all that matters is Jesus. This is what has been shared and discovered and this is what is creating the Jesus Movement. He is raising up a generation with a purpose statement stronger than ever before: "Yes, LORD, walking in the way of Your truth, we wait eagerly for You; Your name and Your renown are the desires of our souls" (Isaiah 26:8). All we want is to remain in His truth, knowing and loving Him more, waiting for Him, and to see His name and His fame spread. That is ALL that matters. Proverbs 14:27 says, "The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life." Life pours into and out of those who fear Him. Revere Him. Stand in awe of Him. Praise His name. We sang a song as a declaration to God proclaiming ALL our fountains are in Him. All of them. He's our joy, our life, our peace, our all. Jesus is worth it all. Philippians 1:27, "Behave as citizens WORTHY of the Gospel of Christ." We have a call, a mandate, to give ourselves completely for the Gospel of Jesus, and we will be filled because in making much of us, in allowing Him to work our salvation out for us (Philippians 2), He is made much of beyond description. His glory shines brighter than the sun. Let's live for what matters most. Let's join the movement, the Jesus Movement.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, “He is a terrible writer and even WORSE in his blogs!” Though that may be true, this reflection will spark something deep within your spirit which will resonate long after you grade this paper. This is my prayer for this assignment. May God move mightily in your mind, your heart, and your spirit and may my words cease here as the Spirit reflects His own work in my life.

                “You are good; You are good when there’s nothing good in me. You are hope, You are hope, You have covered all my sin.” My prayers prior to Passion were for God to continually reveal to me one specific thing ­– I am NOTHING without Him. Aside from the blood of Jesus Christ, I am worthless, filthy, doomed, and enslaved to sin, death, and hell, BUT, praise be to GOD, I am no longer in bondage and can freely sing, “Oh, I’m running to Your arms. The riches of Your love will always be enough; nothing compares to Your embrace.”  Due to Jesus’ sacrifice and my acceptance thereof, whether personally chosen or divinely elected, I took on more than redemption, I took on responsibility. In the words of Jamie Lash, I took on “response-ability.”  He reached out and saved me from myself; therefore, I am eternally indebted to my Lord. Romans puts it plainly, saying, “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, HAVING BEEN SET FREE FROM SIN, have become SLAVES of righteousness. …you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God” (6:17-18, 22).

                As previously stated (I know you hate that sentence starter), I discovered the “what” and “how” regarding my purpose in life. I have been called to die to myself and live to Christ (profound, right?). This is the problem, though, Americans know the verses, they know the call, yet we STILL DO NOT UNDERSTAND this is a call to die! We know Galatians 2:20 “by heart,” but apparently do not grasp the implication therein. Christianity has become a cancer, not a cure. The “gospel” is now a plague instead of POWER. We are robbing the cross of Christ. We are slapping and yelling in our Savior’s precious face, screaming, “I tasted, I saw You, the Lord, are good, but I prefer myself. YOU.. ARE NOT.. WORTHY of me.” We are the reason God seems unattractive. We have 10 bibles in our room but read them as a chore, if at all, and wonder why our lives are going to hell or why we can’t seem to find the right girl or the right job. Why can’t things just go my way for once? IT WAS NEVER MEANT TO. Here is a side note, God gave me a sermon idea and I would love to share it: 1) Acts 3 says Jesus is the Author of life; He wrote your story, 2) 1 Corinthians 6:20 says Jesus bought you with a price; He bought your story, and 3) Galatians 2:20 says we were crucified with Him and now Jesus lives our lives for us; He IS our story. Moreover, Philippians 1:27 exists, therefore we must live like it.

                “How, Ryan?! How can we live out this call to die?” I am enthralled you asked! Passion’s theme verse since “birth” fifteen years ago has been Isaiah 26:8, “Yes, LORD, walking in the way of Your TRUTH, we wait eagerly for You; Your name and Your renown are the desires of our souls.” There is one way to follow Jesus:  seek Him, know Him, love Him. We must walk hand in hand with the Creator on the pathway of Truth, desiring His fame to be made in our lives. We must seek to give Him glory, thanks, and praise in all areas of life. We must renounce our desires because we trust and know that “His faithful promises are our shield and our protection” (Psalm 91:4). His plan is perfect. When God is at the bottom of our joy, when He is the reason behind every facet of our lives, when all our fountains are in Him, we will be satisfied to no end and free beyond fathom. In the book of Psalms, David cries out to God, saying, “send out Your light and Your truth; let them lead me” (43:3). Our guidance is found in God’s light and His truth which has been made readily available in His Word. We have the most powerful entity fathomable within our grasp, yet we refuse to respond in obedience. Philippians 2 provides insight to how we can accomplish this purpose in verse 16, “holding fast to the word of life.” Jesus leads us to life, but His Word leads us a clear response resulting in abundance.

We know “what” the purpose is, and we have covered “how” to attain it, but why? Why would we want to, why does it matter? Personally, God has hand selected me for a specific purpose which cannot be fulfilled by anyone but me. He chose me. There is no way to be sure what to, but He is pleased by faith. His Gospel must be furthered and His kingdom must be advanced. I have been called to give up EVERYTHING to follow Him and broadcast to the world, to the nations, that Jesus lives and they can, too. I’ve been chosen to bring America back to the Most High, but not by my own strength or power. The Gospel of Christ is the power of God (Romans 1:16). All I have in this life is Christ, and in the next, Christ. If I die for His name, then I will just see His face, His beautiful, smiling face, saying, “Well done, Ryan Lee Sears, well done.” He is everything. Jesus is all that I have; this life is not my own. It is my JOY to honor You, Jesus. “You are joy; You are joy, You’re the reason why I sing. You are life; You are life; in You, death has lost its sting.”

What central theme did I pull from the conference? What one thing continually resounded in every session, every sermon, and every shout of praise? His name is Jesus: truth, life, freedom, joy, peace, kindness, a perfect plan, a beautiful girl with a beautiful heart, and a beautifully surrendered life. “My heart will sing no other name, Jesus.” He broke my heart for the Gospel, and He took everything I was holding on to. My first year at DBU can be summed up in two words: let go. God has just been relentlessly calling out to me, “let go! I have such a huge, prosperous plan for your life. This is not the everyday calling you hear about, Ry; I chose you for this. Before the foundations of the world, I established this purpose. Step out by faith, let go of your guilt, your shame, your pride, your theology, your selfishness, your plans, your desires, your thoughts, your wants, your opinion, your life. Just let go.” Whether easy or hard, the “list of let goes” continued and will continue to grow, but, Praise be to God, my joy, peace, patience, and faith do too. He’s called me to the nations. His Gospel owns my life. This is all due to His revelation during the Passion conference. This is all due to Him. “Jesus, You endured my pain; Savior, You bore all my shame all because of Your love.” Thank You, God, for Your grace, thank You, Jesus, for the cross, and thank You, Holy Spirit, for guiding to all truth and working out my salvation for me. I do not know what the future holds per se, but I do know who holds the future, and I trust Him completely.

"All My Fountains"

This weekend was the Passion conference in Fort Worth, Texas and God was moving His people towards Himself in such mighty ways. There is so much to say and so much to share, but all that matters is Jesus. This is what has been shared and discovered and this is what is creating the Jesus Movement. He is raising up a generation with a purpose statement stronger than ever before: "Yes, LORD, walking in the way of Your truth, we wait eagerly for You; Your name and Your renown are the desires of our souls" (Isaiah 26:8). All we want is to remain in His truth, knowing and loving Him more, waiting for Him, and to see His name and His fame spread. That is ALL that matters. Proverbs 14:27 says, "The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life." Life pours into and out of those who fear Him. Revere Him. Stand in awe of Him. Praise His name. We sang a song as a declaration to God that All our fountains are in Him. All of them. He's our joy, our life, our peace, our all. Jesus is worth it all. Philippians 1:27, "Behave as citizens WORTHY of the Gospel of Christ." We have a call to give ourselves and we will be fulfilled because in making much of us, in allowing Him to work our salvation out for us, He is made much of so much more. His glory shines brighter than the sun. Let's live for what matters most. Let's join the movement. The Jesus Movement.

This is it

So today is Saturday... and Sunday comes afterwards, thank you for that Rebecca Black. Moving on... in an hour, i will be picking up an amazing woman and taking her to meet my parents for the first time and show her my hometown and the memory of the life i have lived there. This shouldn't be a secret to many anymore, but naivety isn't too uncommon these dayssss. I am just so so so thankful and so blessed to have spent so much time with an incredible daughter of the Most High and found constant encouragement from her life and her words. Her actions are a direct reflection of the love of Christ and she shares that with the world. daily. Compassion just flows from her presence because she resides in His. Our God is too good for words. I'd like to keep this concise, so let's just say "we we we, we so excited," eh? Praise the Lord, oh, my soul, Praise the Lord. Take heart, friends, He knows just what you need. He made you. Just let Him have all of you.

Power Outage

..gotten tired of how your blog starts? me flipping too. would you (singular or plural.. whatev) judge me if i stopped doing it? um.. well.. we'll see. power outage. what does this mean? weeeellll, i'm not talking about the second power outage at dbu over spring break. I'm talking about the power outage within the church. it's real. it's prevalent. it's consuming all it comes into contact with. how? we are preaching a false doctrine. hey.. do me a favor. DONT think about a PINK ELEPHANTTTT. whatever you do. do NOT think of a PINK ELEPHANT. think of ANYTHING but a pink elephant. pink. elephant. either you're thinking about a pink elephant, or you're thinking of something completely different because you were told not to think about a pink elephant. problem is, you still have the pink elephant in mind. well, you see, the church is teaching us not to sin. WHAT. no no no no no. how about this.. let's look at what God sees. when you have repented of your sin, and allowed Jesus Christ and the belief in Him that His once-for-all sacrifice was enough for our eternal salvation from a much deserved hell (Romans 6:23), your sin is taken from you. it's washed away. "sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow." "For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotton Son, that whosoever believes on Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (Lu..kidding, John 3:16). "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace" (Ephesians 1:7). "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. My little children, these things I write to you, that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 1:7-2:2). Jesus Christ's blood covers His redeemed. completely. There is absolutely NOTHING we can do to change that. NOTHING. God looks at us and sees the blood, not sin. Now i'm going to get a little controversial.. brace yourselves. God isn't concerned with our sin. WHAT?! Ryan, you're gonna lose your salvation AND your cls for saying that! (psych) Hebrews 10:14-17 is proof enough for me. "by a single offering He (Jesus) has perfected for ALL TIME those who are being sanctified. the Holy Spirit bears witness to us that (He, God) will put (His) laws on (our) hearts, and write them on (our) minds." Verse 17 is KEY, though, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds NO MORE." Grace, God's unmerited favor, is poured out upon us. every. single. day. We are unworthy, but praise GOD that we've been MADE worthy "through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Heb. 10:10). Our sins are atoned for. past, present, AND future. GONE. washed away. God doesn't care about our sin because He doesn't see it; He sees the blood of Jesus. The church has taught that we are to continue to ask for forgiveness of sin when we commit acts of disobedience. Where is this biblically? nowhere to be found. What exactly does "once for all" mean to you? ALL SIN IS ATONED FOR. ALL OF IT. PRAISE GOD. Why sit there and disagree? You're about to learn about the freedom of Christ. Here comes the power ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.. I'm about to runnn. okay. i'm back. um.... 
God isn't concerned with our sin, right? What He ISSSS concerned with is our hearts. If He can have our hearts, we won't want to sin. duh. Repentance is a complete 180. It's saying we lived in sin and death and NOW, thanks be to GOD, we're turning towards the Savior and Lord of our lives. Psalm 37:4! "DELIGHT yourself in the LORD," when this is done, "He will give you the desires of your heart." This isn't saying that He'll give you a new car or a sweet house, record deal, job, or wife.. haha.. that's funny, He totally will do that last one, at least, after this next part muahaha, i can't wait to blog about that silliness. What this IS saying is He will replace our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh (Ezek. 36). He removes the evil through Jesus' sacrifice, and the Holy Spirit moves us to follow His decrees and His law (Ezek. 36). He replaces our desires with His desires. "walk in the light, as He is in the light," right? Then, once we allow God to renovate His new house, He fills it. God will provide the things He wants which is now what we want because He lives in us and as Asaph says in Psalm 73, "there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You." When He is our sufficiency and satisfaction, the blesssings flow. "Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him , and He will act. ... Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him" (Psalm 37: 5, 7). He just wants us. Our focus, our attention, our affection. He's forgiven you, so stop asking for the free gift you've already been given. Now, I'm not saying our desires for our old habits disappears. What I'm saying is we have to stop being so caught up in what's been removed. The debt's been paid. Now we allow the Holy Spirit to remove all the unwanted furniture from His house, so He can make it a home. Jesus was a man filled with the Holy Spirit. He lived prayer time to prayer time, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide and direct His ministry. His "ministry" was just His obedience to the Spirit. When we take our focus off of everything but obedience to Him, His power will be restored and the lights of the world will shine as bright as ever. When the church, the bride, decides to get in tune with the Spirit, we will finally find the solution to our problems. We must stop being leeches. We must stop sucking the power out of the Gospel and Cross of Christ. God's grace and forgiveness have NOTHING to do with our performance, so be free from guilt, shame, and bondage. You'll screw up. a lot. so what, get back on the narrow. Live in the Word. Live in prayer. Jesus said His food was to do the will of the One who sent Him and to accomplish His work (John 4:34). "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). We have to EAT THE WORD. It is sustenance. if you haven't been in God's Word all day, you're probably starving. Your spirit is famished. you NEED Him. allow God to be God. Let Jesus' sacrifice be enough. The Holy Spirit will use whatever room you give Him, but, until you allow Homeboy to tear down the walls you've left up in His house, He can't allow His power to flow through you freely. God is bringing a power surge. The voltage of the Holy Spirit is about to raise to unprecedented heights, and I'm just glad He's ruining me to the point seeing Him for who He is. please please please pray, "the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective" (James 5:16, i think?)

Holy Spirit, move mightily in the readers of this post. MIGHTILY. let there be no disagreements, not because of my words, God, but because your Truth sets us free. Let there be freedom from bondage, God. That we would walk in Your Truth, the only Truth, and we WILL witness layers and layers of bondage falling off of us as our old flesh and desires melt away and Your love and power begin to rise in our lives. We're praising and giving You thanks in advance for the work You are going to do and what is already being worked out. Father, You are Holy, and we are thankful for the cross, the blood, and the power of Your name. 

Now, be free.

You're My Escape

..endured something terrible? Gone through hell in your own home? me neither.. but it feels like it. here's the deal, God is always at work, and He's wanting to work in and THROUGH us. we don't want either of those. the bible says so. david said, "i have no good apart from You," referencing the LORD, DUH. No one seeks after God. weird. did you know that colossians says that ALL things were created in, through, and for Christ? #freebie God is working on me like crazy and trying to give me reasons why He wants all of me.. because He knows what's best. Hey, I have something so much greater for you than what you used to love. I love you, I know what's best for you.. I did knit you together in the womb and all. anywho, follow Me. focus on Me. watch me Work. GLADLY. i'm tired of me. i'm tired of old junk. you can have the world, give me JESUS, please! well, after seeking Him and having Him love and burn me more for Him, well... He just blesses me. all i have to say is there's a song.. people sing it to God, but homie wrote it for his wife (so the legend goes). either that or a guy sang it to his wife at their wedding. regardless, here it is:

when i am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
when troubles come and my heart burdened be;
then, i am still and wait here in the silence;
until you come and sit awhile with me.
you raise me up so i can stand on mountains;
you raise me up to walk on stormy seas;
i am strong, when i am on your shoulders;
you raise me up to more than i can be.

this song is truth. whether it's sung to the Most High.. or to His daughter. either way. thank You, and thank you. you know who you are. ladies and gents, one day. that's all.

well.. ps... THANK YOU. for the 23461372478345762nd time. thank you. God is too good, guys. He is too good. Give Him thanks and praise. one, He deserves it. two, He's due it. three, He's worthy (i'm well aware these are similar). four, He asks for it. five, we should constantly want to. if not, read psalm 34 or something. all of them, actually. which brings me to something else! for the rest of my LIFE, i will read 5 psalms and a proverb everyday. i will read through both books at least 12 times a year. crunk, right? one, i will be really familiar with how God was praised by the man after His own heart. two, i will be really familiar with the smartest man who ever lived and who will ever live, so says the Word.. it's questionable because of all the women he had #thatsabadidea, but whatever you gotta do, man. um... thanks again. you're sweet. you're kind. you're gentle. you're patient. you're amazing. HEY, stop reading if this isn't for you! i don't want your judgment! (catch up on your reading! ...ahem) okay, that's all. thanks for stopping by!