We are called to be converted to the likeness of Christ...We are not called to be converted to Christianity. Just as Christ will judge Islam, Hinduism, Atheism, and the like....he will also judge Christianity. This is why, as Christians, we should always test the spirits. We should discern whether or not something is really of God, because even though something has been labeled "Christian" by the church, it doesn't mean that Christ approves of it. I think the question is, how can one really know what it means to be conformed to the likeness of Christ, and not to be conformed to the stagnant version of Christianity that causes people to just take up space?...

The answer comes through reading and studying the scriptures. It's through studying the mystery of Christ and the mystery of the Kingdom of God. These things cannot be defined in human terms because of their mysterious nature. I know I'm using the word mystery quite profusely, but I can't really describe it any other way....lol. We should not settle for any definition of Christ that has been fed to us in sunday school or on Christian television...He is a mystery that raises questions without answers sometimes (because of our human imperfection and understanding). This is why I think that true Christians are mystics...people that recognize the inexplicable nature of the Triune God that we serve. If anyone offers a description of Christ, look it up for yourself....see if it's true....ask God to speak to you about his divine nature....He is faithful. Don't just take it for it's face value. You might even want to look up what I'm saying right now!

Test it. Ask questions. Satan is a strategic spirit that wants to pull us away from the love of Christ. I think that one way he accomplishes this by making us think that we've got it all figured out....by pushing us to think that we know everything there is to know and in turn, causing us to cease our quest for truth...No one should ever be content with their faith. They should seek God and constantly evaluate themselves and the influences in their lives through the lens of the Word of God. The greatest danger for a person is to think that evil is far away. The truth is that most of the time it's not. Suburban homes and white picket fences in America don't scare away demons. Sometimes I think we even give evil a place in the guest room without even meaning it. lol

The gospel is not a four step plan to salvation. It's beautiful, relational, full of meaning, alive, continually being renewed inside of us....don't sell it short.

Study. Seek. Learn. Don't be lazy.

Hello everyone,

I haven't written in forever. I keep telling myself to blog, but then get sidetracked and/or lose interest.

I'm currently in Seminary and I LOVE it. Theology is the coolest thing ever. I seriously could study it for eternity (But I guess I won't really need to study it after I die....lol). Also I'm recording my first album, Humanity. It's so difficult for me to put my work in front of people to judge. I know that I have good material, but it's still hard for me to just put myself out there.

Ok....let's see. What is God teaching me right now?

He's teaching me about his mystery. He's teaching me that I don't have to understand everything and that I can't reason with everything. He's also teaching me that life hurts. Life is pain. Sin is death. Sin is pain. He's teaching me that he shares in my joy and pain. He's teaching me that He is.

He is.

Hello Beautiful World!

I haven't written in a VERY long time, so I thought I'd grace you with my presence and words of wisdom.

For the past hour I've been skimming through some ancient xanga posts dating from 2005-2008 C.E. Through extensive critical study and research, these pieces of literature have allowed me to see the growth in one such young female named Tesia Sheffield.

Here's a post about redemptive violence....

There is no such thing as redemptive violence. The word redemption, according to dictionary.com, means deliverance; rescue; atonement for guilt. It is any act that is freeing in nature. Violence, according to the same source, means an injurious, damaging, detrimental, or destructive act. These two words are completely opposite in meaning. It baffles me that acts of redemption and on the contrary, acts of retribution could be viewed on the same plane. Redemptive violence is an oxymoron. However, for years people have held the notion that if one person, nation, group, etc...holds that their situation promotes "justice," then using force is perfectly fine because, obviosly, the opposing side is "unjust." This mentality feeds the violent tendencies and gives a sense of, "If it's for the good of the people, then it must be divinely sanctioned."

The legal system doesn't help matters either. All of a sudden, it's ok for man to use violence because we're "doing God's work." Excuse me...does anyone know what God says about retribution in the first place? Throughout the entirely of scripture, God is constantly stating that He will be the one to seek revenge in the end. We are not supposed to go out an seek evil retribution against people because we are already taken care of by El Olam. Also, we can't be to quick to forget the words of Jesus, who is God incarnate, in Matthew 5:

"38"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'[g] 39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Jesus then goes on to say that we should love our enemies. What the hell?!? Love people who wrong me? Love people who I despise? No way Jesus, I can't do that. They're not worthy of my time. They have deliberately committed and offense against me. What's that God? Oh, yeah! I totally forgot that I'm a sinner and I've deliberately disobeyed you more than I should've. Maybe I should be more like you and forgive people?!? YA THINK?

Sorry about that rant....

Violence is an issue of control, immaturity, and self. When someone wrongs us, we want to seek revenge against that person because of what they did to us. We want to humiliate them infront of others just so people can know that we're tough..or cool....or hip....or in..lol. It's as if we're saying, "I criticize you for not caring about me and my needs, so now I'm going to retaliate with the same action because that makes me a better person. It makes me feel like I'm worth something." I've commited the same offense to my offender. In the words of Thomas Merton, "The desire to kill is like the desire to attack another with a red hot iron. I have to pick up the incandescent metal and burn my own hand while burning the other person. Hate itself is the seed of death in my own heart while it seeks death of another. Love is the seed of life in my own heart while it seeks the good of another."

We need to seek good in and for other people, even if the entire world portrays them as evil. We are to be filled with compassion for God's people/creation because everyone can be changed by the healing touch of redemptive love. I know this whole post was very scatter-brained, but I feel so strongly about this issue that sometimes it all comes out at once.

It takes more discipline and self-control to be a woman of peace than it takes to be a woman of impulse. I want to be a woman of peace.

Love is real

Peace is real
God is real

Violence kills the image of God within us.

Peace
-Tesia Lee

In a world filled with drudgery and laziness this is the thing we need. We are the inequipped nation. The inequipped generation. We find that nothing is what it seems. Cradled by our own hands…father and mothers deny us affection but this is the thing we need.

Expansion for the sake of expansion.
Progress for progress sake.
Power for the sake of gaining fortune.
Progress for progress sake.
What happened to the things we need?

Killing all the lies and deception this is the thing we need. Pulling petals, innocence forgotten, imagining what it means to be free. Crawling on the asphalt, bloodying fingertips, you’re denying me things unseen.

Expansion for the sake of expansion.
Progress for progress sake.
Power for the sake of independence.
Progress for progress sake

You’re denying us the things we need.

Survival of the fittest….the weak will be made strong.
We will be made strong.
He will make us strong.
We rely on the strength unseen.

Expansion for the sake of expansion.
Progress for progress sake.
Fortune for the sake of independence.
Progress for progress sake
What happened to the things we need?

He is the remedy.

Over the past year I've ben abused by others. I have abused myself. I have let others abuse me. I have abused others.

All of this for the sake of "love."

That is not love.

Now it's time for the abuse to stop. There has not been a single time in my life when I've been free of this self-deteriorating state that I put myself in.

My heart is shattered. I don't want to love anyone ever again. I want to love God.

I want to finally worship him in the proper way....in spirit and in truth. I want to offer my body as a living sacrifice. I will not lift my mind, body, or spirit to another person.

Give me clean hands.
Give me a pure heart.
Let me not lift my soul to another.
Let my generation seek your face.

Let me seek your face.

God, please love me.
God, please want me.

The beauty of all of this is that I know that he does.

Peace
-Tesia Lee