Taco Bell Challenge

So this last week my friend Campbell and I were talking about how awesome it's going to be to go get taco bell on our last day of this shift and just eat as much as we possibly can. We were so excited yesterday while at work because we knew that in just a few short hours we were going to be in the drive through making the most obscenely large order taco bell had seen.  Campbell ordered first: 2 quesadillas, 1 chicken grilled stuff burrito, 1 mexican pizza, 2 cheesy gordita crunches, and a volcano taco, beast size mountain dew=$25.00.  I ordered 1 steak grilled stuff burrito, 1 beef chalupa, 2 cheesy gordita crunches, 2 steak supreme chalupas, 1 volcano taco, 1 mexican pizza, 1 box of volcano nachos, large mountain dew=$27.00.  As we drove off both of us were silent because all we could think about was the feast sitting in plastic bags on our laps... the warmth was taunting us. We finally got back to Campbell's apartment and put everything on his coffee table and sat down. It was time.
We began eating, if you could call it that.  The discovery channel should've been filming because what we did to that Taco Bell was savagery.  We both finished everything, except for the grilled stuff burrito... this was the game changer, what would separate the men from the boys.  With no beverage to wash it down, and our stomaches filled we agreed to lay down our pride and call a draw at the grilled stuff burrito.  After mere seconds of pondering I decided on a whim that I couldn't let a $3 burrito take me down, I've come this far... I had to finish it.  I picked it up and took a bite.  It was nauseating, but I got it down.  I took another bite, closed my eyes, and began chewing.  It was horrible.  I immediately took the burrito and wrapped it back up and put it in my pile of trash. Defeated, there was nothing I could do except sit back on Campbell's couch and wave my white flag.  Having just completing a 7 day work week, and being beaten by a $3 burrito... the only thing left to do was sleep, so I did.  I woke up to Yoshi pushing on my stomach saying, "It's time to go, it's 4:00."  So we went home.  The end.

Haha, just a quick side note: I titled this blog Sillerious because I love being silly, but I also love to talk about and examine the word of God in a serious way.  So this post is just me being silly.  =)

Christ Centered Relationships

"Treat her well Janny put no one before her! True love only comes once and you wont know till you lose it!"

This is a small segment of a comment that was left on one of my friend's Facebook Wall.  I don't mean to violate any privacy or anything but after reading this it really got me thinking.  "...put no one before her." This is the part that really stuck out to me, and I feel like it's something that's not addressed very often.  

I just finished watching "Christ Centered Relationships" which is a service that Francis Chan did with his wife.  So don't think that all of what I'm about to say is completely from my own mind, I want to give credit to their Biblical wisdom and hopefully display that wisdom to others. I noticed that in our culture nowadays the popular mind set is to put your wife or husband, girlfriend or boyfriend at the forefront of your life. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with being committed to someone or loving someone, but let's think about it a bit.  God instituted this thing called marriage, right? And he had a divine plan for what it is and what it can bring.  So what does that mean to you? Now I'm not claiming to know anything about marriage because I'm not married haha, I'm just a dude looking for answers and sorting out the lies from truth about what it means to have a marriage that God designed us to have.

Many of us, including me, do think, or have thought at some point that marriage is the pinnacle of happiness on this earth.  That God has blessed us with this ability to love someone so dearly, and I agree that He has.  But is that what we are to be completely devoted to in marriage? Obviously, as Christians, our lives should be completely surrendered to God.  That's one of the most basic teachings of the Bible, but I feel like when I look at some marriages it seems like people forget that once they tie the knot.  What I mean is that our source of joy and happiness should not come from our partner, they don't give us life so we shouldn't have to seek life from them.  God gives us life, so love God and serve His purposes. Then a loving and happy marriage is just one of the counterparts that can come. Marriage isn't eternal, that was one of the things from the video that kind of struck me hard when I realized it.

"Jesus answered them, 'you are deceived, because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels in heaven.'" Matthew 22:29-30

I know that may sound harsh but let's really evaluate this. For me, this is immensely challenging because I hope to one day be married and have a family, but am I doing it to satisfy myself or do I truly believe that it's going to help me to better glorify my Maker? I'm not even married and it's making me think this much so I can't even imagine what it would be like to be married and have all of these thoughts rushing into my head, and my heart is with those of you that end up doing that.  We have to be able to put Jesus before our wife/husband, because I'm convinced that if we do that our ability to love them and serve them is so great.  Live for His plan, not your own.  

"True love only comes once and you wont know till you lose it!"  

This life is short...we all know that.  Don't miss out on what true love is, a love so pure and genuine that we can't help but fall to our knees in worship.  The love of God.  We have this one life to decide our fate for the rest of eternity.  We should be so satisfied in Christ that we don't have to think about our partner can better satisfy us, right? We don't have time to fight and bicker about how he or she doesn't love me enough or what we deserve.  

I want to close with this thought, and it's probably going to be on my mind for the rest of the day if not the rest of the week.  We live in a world that pressures us into thinking that life is all about "me."  What's fair or unfair, just or unjust.  That's what jealousy, lying, cheating, and stealing our fueled by.  What if Jesus had that same mindset when he came to this earth, do you think we would be sitting here now on our computers as saved individuals? If Christ looked at all the people that tortured Him and spit on him and said, "You know what, I don't deserve this.  I'm the Son of God, these people don't deserve what I'm about to endure for them." Would we be saved right now? Absolutely not, but thanks be to God that He is as loving as He is.  He stepped into this world at such an opportune time. This is all the more reason to think and live as Jesus did, and not to give in to the lies of the earth. And we can display this in our love lives.  Being completely sacrificial in love for the other, not focussing on what we deserve but on what God deserves...and all the rest will fall into place. =)

Thanks for reading. 

Life to the Fullest

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." -John 10:10


After being a Christian for the last few years I've noticed that this one verse is extremely popular in the church community, whether it be sermons or just for encouragement.  I've never met a fellow follower that has not heard this verse...and there's a good reason for that.  The problem that I've seen though is that a lot of Christians tend to read this and actively apply it, but they tend to kind of hit a wall in their faith so to speak.  I'm not excluding myself from this either, that's why I'm writing this.  I want to evaluate what it truly means to have a full life, a life that Christ sacrificed everything for us to have.


Have you ever thought about how different your life would be if you didn't have Christ in your life? I have, I do it often.  Would I be conscious of the needs of others? Would I be able to handle some of the immense challenges that being in the military offers? Would I have a full life?


I read a book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan two years ago, and I can still remember a story that he told in the book.  It was about the Robinson family: Father, Mother, and 3 children.  Every Christmas morning instead of opening presents under a tree the Robinsons woke up extremely early to make fresh waffles and coffee.  They would go downtown and find homeless people on the street and feed them the hot waffles and coffee. They felt that the homeless deserve to have a hot breakfast, especially on Christmas morning.  It's stories like this that really make me evaluate my faith, and I hope it does the same for you.  I know all of us would rather wake up Christmas morning and be in our comfy pajamas and sit around the tree with excitement in our hearts.  "OOh, I wonder what mom and dad got me this year." But what would God rather us do?...
I'm not saying that giving gifts is a bad thing, but can we do better?  I think so. :)


Think about it like this: Does God get more joy from us being excited about giving/receiving presents, or from us being excited about serving others in a radical way?  I think the answer is obvious, based on what we all know about God from reading His Word. This doesn't just have to apply to Christmas either, I think we can apply it to all areas of life. I feel like this is what Jesus meant when he said we can have life to the full.  For me, and I think everyone can agree, the joy that comes from serving others for the glory of God is unlike any other.  It's pure, and rich...like nothing this world can offer.  So why not strive to do at much as we can? That's what this verse means to me. To serve others with a crazy radical love in order to bring joy to our Father in heaven as well as have it fill us. :)