Saturday, July 19, 2008

From The Religious Questions of Charlie Alcock: Part 2

What did it feel like to wait for Christmas morning as a kid?


I think every kid felt just about the same way. They can't sleep, they just want it to be the next morning already. I would look over at my clock and think "It is really late", and it's actually like 12. Pretty much, kids get the feeling of hope and they wish they get what they want.



Have you ever felt the same when thinking about spending time with GOD? Was it a camp, a concert, an event at church, or just being alone with GOD that excited you?

Well, most Wesleyans can agree with me, but the greatest time of the whole year is having to go through the whole day of camp, just to get to the services. We all know that once the fun of the camp ends for the daytime, the night will be even better. Everyone just goes into the Tabernacle and we just let loose of all our built up GOD energy, and it's this explosion of fun and screaming and just rejoicing his name, and it is better than any Christmas, with the exception of the first one that is.



Do you feel you've grown spiritually this past year?


Grown is such a broad word. Maturing in your age can mean growing in your spiritual walk with Christ. However, since I was lucky enough to experience two camps and a convention this past year, I'm extremely blessed. I think that GOD has shown himself at both of those places in more ways than one. This year, though, it wasn't as much finding GOD as it was finding his word and how it fits in with reflecting the Godly life. For example, I honestly don't remember the majority of the sermons at the convention, but the one that really stands out is The Blakeneys' service on how to deal with relationships and reflecting yourself through those. I didn't have a big revelation in my walk with Christ, but I did get a much stronger sense of what GOD made us for when he designed sex. So it isn't as much a growing thing as it was broadening my religious horizon.



What do you think GOD cares about?


A better question here would be to ask what he doesn't care about. GOD cares about everyone and everything. People are always going around saying "Jesus loves" when people should be saying "Jesus cares". All christians know he loves us, but some don't realize how much he actually cares about what we do. The littlest things can make us falter, but he knows that we will. It is more important to him that we pick ourselves up and shrug it off as opposed to taking a nose dive right into that.



Have you read the Bible lately?


Of course. I love it! Jen actually asked me today what my favorite book was, and I told her "The Bible" because it is. There is love, hate, drama, sex, conflict, violence, and happiness. It's the most interesting book in the world. I'm supposed to be doing summer reading for school, and I easily put down those at night and flip open my Bible, because nothing else compares to hearing about GOD's life, what is right and wrong, how I can further express my love for people, the best and worse areas to fail, it's amazing!



What does GOD's voice sound like? How do you know when he speaks to you?


There are very few people who have truly heard the voice of GOD, ever. GOD doesn't speak like a normal person. He speaks mentally. Whenever you get that feeling that says "Maybe I shouldn't do this", that isn't you, that is GOD. Some things aren't as black and white though, some things you just know. For example, the last time I truly heard GOD speak to me was wednesday night of Senior High Camp. I heard no voices, I wasn't being told anything. I just looked over the crowd of crying faces and people rejoicing, and I just knew that I wanted to be a youth pastor. It's like this ring of happiness that swallows your whole body, and it's absolutly astounding. GOD is a being that no one can even begin to fathom in our human form, that's how amazing he is. So just imagine that it's hard to interpret when he says subtle things to it, and it encloses us, just imagine when we go to heaven and we get to chill with him every second of every day, forever! It blows me away!

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