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I do not consider this a real blog, because I do not make entries very often. The following represent the very occasional thoughts, ideas, meditations, and musings I get around to posting. I hope you enjoy a few of them, and have a great day! From "life" to "institution"... if we are not careful, this is what can happen. We start off with an authentic experience with God: a first love if you will. It is life! From that "life" we give birth to churches, programs, ministries, initiatives, etc. These are good things because they are expressions of our life connection with God, and expressions of our lives to serve God and bring him glory. But, if we are not careful, slowly over time, like the frog in the frying pan, we move away from the source of life. We are like a branch trying to sustain life without staying connected to the vine. We are no longer connected to the source of "life", but we still have the same churches, programs, ministries, initiatives, etc. However,because the source of life is absent, we are now left with "institution". (Another good word would be "religion".) We still go through the motions, but the source of life is gone. We are like an old wine skin. It seems to me the deal is this: we must stay connected to the vine: to the source of life. We must be careful to not "believe" in our churches, programs, ministries, and initiatives. We must be careful to not "beleive" in ourselves! When the "source" becomes anything other than him, we are doomed to become institutional. But maybe this is the problem: it's actually easier to just "go to church" than it is to have a real "relationship" with God. To have a relationship with God takes things like time, energy, effort, committment, struggle: it takes work! It's hard to "face" God sometimes... it's hard to come "into the light". But it's easy to go to church. So more often than not, like water, we choose the path of least resistance. We take it easy on ourselves. And then, after a while, we complain because we sense the "church" does not have power. "What's wrong with the church? Why is there an inner emptiness in the church? Does the church not work anymore?" No, I don't think the problem is with the church. The church is nothing more than you and me. When our walk and relationship is alive and vibrant and authentic, then the church will be alive and vibrant and authentic. It seems to me the solution is simple: we need to repent! We need to put God in his rightful place of preeminence in our lives! We need to stay connected to the vine: the source of life! Then... our church will be alive with the presence and power of God. A final thought: we should be very careful before we give up on the church. I don't believe God has given up on the church. The church is like Noah's ark. Sometimes it "stinks" on the inside, but it is a far better alternative than what is on the outside. The church is God's choosen vessel to carry us... to provide for us... to rescue us. We need the church, and the church will be an accurate reflection of who we are as the people of God. Posted by Tony Ingrassia on 6/20/06; 9:14:08 AM
We saw the movie on opening day, The Passion of the Christ. It was unbelieveable. I think it is the most powerful thing I have ever seen in my life. It is so easy to say, "Jesus died for my sins." without realizing what that really means. This film helps me understand in a deeper way than ever before what Jesus did for me. His body was literally torn and broken... not to mention the torment of His soul when the sin of the world was placed upon Him. There is all this talk about too much violence and blood. I disagree. It seems a very accurate portrayal of actual crucifixtion, and what He went through on my behalf. There was sobbing throughout the audience as people watched the horror of His sacrifice. When I got home I read my bible and prayed. I was reminded of the following scripture: His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness. Isaiah 52:14 I looked up the word "disfigured" in my concordance. It literally means: to decay, ruin, batter, cast off, destroy, mar, spill, utterly waste. Wow! Dear Jesus, thank you so much for what you did for me. Thank you that you loved me and gave yourself for me. Thank you that you allowed your body to be torn, broken, and disfigured for me. Help me to know and appreciate your sacrifice deeper than I ever have before. Help me to never forget what you have done for me. Jesus, you spilled your very life for me. Help me now to spill my very life for you. I pray in Jesus name. Posted by Tony Ingrassia on 2/26/04; 8:56:22 AM
I was thinking about free will, and the significance of submitting our will to the will of God. It brings God such magnificent glory when we submit our will to his. * In a way this is what caused the devil to get in big trouble. In Isaiah 14:13-14 Satan said in his heart... I will... I will... I will...I will... I will. He decided his will was more important than the will of God. He decided what he wanted was more important than what God wanted. He decided to promote his will above the will of God. * Contrast what Satan did with his will to what Jesus did with his. Matthew 26:39... My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will. Wow! Jesus decided the will of his father was more important than his own will. He decided to promote the will of God above his own. * Notice the sweet, submissive, compliant response of Mary, the mother of God, to the angel when he announced to her the holy calling God had placed upon her life. Luke 1:38... I am the Lord's servant, Mary answered. May it be to me as you have said. Wow! No wonder God selected Mary for such a holy calling. God knew her heart. God knew that she would place the will of God above her own will. My dear friend, may I encourage you to surrender your will to the will of God in a deeper way than you ever have before? Whatever that thing is that you are currently struggling with in your heart, surrender it completely to the will of God as you lay it at his feet. Not my will, but thy will O God be done. Posted by Tony Ingrassia on 2/11/04; 11:04:08 AM
What do you think of the Great Cosmic Conflict as outlined below? How do you think it should influence how we live and what we do with our lives? The Great Cosmic Conflict
· In eternity past God was the one and only, undisputed, absolute divine authority in heaven. He alone was the object of all praise, honor and glory. All creatures and all things were in complete submission to his divine rule and will. He alone was respected, honored and worshiped as the only supreme and almighty God. (Isaiah 40:25) · Pride was born in the heart of Lucifer, a mighty and beautiful angel, and he determined in his heart that he would rise up in rebellion against God, overthrow the throne of God, and assume for himself the very position of God. (Isaiah 14:13-14) · Satan persuades one third of the angels in heaven to enlist in his rebellious sedition. (Revelation 12:4) · War breaks out in heaven as Satan and his fallen angels fight to overthrow the throne of God and take over heaven. (Revelation 12:7) · Satan’s attempt to topple the throne of God is defeated. He and his demons are cast out of heaven and hurled to the earth. (Revelation 12:9; Isaiah 14:12) · Satan becomes the prince of this earth. (Ephesians 2:2; I John 5:19) · God creates mankind in innocence as the object of his love. God gives mankind only one prohibition; you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; thus providing mankind the opportunity to submit to God’s divine authority, rule and will. (Genesis 1:27, 17) · Since Satan was unable to overthrow the throne of God through brute force, he switches to plan “B” in his attempt to harm the heart of God: he quickly tempts mankind and lures them into disobedience and rebellion against God. Satan apparently scores a massive victory as he aligns mankind with him in opposition to the divine authority of God. (Genesis 3:1,6) · God immediately sets in motion his plan of salvation to rescue and redeem mankind back to himself. God loves mankind too much to let them go. He will fight to make them his own again. At the center of God’s plan to redeem mankind is the gospel; the death, burial and resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. (Genesis 3:15,21; John 3:16) · Planet earth becomes the primary stage for the ongoing cosmic conflict as the war continues to rage between Good and evil for the soul of each human being. First Satan attempted to overthrow God through the war in heaven. Now he isattempting to prove he is more powerful than God in the great war being waged on planet earth. Satan is filled with fury, and in a rage is making war against those who would obey the commandments of God. (Revelation 12:12,17) · In the middle, acting as the pawns in the game, are you and I along with every other person who has ever lived on planet earth. It is a giant, awesome, astonishing cosmic conflict, and the stakes are incredibly high! God is fighting to bring every living soul back from the place of autonomous rebellion to the place of intimate fellowship and willing submission to his absolute divine authority. Satan is attempting to incite autonomy and rebellion against God in the heart of every living person as he fights to deeply harm the heart and throne of God by destroying human lives. (John 10:10; Matthew 28:18-20) · The cosmic conflict rages on. Christians are called to the front lines of battle, and invited to ally themselves with the throne of God as the sacrifice of their lives contributes to the furtherance of God’s kingdom and the ultimate defeat of evil. This is accomplished as we bring ourselves back into God’s original design of complete submission to his divine authority, rule and will: Not my will but thy will be done. (James 4:7; Ephesians 6:10-18; II Corinthians 10:3-6) · Ultimately God will win and evil will loose. Satan and his evil cohorts will be cast forever into the lake of fire, and the dominion of God’s throne will be reestablished forever; Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Once again God alone will be the only, undisputed, absolute divine authority in heaven and on earth. He alone will be the object of all praise, honor and glory. All creatures and all things will once again be in complete submission to his divine rule and will. He alone will be respected, honored and worshiped as the only supreme and almighty God. All things will be under his feet. The cosmic conflict will be over, God will be exalted, and we will spend eternity worshipping and enjoying who he is. The circle back to the undisputed glory of God will be completed. (Philippians 2:10-11; Revelation 20:10; Revelation 21:1-7)
Posted by Tony Ingrassia on 2/10/04; 5:07:07 PM
You are welcome to attend a FREE Sexual Freedom Conference entitled The Power of Purity on February 27 & 28, 2004 at Grace Bible Church in Warrenton Missouri. For more information call: Grace Bible Church: 636-456-4010 or Tony Ingrassia: 636-936-1144 Posted by Tony Ingrassia on 2/5/04; 5:38:14 PM
It's that time of year. The end of one year and the beginning of another. This website is coming along, and I will begin promoting the ministry of sexual freedom in the near future. * The website will continue to be polished. * I am working of having my two books self-published with a company called Essence Publishing in Canada. * I am working on a promotional mailing that will be mailed to thousands of churches / pastors. My hope and prayer is that God will begin to open doors for me to share my story and speak into the hearts and lives of men concerning the topic of sexual purity. I appreciate your prayers.... and have a HAPPY NEW YEAR! My hope is that your 2004 is the best and most awesome year you have ever had with God! Tony Posted by Tony Ingrassia on 12/29/03; 4:42:36 PM
“He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. He said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Then he returned to his disciples and found then sleeping. “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter… Matthew 26:36-46 In the hour of Jesus’ greatest temptation He was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. He asked those closest to Him to keep watch with Him. He went on to a place of sorrow, and when he returned He found them sleeping. How disappointed and alone this must have made Him feel. It’s as though in the moment of His greatest need, when he needed understanding and support the most, those closest to Him failed Him deeply, completely oblivious to His great need… His struggle… His sorrow… His pain. They chose instead to serve their own fleshly self interest, and in so doing they abandoned Him. This reveals there are places that God will call us to - our own personal place of Gethsemane - where no one will be able to go with us. It is a place God is calling me to go alone. If I look to others to see and understand how hard and terrible this place is for me - a place of overwhelming sorrow that brings me to the point of death - I will only find them sleeping. They cannot begin to see… and know… and understand what it is that is being required of me. Others can escort me only so far toward my Gethsemane. Then they will stop along the way, and they will rest, and it will fall upon myself alone to move forward into the place of sorrow… aloneness… and death. A place of surrendering my will to the will of God, regardless of the price I must pay in order to do so. This is Gethsemane. It is a place that has room for only two… me and God. I should not be surprised when I find myself alone in this place. It is as though God has been trying to get me alone so He can finalize His business with me. As long as I have another with me, I will be tempted to turn to them and say, “Do you see what is being required of me? Do you see the great price God is asking me to pay?” I will look to the other for consolation, and this will prevent me from moving forward to the place of aloneness… where it is God and I… and I am left only to trust completely in Him for any consolation. Are you willing to follow Him to Gethsemane? Posted by Tony Ingrassia on 12/22/03; 2:07:48 PM
Hello Everyone! It has been some time since my last blog entry. In large part because I have been out of town quite a bit the past number of weeks (serving my lesser god - hunting) and have been investing a considerable amount of time, energy and effort on the development of this overall website. As you can see, the site is coming along slow but sure. There are still several things that need to be finished up, but we are getting closer every day. Special thanks to my friend, Ryan Hale, for his help in the development of this website. It is because of his ability and expertise that this website is coming into existance. Ryan, I cannot thank you enough for all you are doing. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I pray God blesses you real big for all you have done and all you are doing. I am so blessed that God brought you into my life and put on your heart to help me out. You are a Warrior Poet, and the Kingdom of God on this earth is being expanded because of your life! My hope is to have the website pretty much finished up by the end of the year (less than 2 weeks from now) and then to begin marketing the website, books, and ministry of Sexual Freedom early next year. As God opens doors in front of me, my hope is to have opportunities to share my stroy and speak into the lives and hearts of men the message of sexual purity. I appreciate your prayers. Stay tuned! Posted by Tony Ingrassia on 12/18/03; 3:19:08 PM
Here is my blog Posted by Ryan Hale on 11/4/03; 10:39:50 AM
This past weeken, Nov 1-2, was the Youth Only deer hunt in the state of Missouri. I went on the hunt with my 8 year old son, Sammy, and two other father's and son's. (Three sets of dad's and boy's altogether.) One boy got a nice doe. One boy got his first deer; a nice 8 point buck. And my little Sammy had shots at two different does, but unfortunately did not get one. We are still on the quest for Sammy to get his first deer, and hoping this important milestone will be achieved in two weeks during the regular Missouri deer season. Anyway, we had a wonderful time. Father's, son's, the great outdoors, cool air, beautiful sunrise, colorful trees, anticipation, watching and waiting, pounding hearts at the sound of approaching footsteps in the leaves, taking aim, powerful guns, death and blood, excitement, congradulations, sense of pride, accomplishment, "I have what it takes!". It was so awesome to spend this time with our boys. As I mention in one of my books, maleness is something that is learned through a process almost like osmosis. Boys learn what it means to be a man as the spend time in the company of men, as they watch and learn the words, attitudes, actions, behaviors, etc. of their dad's and other dominant male role models in their lives. As I spend this time with my son, I sense him like a dry sponge soaking up the experience, becoming a little more masculine, a little less boy, and a little more man. In much the same way, our boys will look to us to learn what it means to be a sexual man. What do men think about women? How do men relate to women? What kinds of things to men say to women and about women? Do men love and repect women? How do men treat women? Our sons will watch and learn from our lives. Maleness will be poured through us into them. For this reason, it is critically important that we provide the godly example for our sons that we have been called to provide. Our repentance is so significant, not only for our lives, but for the lives of those who are watching us with hungry and curious eyes. Dads, boys, bucks! I love it! Posted by Tony Ingrassia on 11/3/03; 12:16:29 PM
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