My Purpose

Hello blogosphere,

My name is Trip Starkey, and for those of you who do not know me, I am an eighteen-year-old, college freshman who will be attending Texas Christian University in the fall. I have spent this summer as a summer-staff intern at Parkway Hills Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, and recently graduated from Trinity Christian Academy in Addison, Texas. I want to spend a little bit of time on explaining my purpose in starting this blog, and my reasoning behind the things that I will talk about and hopefully get your feedback from in this blog. First and foremost, I am starting this blog because I believe it is my purpose in life to share the loving-grace of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to as many people, on as many different platforms as I possibly can. I am a sinner, saved by grace, and it is my joy to be able to share with people what it is specifically that Christ has done in my life, and what He can do in your life. I would also like to say, that I in no way have everything figured out, I have plenty more to learn in my stay here on earth, and I find no greater joy than to learn about my Savior in fellowship with and through loving all the people God has placed around me. That brings me to my purpose in this blog. My main intention of this blog is to be able to not only help others (and myself) to grow in basic, essential doctrinal beliefs, but to also try to tackle some key issues amongst people my age in a theologically sound manner.

In 1 Timothy 1:7, Paul states that, “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control”. I believe that in this day and age it is a common theme among young people to not speak their minds about what they believe, either because of a spirit of timidity and fear, or due to a sense of apathy towards most of the things life throws at them. It is my goal that this blog can give anyone who reads it a sense of power, behind their Savior to stand up for what they believe in. Also to help build essential doctrine within their belief system, and answer many key questions in our society in a Biblical and Christ-like manner.

I firmly believe that Christ has called us not only go forth and spread his word and grace to those who do not have it, but also to grow continually in fellowship and community with fellow believers. We must have no selfish intentions in this, but solely the purpose of growing and strengthening the body of Christ. Mark 16: 15-16, Jesus tells His disciples (and all of His followers), “And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” As Christians, we have been called to share with everyone the message of the Cross, and the sacrifice of Jesus. The common misconception here is that we are only supposed to tell those who have not heard the message before. We are not only supposed to tell those people who have not heard, but we are also supposed to tell the fellow believers around us what we are learning about in reading the scriptures, and to process them with one another, so that we are constantly strengthening the body.

Once again, my purpose in this blog and many future posts on it, is to share among those who are fellow believers, those who are interested in learning more about Jesus, and to those who are skeptics, what is means to truly live a life for Christ, what we as Christians should truly hold fast to as a core belief system, and to truly grow with my fellow believers in a real relationship with Christ.

Again, I do not have all of the answers to life, nor do I claim to. I intend to use the doctrine placed before us through the Word of God, to help share what He commands believers and followers of him to live by, and to help answer some of the questions life presents. I welcome responses to anything I post on this blog, and I hope that you enable yourself to search for your own answers to questions.

In parting, I will leave all you readers out there with this. “And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24). Throughout the ministry of Jesus Christ, we received the greatest example of how to love, serve, forgive, and live contently than any other example we have ever seen. This example came from God Himself, a God who humbled Himself before creation (the creation He created, nonetheless), served creation, and through obeying the Father, died on the cross, so that all of His creation, which had fallen to sin, my now accept his free gift of grace, and spend eternity with Him in Heaven. Life will not always be easy, it will not always be a “walk in the park,” but we have a God who went through far worse than we could ever imagine. When He was hanging on the cross, He was bearing the weight of the world on His shoulders, all of man’s sin was placed on Jesus’ back, and he was our sacrificial lamb who atoned for all of our sins. Hebrews 4: 15 states, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Any sin that you are dealing with, or difficult situation you are going through, or any predicament you could EVER find yourself in, Jesus has been tempted the same way and gone through it. Not only has He been tempted with it, but because of the Holy Spirit, He is also going through it with you. God died a criminal’s death, as a holy and blameless man, so that YOU, by accepting His free grace, may spend eternity in Heaven.

He loves you, and made the ultimate sacrifice for YOU.

I look forward to growing in love and fellowship with all who read this blog.

God Bless,

Trip Starkey