Welcome to airō

Hi, my name is Justin, and welcome to airō! A brief testimony from me: I am the husband of my loving wife and a father of two – a boy and girl who are 15 months apart. I have a a passion for sharing the truths of God’s Word as He teaches me, but this has not always been the case. For close to 22 years I believe I was a false convert after responding to an altar call and being baptized at the age of 8 years old. Even though I went to Christian school and grew up in church, I had a rebellious spirit that culminated in college and in my twenties. I lived in the world like I loved the world, and despite always claiming to be a Christian during these years, my lifestyle reflected rotten fruit instead of a God-glorifying pursuit of the love of Jesus Christ. However, in March 2009, God revealed His holiness to me and I broke down in sorrow for having offended His character. By His sovereign grace, I repented from my will, self control, and sinful lifestyle and surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ. That day, it became apparent that it was all or nothing with Christ, and I yielded my life to the authority of my Master to rule and reign in me for the rest of my days. There is nothing more important than glorifying God through obedience to the Gospel, and I thank Him often for showing me mercy and grace when I didn’t deserve it. And because Jesus laid His life down for me, I am able to lay mine down for Him as a living sacrifice to become more like Him by the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, and to make His name known to the ends of the earth. Christ, the King, is my life – Soli Deo Gloria!

Now what does airō mean? It is a Greek verb (αἴρω), which means "to take upon one's self and carry what has been raised up." You may have recognized it before when Jesus said in Luke 9:23, 

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

airō symbolizes what it means to be a true follower of Jesus Christ. In a day where the Gospel has been diluted and polluted to make the narrow gate as wide as possible, it is essential that we understand exactly what the Gospel is, not according to the traditions of men, but according to the Word of God. It is with this, I invite you to explore the many resources of airō that I hope and pray will strengthen your faith, cause you to examine your faith, and equip you to share your faith with the lost of this world. To get a handle on what it means to be a blood-bought disciple of Jesus Christ and the most important controversy affecting the modern church today, I encourage you to begin with the first page of the blog: Lordship Salvation.

I strongly believe time has never been so valuable as it is today. Each passing day not only brings us closer to death, but it increases the imminence of the Rapture of the Church, which must take place before the end of all things. Time is of the essence, thus it is ever so important to be good stewards of the time we have left, and I hope and pray God will use this blog for His glory in these last days. airō is a combination of sharing resources from what I believe to be trusted ministries and my own personal studies and writing as time permits. So with that, I'd like to show you around a bit so that you may become familiar with airō in order to share it with your loved ones.

The most important message of airō is the message of true salvation in Jesus Christ. There are so many false gospels going around that makes it easy for one to believe they are saved when they have actually missed out on the totality of the Gospel that saves. One page of airō dedicated to the Gospel is titled The Only Gospel that Saves. Whether you are a non-believer or a believer, this page is an excellent tool to understand the biblical doctrine of salvation, and the beauty of Christ to lay His life down for His sheep (John 10:11).

On the right hand page you will find many videos on true salvation in Jesus Christ, calls to examine ourselves to make sure we are in truly in the faith; evangelism videos to equip you in sharing your faith; videos on the righteous judgment of God; exhortations to holiness; doctrinal issues; Christian living; the last days church; current events; selected sermons from my pastor, Loran Livingston; and some of my musical favorites. The links on the left sidebar reflect many of the ministries in the videos to the right plus many more to help you mature in the faith.

A resource for the last days include the page When Christ Returns Series. I pray these messages serve as a wake up call for those fearful of these times or who have yet to commit to the Lord Jesus Christ, and as a message of exhortation and edification to those who long for His coming.

I created the page God of Wonders as a tool to display the magnificence of the God of creation. You will find several videos here including a short clip from Paul Washer, Louis Giglio's How Great is Our God and Indescribable, and Eternal Productions' God of Wonders. I know I can't wait to see creation in its perfect form, and these videos only cause me to wait with anxious anticipation!

One of the greatest signs of the imminent return of Jesus is the evidence we are neck-deep in apostasy in the church. The church of Laodicea has taken shape over the last century, and the ideology of liberalism continues to infect fundamental Christianity. Last Days Apostasy is dedicated to the falling away that 2 Thessalonians 2 says must take place before the end comes. This page offers invaluable resources on the Emergent Church, Purpose Driven Movement, Word of Faith, New Age deception, contemplative spirituality and mysticism, and ecumenism.

Many of us have Catholic friends and family and are frustrated and saddened that they continue in the bondage of Rome. There is no salvation found in the Roman Catholic church, and the page Roman Catholicism will shed light on the eternal differences between the false religion of Catholicism and biblical salvation in Jesus Christ. Mike Gendron and CARM provide excellent resources for you to witness to your loved ones, and if you are Catholic reading this, I urge you to honestly consider the information presented to you.

You will also find 2 pages devoted to sharing your faith, Evangelism - Equip Yourself and Cults and World Religions. The sharing of our faith is not an option, after all, it's called the Great Commission not the Great Suggestion. With many resources on apologetics and witnessing, these two pages will equip you to boldly proclaim the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to every tribe, nation, and tongue.

Finally, throughout the year I will be holding various contests to provide you with resources that will help you grow in your faith, equip you to share the Gospel with the lost, and hopefully encourage discussions on the blog with the new commenting platform. Please see January 2011's contest for more details.

I understand airō is packed with resources that could get overwhelming, so this is why I wanted to take some time to give you a tour in order to make it as resourceful as possible. As the reader, this blog is designed to serve you by providing resources to challenge you and to help strengthen, defend, and share your faith. I encourage you to subscribe so you don't miss out on any posts by clicking the orange RSS feed icon or submitting your email for email subscription at the top left of the page. If you ever have any questions regarding faith and the Christian worldview, you can ask me at formspring.

I hope you find airō to be an informative resource. I'd like to invite you to consider this blog and facebook page your home as we serve in the same effort to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ around the world. This world is totally flipped upside-down and it seems the domino effect of prophecy could happen at any moment. Let us use our time wisely to conform to the likeness of Christ and reach as many as possible in these final days.

Thanks so much for visiting and I hope you visit and participate often.

In Christ,

Justin

Romans 8:18-25

¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared¹⁹ For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it  in hope; ²¹ because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. ²³ Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. ²⁴ For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. with the glory which shall be revealed in us.