What is Mainstream Mormonism?

I was reading an article in the New York Times this morning about a Broadway play that portrays two Mormon missionaries that travel to Uganda to share their faith. One quote really jumped off the page and stuck out to me as I read the article titled "Mormons Try to Relish the Big Time". Dustin Jones, a lawyer and a Mormon from Phoenix was quoted saying, "Mormonism is mainstream and when you want to be a mainstream religion you open yourself up to mainstream criticism".

What exactly is a mainstream religion? As I looked up the definition I came across such terms as fad, trend, and a prevailing current. Is Jesus Christ a fad or a trend or someone you can use when needed? Was He ever seeking to go with the flow, take all the glory, or be noticed for being mainstream?

Jesus Christ was a man who lived in such a way that He made his own stream. His current is one that chooses to go against the current of the world. Jesus Christ is not a fad or a trend that will come and go. He is not mainstream He is the stream! His way is difficult but his way leads to a life of abundant joy and peace! Matthew 7:14 "the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few".

Let us all fight the mainstream religion mentality and begin to live in such a way that proves Jesus Christ is not Fad or Trend! Revelation 1:4 "Grace to you and peace from Him WHO IS AND WHO WAS AND WHO IS TO COME!!".

-Charlie Alvarez

Mini David becomes Many Davids! Part 1

The Boston Red Sox vs the 3-0 lead New York Yankees in the 2004 AL Championship series, 2 Duke vs the 45 game win streak 1 UNLV in the 1990 NCCA Tournament, and the New York Giants vs Undefeated New England Patriots in the 2008 Super Bowl are all real world examples that we categorize as David's vs Goliath's. If you are anything like me you always wish you were in these epic sports battles so you can say you were part of the big upset. But do we really need to go very far to face a Goliath of our own?

We all have Goliath's that we face everyday! Our addictions, desires, past failures, regrets, family, whatever it may be we all have the giant Philistine in front of us holding us back. Many of us, myself included; take one look at the beast and say "I can't do this" or "breaking this habit, addiction, telling this person, or getting over this is far to hard I'll just wait".

Goliath's call to David in 1 Samuel 17:44 is the exact reason why many cower from the monumental battle. Verse 44 says, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field". Our struggles and failures hold us back because of the fear of defeat or destruction but so often we forget how big our God is and the amazing things he can do through those who are faithful.

The fear of Failure holds us back from anything and everything God has in store for our lives but David left no room for failure. He stepped out and trusted that God would come through. 1 Samuel 17:45-46 "you come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head".

Whatever your Goliath may be are you ready to stand up and face it? Be Faithful and Trust because the battle is not fought by you alone. 1 Samuel 17:47 "For the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands". Is it time to defeat your Goliath? Allow David's strength and faithfulness be an encouragement as you begin your march on your own massive Philistine.

-Charlie Alvarez

Be There For Me Please!

Friendship. What a blessing it is when you find true friends. Friends who wont leave just because your life gets rough or because you make a few bad decisions. One of my favorite definitions of a friend is someone who is on the same side in a struggle, a supporter or sympathizer, someone thought to be helpful and reliable! But my all time favorite definition comes from the gospel of John.

John 15:12-13 "This is my commandment, that you love another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends".

A friend is one who willfully sacrifices for another not expecting anything in return. Jesus showed us all what a friend is supposed to look like and unfortunately I dont live that way. Jesus lived in such a way that he made people feel loved without even saying the famous 3 words. I want to get to that point. A friend is not one who is there on occasion or when it is convenient, or someone who expects things in return for their love, a friend is one who is there no matter what the circumstance.

Jesus calls us his friends if we do what he commands us to do which is "love one another as I have loved you". Show a self sacrificing love to someone today. Go above and beyond for someone and show them the love that Jesus showed us all. Are you willing to live a life not devoted to yourself?

John 13:38, Jesus answered "Will you lay down your life for me?"

-Charlie Alvarez

Keep on movin on

Philippians 3:13-14 No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.

• Are you scared of taking the next step?
• Scared that you'll be let down or hurt?
• Is something holding you back from going forward?

All of us have a certain amount of baggage that we carry from our past. Some of us carry lighter loads than others. Some have learned how to let their past go because they have found out that it will seriously damage their walk with the Lord and what He wants to do with their lives. They have found that carrying around some of the baggage from their past and constantly dwelling on it will take their joy and happiness in the Lord. They have found that it will distort their thinking and take away possibilities of good things that they have.

So why do we let the past effect our future? Isn't it the past for a reason? Do you think that God puts us through certain events so that we can get stuck in it and never fully be able to move on or is it that he puts us through events in our life so we have a challenge to go through that results in a life lesson learned? We go through hardships whether its family issues, health issues, abuse or relationship problems for a reason. With every issue we face we get the chance to overcome it and become stronger. God doesn't put things in our life to break us down to where we can't get up or move past it. If He did we would never grow as a person, much less ever fully walk to our real calls and destinies for the Lord. I see so many people who are scared or broken from things that have happened in the past and they miss out on so many opportunities or just can't full enjoy the here and the now.

We only get one chance in the eternal scheme of things to leave our mark in this world to some degree for the Lord. We should be able to stay strong with the Lord and know that he made a plan for us and we should just let everything go to Him and trust Him enough to let things go and keep pushing forward through life making the absolute best of it that we can.Don’t wait until the time is just right to take the first step toward achieving your goals. The time will never be just right.The choice is yours. You can either choose to let the hurts, wounds and pains from your past continue to stop you from going on – or you can choose to say enough is enough and give God a chance and a green light to free you from some of the bad things that may have occurred in your past. His power and His help is right there for you if you are willing to take His hand and allow Him to bring you up out of it!

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and has made the Lord his hope and confidence.

- Jeremiah 17:7

- Lauren Bartlett

I'm so done with this!

Matthew 24:7-8 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. And these are the beginning of the birth pains."

Let me get transparent for a second. I am 19 years old and have wasted my life up to this point!If Jesus came back today I would have nothing good to say about the way I have lived my life. I have lived my life for myself and myself only. I have begun to ask myself, what have I done for the Kingdom? My answer: Nothing really.

It's time for that to change. No more living to fuel the passions of the world. No more allowing people to go hungry. No more walking past that individual who needs help! I am done with the selfish way that I live. Jesus came and showed us a pathway to a life worth living and daily we choose our own path. No more walking through the wide gate that leads to destruction it's time to walk the path we all know leads to life!

I hope you join me in this passion. No more living for ourselves. The time is coming where we are going to have to answer to our Lord and give an account of what we have done. I know I want to be able to say that I was like David a man after God's own heart. What will you say?

- Charlie Alvarez

What is Be Different?

Many questions have been raised about what exactly Be Different is so here you go!:

What is Be Different?

- Be Different is a movement of passionate individuals that want to live out what Jesus taught. So often we go to church and become passionate for the night and that's it. Be Different is all about taking that passion and doing something with it and allowing what we hear to actually change us! Jesus always bound his teachings, his word, and his life to action and Be Different is committed to living out that action: to serve and love.

Where does the money from the Tshirt sales go?

- 50% of every tshirt sold is taken and used toward feeding and clothing the homeless and less fortunate in the community and across Southern California. Each Tshirt is 15$ so every purchase in turn buys a meal for someone. The other 50% of profits goes back into making more tshirts, new designs, new ideas, etc so that we can continue our ministry.

Why "Be Different"?

- To be honest the term "Be Different" came from a random lady inside Morongo Casino while we were waiting in a room for the show "Minute to Win It" ha. However, since that day the simple phrase has become so much more to us all. It has become a way of life! John 8 tells a story of an adulteress woman being caught in the act and Jesus' reaction is the reason for Be Different. John 8:11 "Neither do I condemn you; go and from now on sin no more", Jesus is saying It's not ok for you to experinence my love, my grace, my forgiveness and you to stay the same! Be Different is all about encountering that love,grace, and forgiveness and allowing it to move us!

How can I help?

Join us! We have trips to Skid Row in Los Angeles planned we would love for you to be with us. Purchase a Tshirt and help feed the homeless! Also most importantly prayer! Like the Facebook fan page where you can contact us and follow where God takes Be Different.

Do you know how to reject?

I can honestly claim that I knew how to reject long before the famous dance move came crashing onto the scene. I have been doing the reject for as long as I can remember. This move was nothing knew when it came out we all knew how to do it someone just decided to put a dance move behind it.

Over 2000 years ago when Jesus Christ lived the reject was in full force and it certainly hasn't lost any momentum today. As Christians we put God in a box and whatever is inside the box He can handle and anything outside the box is too much for our god. We put limits on a limitless God and our problems, fears, anxieties, and so on become glorified and made much bigger than they ought to be.

Mark 5 describes a story of this very situation. God was placed in a box because their problem was too much for Him, it was impossible. Mark 5:35, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?". How many times do we face a problem, addiction, situation where we say to God, "it's ok all is lost I will clean it up myself. My addiction is to tough to break, my life is too lost, everything has fallen apart your too late".

However Jesus responds with "the child is not dead but sleeping" or in our case "your addiction is breakable, your life is not wrecked, and your life may have fallen apart but build on my foundation". Despite the overwhelming love and previous miracles what do they do, verse 40 says "and they laughed at him".

How many times have you laughed at Jesus? What has he promised to change that seems "impossible"? God does not know everything. There is one thing that He does not know and that is the impossible! Trust Him and Be Different.

-Charlie Alvarez

From the Outside Looking In.

First and foremost let me begin with the point that Jesus Christ does not ruin your life He restores it!

There is the misconception that Christianity breeds a boring life due to the lack of partying, getting drunk, having sex, etc. Yes, Jesus does call us out of our previous life and into a life of righteousness with Him, which means all unrighteousness must be stripped from your life (drunkenness, impurity, sexual immorality, evil desires, etc).

However, where most go wrong in their examination of what Jesus does to someone seeking to follow Him is they skip the part in which Jesus clothes them with righteousness! Let me say it again Jesus Christ did not come to ruin lives but to restore them! Colossians 3:12 "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience".

Jesus Christ wants to trade. He asks for the self destructive lifestyle that we all live and in return He wants to give you a life filled with love, meaning, forgiveness, and joy ! Allow Jesus to change you. It's a process. Be Patient, Be Persistent, Be Different!

- Charlie Alvarez