Loving Pain And Hating Calamity

As many people know, I have recently had some rather unfortunate luck in regard to my job. It really has opened my eyes to a few things (beyond that I need a job), and I want to reflect for a little bit.

Recently I read Rob Bell’s new book Drops Like Stars. In the book Bell covers the idea that when we are suffering, when things are not going well in our lives, that is when we are best suited for creativity. When we simply want to scream at the top of our lungs, “WHY?!”, we are more open with our creativity in those weak moments. Before I left Lemstone-Parable I had the opportunity to read this book. I recommend it to all (it is $35 off the shelf, but it is a short read). It was really encouraging to me, because it pointed out that when we don’t know what to do (outside of prayer) when the proverbial “crap hits the fan”, we should channel that energy into something that shows off our creativity. Now, I really have been trying to figure out what that looks like for me. To be honest, when you no longer work where had been working for the past two and half years, it gets you a little down. It takes a lot to channel that upset feeling into something healthy. I can’t stop thinking about how uncreative I am. Then, I realize something, I have put more passion into blogging (although it’s still not a regular practice) and into one-on-ones that I have. If you are going through a hard time (for any various reason), realize that you do something in your day-to-day life already that you can channel those negative feelings into and let it out in a healthy way.

Even though it may seem a little lame, we could take a page out of Tyler Perry’s book, and journal about what is going on. Through the tough times in Perry’s life he wrote the plays that have turned him into a star. (Those plays are slowly being turned into movies with spin-off television series.) I am not saying that if you write a play that it will be turned into a famous play, but it could help you release. (Of course, again, I state, do that after prayer. God helps you through all things in life.)

Where does that leave us now? Well, moving forward and learning. Sometimes when something causes a hiccup in our lives, we forget to move forward. Always looking behind you only gives you a retrospective, but looking forward gives you goals. If stuff is going on, take life by the horns and push onward. It is so easy to see that one last disaster and forget that we should be moving forward.

 

A Modern Take On The Lord’s Prayer

As you may (or may not) know, Jesus gives his disciples a model of how to pray, in modern times it is known as the Lord’s Prayer. (If you need a refresher on the Lord’s Prayer check out Matthew 6:9-13.)

Well, I have been reflecting on that lately and I want to offer my modern take on it. No, I am in no way saying that you should follow me (follow God, not me). But I want to offer a glimpse of what this famous prayer means to me:

Father in Heaven,

I come before You, a humble child of Your creation, in praise and worship. You made all of this Yourself to give us daily reminders of Your compassion. I praise Your name and glory above all else in life. Even when the noise and sound of this creation collide to mask Your voice, I still listen for that gentle whisper amongst it all. I pray for a time when You will return to Your creation to issue in a new, sinless world. When Your full glory will consume this world and when You will squash Satan like the bug he is. Thank You in advance for an eternal life spent with You without the division of sin. In the meantime, Father God, I pray for guidance from Your Holy Spirit to know what and where You have in mind for me. It is so easy in this world to decide for ourselves that we need to do this or need to do that. When Father God, we should be listening to You for the plans You have for our lives. I wait patiently at Your feet to know Your will and Your plans for my life.

Father God, I know in the deepest parts of my heart and soul that You provide when this world fails and Father God, I ask that of you today. I pray for a stronger faith to know, that when the food and money of this world slip through my fingers, that You will always be there as a great provider. I pray that I experience Your living water every day until I see You in person. Father God, Your Son spoke from the cross a word of forgiveness for those that were His killers. And Father God, since I am to live a life echoing what Your Son did, I pray that I can forgive anybody that wrongs me just as He forgave them. I know that I am sinner that deserves the worst punishment from You, but Father God, I seek forgiveness for the sins I have committed toward You and toward my fellow brother.

Father God, I also pray that when Satan goes on the attack that I turn toward You with out stretched arms and seek Your face. You proved on that cross and from that grave that only You can overcome Satan and the strongholds he has over this world. Father God, equip me daily with the proper weaponry to fight off the attacks of the enemy.

May Your name, glory, and power stand strong for eternity,

Amen

 

It’s That Time Of Year Again

I can’t believe that Chi Alpha has been going strong for almost a month now. I guess that old saying, “time flies when you are having fun,” really is true. We started strong with what we call Alpha Week (but would properly be called Alpha Weeks). We helped move people into the dorms. in mid-campus (I was not there for either of those days). The next thing was when we passed out popsicles (again, I was not there). The very next day we had an awesome BBQ at Stankowski. It was a lot of fun!! The largest volleyball tournament so far for a Chi Alpha BBQ. A few days later we had an awesome Fiesta on Lowry Mall. The staff and leadership’s hard work really shined that night. Then we concluded the major part of Alpha Week with our International Student Friendship (ISF) Picnic. James really did an awesome job that night!

Then the next night we celebrated the first week of school with two kegs of Root Beer at the Chi Alpha House. That was fun… and that was a lot of root beer. (Personally, I think I am good on root beer for a little bit longer.) The following Tuesday we kicked off Chi Alpha Worship, and that was cool. Tom does an awesome job with his sermons and Missi (and the rest of the worship team) do an awesome job at bringing people to a place of worship.

Chi Alpha’s annual Fall Retreat starts tomorrow and I am super excited about it. It is going to be awesome!!

 

Introducing: Journeys Along The Way

I have a goal to enrich people that are apart of my community (both near and far) in the coming year. It’s often times easier said than done, more because others, more often than not, already know the information that I want to share. With that said, sometimes it is good to repeat things or to mention new things. When I realized that I then reflected on how I could do that. Well, that’s point of my theme for my WordPress and a little bit for Twitter: Journeys Along The Way. I want to take time and examine the books that I am reading, the sermons I am listening to, and the questions I have. I know that it may sound boring now, but I do have a point. I want to reach out further and further and explore more and more of the things I know nothing about and I want to explore deeper the things I know a little about. Part of this is also to give Scott some reading material while in Kazakhstan. In every post in the Journeys Along The Way series, feel free to post feedback and make it a form to engage in conversation to build on a digital community. Come and join these Journeys Along The Way.

 

The Gray Areas Of Heavy Topics

Something that I have been thinking about lately are the gray areas of life.  What I mean are the areas that the Bible takes stances for or against, but then we, in our human knowledge, begin to wonder where that line ends.

Below are some of these areas and if you have any ideas or suggestions, feel free to share.  I want to challenge my thoughts and beliefs to grow closer to a Biblical understanding on these topics.

1) Abortion: Christians are typically anti-abortion, however my question is this – what about incest and rape?  Is abortion okay in those instances or is it not okay?  Why or why not? (Another question presented by a friend: What if the life of the mother is in danger if the child is born or the life of the child is in danger if the mother gives birth?)

2) Violence: One of the more controversial topics since not all Christians agree on what exactly the Biblical stance is, but here we go anyway.  For pacifists – How can we read in the New Testament “love your enemies” yet look in the Old Testament and see that God caused the Flood (a violent act since it ended the life of many) and read about the killing God commanded?  For non-pacifists – How can you “love your enemy” and “love your neighbor” yet still kill them?  How do we rationalize, in either point of view, mercy killing and assisted suicide?

3) Political Patriotism – I’m writing this post on Memorial Day, not a day typically set up for a Biblical understanding to life, it’s more about America and America’s military, and that’s exactly why I brought it up.  We in America get consumed by the pro-America holidays (Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day, and the biggest one Independence Day), but how are we, as Christains, suppose to respond to those days?  I know I enjoy watching the fireworks (I more enjoy lighting them and then watching them) on July 4, but should we participate at all?  How should our allegiance to the Biblical Kingdom interact with the kingdoms of this world?

4) Easter – Okay, now for some more controversy.  Easter is one of the two most important holidays for the Christain religion, but some the fun Easter activities for kids are not in the Bible (Ex: Easter Egg Hunts, the whole Easter bunny thing, etc.).  I love the Biblical Easter, but how do we look at Easter and not see all the non-Biblical Easter stuff that comes with it?

5) Austin Powers vs. Pearl Harbor - The Bible is pretty clear to stay away from sinning and for a lot of people sex (and all of it’s not so wonderful baggage) is where that gets a little weary.  For that group, sex is something to stay away from, but what about violence?  We try to avoid movies and games with sex in them, but what about movies and games that have a lot of violence in them?  We can play Halo in multi-player and kill each other, but aren’t we, in a way, taking out some kind of aggression toward one another?  What about art like the statue of David and the Sistine Chapel in Italy… how are those different than the nudity in “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”? (This point was also brought up by a friend, but it made me start to think about it as well.)

These are the topics that I have questions about and would love to engage in conversation about.  What are your thoughts?

 

My Thoughts On The TULIP

One of the longer debates in regard to the internality of the Christian church, is the idea of the TULIP from Calvinism. I am not certain if in the past year of increasing my knowledge on the subject that I have shared my thoughts and opinions, so I wanted to take the chance and do just that.

Calvinism, to me, makes sense. It is no longer an idea for the books, but an idea based on The Book. It is not always easy to see where points from TULIP come from, but once it is understood, it makes sense. Now below, are the five major TULIP points and where I stand.

T: Total Depravity – Thanks to the fall of man in the book Genesis, we as humans, are epically screwed on our own and the only thing that can save us God. – Okay, I agree with that. Thanks to Eve and Adam sin entered into the Garden of Eden screwing up not only them, but all of creation in the process until the second coming of Christ. Grant you, one of the biggest objections to this point is Christ. My thought is this: God, a sinless entity in and around the universe, sent His Son to earth. All of creation gets the sins of the generations beforehand through the father. How can Christ be “totally screwed” if His Father was without sin?

U: Unconditional Election – The idea that God decided before time who was part of the “elect” and who was not. – This one was oddly enough the first of the five that made sense to me.

L: Limited Atonement – Christ died only for the elect. – The struggle on this one was John 3:16, where it says it was for the whole world that Christ died. Now I thought about it a little bit more and realized that yes, it was in fact the whole world that Christ died for (that is the overall love of God) but it was more specifically for the elect that He died for (taking away their sins over taking away the sins every last persons). When I realized that this condition to the TULIP made sense to me.

I: Irresistible Grace – The Holy Spirit’s work of bringing sinners to salvation. – I originally thought this was mean: I saw it as making people follow God even if they were not wanting to. After further research into understanding this condition, I started to view it as God regenerating the heart to where people would accept Him. Not a forcing of salvation, but a regeneration of the heart to lead to salvation.

P: Perseverance of the Saints – If you are born-again, you will continue to trust in God forever. – My thought is that we can go through periods of life where we don’t desire God as much as we should. I am not saying that we completely lose the salvation we are gifted with, but we can grow further from God. If you are a part of the elect, then you cannot fully lose the Holy Spirit’s presence in your life.

After reading that, where do you think I stand? I am actually not certain where that is, but would love to hear somebody’s thoughts.

 

Coming Soon

Working on a post about Calvinsim. This is going to be fun to write and to read.

 

The Gospel According To American Christianity

Something that I have reflected on lately is the need for community in our walk with God. Last night at The Discovery Class, Dave Cover talked about how they feel as a church that Christians really cannot maintain a serious walk with Christ apart from being involved with a community of believers. I have to say that I agree with that. I mean, if you are not involved with a community of Christians then it would be rather difficult to maintain accountability and to feel pushed to grow with God.

I personally do not want to look at the big community section of verses from Acts 2, but it does show what community did for the first century church. What if contemporary American Christianity taught that? Why does American culture effect the way Christians go to church in America?

American Christianity gets effected by the way we as Americans are self-centered, independent, etc. Does that reflect the Biblical call of the Christian walk? For me, I believe that it does not show the Bible in what we do. I know for me, that I can walk into a room at church or even the Chi Alpha House and not even talk to everybody (or anybody) there. But, when Satan decides he wants to mess with me, that is when I want to talk with somebody. Why is it when things seem down, that is when we want help from other people? Shouldn’t we be seeking the counsel of mature Christians in our walk with God even during the good parts in life?

What if Christian Americans stopped thinking they can live their life by themselves? What if we as the part of The Church here in the US started living like we actually care about each other’s walks with God? Now, I am in no way digging on anyone church or person, more on a group of people (the group of people that is all about the individual faith and not about the community aspect of Christianity). At times, I feel like I can walk around in my Christian faith without other people there to push me or hold me accountable to things, but that is just a mere lie.

If every Christian in the US started living similar to an Acts 2 community, things would change. Do not get me wrong, I am not saying we should all move in together, but I am saying what if we cared enough about each other that we paused a little bit longer while outside on the sidewalk to actually see how people were, and not simply just wave, that could impact our lives.

If we all started living out a caring and concerned community with all Christians, what would happen to those close friendships of ours? Henry recently talked about this in a recent blog post and it is a respectable hurdle that we as Christians have to examine. I mean, if we allow our respective brothers or sisters in Christ to hold us accountable and to push us, what about when we share all of our “crap” with people. For me, it is rather hard to share everything that is going on in my life when even some of my closer friends ask. However, if Scott asks me, I am more than willing (most of the time) to share what is going on. Is this potential lose of closeness with a select group of people hindering my potential relationship with a new friend?

The more and more I think about this subject, the more I am reminded of Christ. During His earthly ministry, he had at times more than 5,000 people following Him. Was He everybody’s best friends? To the best of my knowledge, no, He was not. Within that large group of people He had his 12 disciples. But with examining the stacking doll effect of Christ’s ministry, He had three people that were closer than the other nine disciples were. Those three (Peter, James, and John) were with Jesus during the Transfiguration.

Does having friends that are close enough that we feel safe with sharing the “crap” of our lives with go against the Biblical account of community? I do not think so, actually I do not know any verse from the Bible that teaches against the idea. Yes, having close friendships with people will most like hinder the growth of community. However, it is a challenge that I am willing to face. I want to become comfortable enough to talk with people that influence my life to some degree or another, about what I think in regard to politics, music, movies, etc. and on the flip side get into theological conversations with them.

I may not have community figured out with a five step cure all, but I feel like community is one of the most important points in a Christians life, and the American attitude of individual faith and individual problems are crap and should not be allowed to fester in a Christians life. I am not saying people should go out and tell everybody their struggles, but we as Christians should feel comfortable with people around us to at least engage in conversation over topics other than just the weather.

What are your thoughts? How else should we as Christians get away from American Christianity and grow in Biblical Christianity?

 

The Gospel According To…

I have been thinking for a little while now how we as Christians get a lot of messages about what we need in our life on a day-to-day basis. After it is all said and done, all we need is what the Bible says we need in our lives. Well this was the point of a recent sermon and blog post series from The Crossing. The more and more that I reflect on it, the more and more I want to explore this. I want to see what modern culture teaches about God, His Son, His Word, and His Body.

The first post in this series will be soon and it will be: The Gospel According To Kanye West

 

Everything And Such

I see that it has been awhile since the last blog post (last month at some point) and that seems so crazy to me. I remember a couple of years back, I was posting at least once a day, but now the blogging passion has kind of fizzled. I want to get back into a swing of posting, I am aiming for once a week at least, but that will depend on the activities of the week.

Since my last post, some things in the American spin of things have changed. Like now, Barack H. Obama has been sworn into office of President. The economy has gotten even worse, but the new administration thinks their version of the Economic Stimulus Package will help out. The Super Bowl was not really that good until the last couple of minutes of the game, but I will not hold that against the NFL.

In regard to Chi Alpha, well all I will say is that life there is pretty cool!

Overall, 2009 is starting pretty sweet, and that makes me a happy person.