The Awesome Bank

What if you went to a bank and gave them $1 to join the bank. In turn, they gave you $2. What would you do?

If you answered, "I'd give them the $2!" you're probably right. That bank would give you $4, and you would be proven right. And rather than bore you with the exponentials, i'll go directly to the hyperbole.

If you gave the bank $25,000 and the next day they gave you $50,000, you'd gladly give the $50,000 to that bank!

But what if you had to give $1,000,000? I mean, come on! That's a TON of money! You'd still do it! And you would receive $2,000,000.

What would happen if you gave this bank your life?

One of the calls of the Bible is to "lay down your life" (see John 13:37-38, 15:13, I John 3:16). And another call is to "carry your cross" (Luke 14:27). But why should we do such horrifying, frightening, dare i say "expensive" and costly acts?

John 10:10 says, "I have come to give [you] life, and life abundantly."

I feel like my thoughts on these concepts have taken another evolutionary step recently.

"Stage 1: If i do enough with my life for Jesus (lay down my life, carry the cross), i'll go to heaven." Which, by the way, is a complete falsehood. but that's what i believed.

"Stage 2: God laid down His life through Jesus, i need to lay down mine, and one day i will go to heaven for it." A small step away from Stage 1 in that Jesus laid His life down for me and i'm responding, rather than the other way around. But i'm still believing at this point that i earn my reward.

"Stage 3: Jesus is full of grace in not only laying down His life for me, but offering me life now, and if i'm responsible with it i will be satisfied on this side of heaven, and abundantly full of life on the other side of heaven." Closer. But still not where i'm at now which is...

"Stage 4: Jesus showed us that by daily giving over His life to His Father, He daily made a transaction with the Father, and constantly lived a heavenly life here on this earth and impacted earth with heaven through His deeds and words (the cost). And i can also live in this ridiculously multiplying abundance if i follow His example."

If i "lay down my life" for Him (daily) i will inherit "life, and life abundantly" (daily). It's not that i earn anything, it's simply Heaven's bank statement on my resources and how i spend them.

In math terms it looks like this: cost of my life = His life in me more and more and more and more each day. life = life + life

In the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, the man with five talents gained five more AND THEN entered the Master's joy (i'm presuming to be heaven). Notice the servant's talents doubled on THIS side of heaven!

Folks, the Gospel is going to cost us, but each day we are willing to lay down that cost, we are promised life and life abundantly back.

And mind you, this has nothing to do with money; that's just the analogous term. Could this involve money? Of course. But this has to do with security, confidence, peace of mind, vibrancy, joy, laughter, generosity, freedom, etc., and all i have to do is say with my life, "Your will be done" through my life rather than "my will be done."

That's an awesome bank.

life = life + life

put it on Jesus' tab

"But all these things (hate, persecute) they will do to you on account of my Name because they do not know Him who sent Me." John 15:21

This verse really stood out to me this morning. I split it into two parts.

"But all these things they will do to you on account of my Name..." The hate and the persecution headed our way for believing and obeying Jesus are credited to Him. This is one of the keys to courage. If we truly believe that it is on His account, on His tab that we receive persecution well then this is very good news! Because when he was persecuted and hated to the point of death, He rose from the dead! Will He not resurrect any smaller deaths we may suffer till the physical one happens? I think one reason why today's Christian does not really want to live out our faith is because we try and pay our own tab when Jesus has already charged it on his own credit card... and paid the debt we owe on ours! If we saw with the eyes that see that nothing will really truly kill us (separation from God, see Romans 8) then i think and hope we would be much more bold. Bold enough to order filet mignon.

"because they do not know Him who sent Me." The scary part about this verse is that we really misapply it. We often point to the atheists, the left-wingers, the satanists, etc. when it comes to those who do not know God. Jesus, in this context, is talking about the religious leaders of the day! I personally believe we were all designed with some sort of leadership capability (a.k.a. influence). And it is not what we know, or how we do it that will matter for eternity but Whom we know. If i try to lead people towards anything that leads people away from knowing Him more, i mislead people. This is a high standard, but a good standard. For we don't want to be found to be the object of this predicate. The scariest words spoken throughout all eternity are/will be, "I never knew you." (Matthew 7:23)

Lastly, as an overall implication of this verse, to know suffering (for doing good in Jesus' manner) is to deeply know Jesus. (I Peter 2:20, 3:17, 4:19)

dirty feet

In Revelation 21:21 we are told that "the great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass." The city being spoken of is the New Jerusalem, a fixture of heaven.

To the people who first read this, their roads were quite different than the ones in this heavenly city. Their roads were dirt, and people shared them with animals. Living in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, i am quite aware of the results of shared roads: poop. You drive through it and step in it and dodge it and it's everywhere. To the first century Christians, their feet were their tires, and you dragged your feet into people's homes.

This is one reason why it is so amazing to me that in John 12 Mary cleans Jesus' feet with her hair and in John 13 that Jesus shows "the greatest extent of His love" by washing His disciples' feet. But why did Mary and Jesus do this?

I believe they had heaven in their sites. They were able to see with their hearts. And when heaven is in your hearts, you dwell there and are aliens here (I Peter 2:11). When the thing you dirty your feet with in heaven (gold) is the most valuable resource here on earth, suddenly the dirt-and-poop combo glimmers with heaven all over it. Washing someone's feet (performing a minuscule task, saved normally for the lowest in society) becomes an interaction of great value. Meanwhile, "all that shimmers in this world is sure to fade away again." (Shimmer, by Fuel)

But all of this depends on keeping a heavenly perspective of earthly opportunities. A perspective that echoes, "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

What are the every day, small tasks, seemingly meaningless chores that could be done with a heavenly perspective today? What are the things that no one else wants to do that you can, and can do as an act of worship to God (John 12:1-11)?

May your dirt-and-poop be gold.

Who said that?

Sometimes in my times of reading Scriptures i will have this sort of experience like i did today. Two different Scriptures that i do not expect to line up together, do. For instance...

In Exodus 5 the scene is Moses and Aaron are pleading their case that God had spoken to them and Pharaoh was to oh-oh let their people go! HUH! Yeah yeah yeah yeah! (Sorry, i had to.) Pharaoh's response?

"Who is the LORD that i should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go." And Moses and Aaron respond with, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us..." (5:2-3)

Later on, the enslavers of the Israelite slaves state, "Thus says Pharaoh, 'i will not give you straw,'" which perfectly mimicks Moses and Aaron saying "Thus says the LORD," in verse 1 of the chapter.

Later on in John chapter 2 i read the part where Jesus forms a whip and "cleanses the temple" of the traders that are lodged in there. The people ask Jesus for a sign, a miracle, proving that He has this sort of authority. He tells them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." (verse 18) In verse 21 and 22 it says:

But He was speaking about the temple of His body. When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Notice how they believed the Scripture and the word he had spoken.

In both passages, Old Testament and New, there is an emphasis on knowing God's voice. In Exodus since Pharaoh doesn't recognize God's voice, not only does he fail to heed it, he does not believe, and then even imitates and places himself as God to the people. That's just how far it seems one can go when they do not fear God and come to know Him intimately... a process which God initiates. In verse three of Exodus 5 Moses and Aaron said, "God met with us" not the other way around, "we met with God." The intimacy offered by God is available because of His initiation, always. Even today.

Secondly, the Scriptures are foundational. But they are the foundation to truly knowing Him, and His voice. Knowing His voice then illuminates the Scriptures. Which then, in turn causes us to better know His voice, which...

There are tons of voices trying to imitate God, just like Pharaoh's imitation. Advertising hits us from every angle with slogans that are often making sure i know that their products will offer me everything from peace to hope to the girl(s) of my dream(s) (already got that thank you very much!). Other humans voice their persuasive opinions and we fall for them out of fear. Then there are those "voices in our head," temptations, gut instincts, greeds, fears, jealousies, etc., that torment us.

Here is a blog entry of a friend that understands Christianity and advertising better than anyone i know, and quite possibly better than anyone. No lie.

Somewhere in all of that is the "still, small voice" of God. We would do well to learn how to "believe the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken" as best as we can each day, in every situation. No matter what the cost.

Targum

While reading Colossians Remixed with five of my favorite people in the whole world, we encountered the idea of a targum. To my best understanding, the rabbis in Jesus' day would take an Old Testament passage and relate it to the uneducated by means of targum. This was done by translating the meaning of the Old Testament by putting it into modern day terms and contexts so that the hearers could listen and understand what was meant by the Scriptures. This practice was so intriguing, i thought that are group should give it a whirl.

I picked out six passages and we each received one. I happened to receive Acts 2:1-21. And i threw in there verses 40-41 because i wanted to! Enjoy:

A great annual celebration was taking place in the midst of our people. Not only was it the Feast of Harvest, where we offer our finest of our first selections of our crops, but it was also the day we celebrated God’s presence descending mightily upon Mt. Sinai and administering the Law through Moses. Most of us grew up with the yearly reminder that this day marks God’s faithfulness to provide and our faithful response yielding back to Him the fruit He produced through us. We also knew that the only thing we had to govern us was the law and the hope that His glory would come again one day as it had on Moses.

After praying and praying and praying, fifty days since Christ died and forty days since last seeing Him (in resurrected form), giving up was certainly an option we were ready to mutiny with. But that is when all of history mightily changed in the midst of our group of nobodies.

A violent sound of rushing wind descended upon us, though there was no hole in the roof for it to do so. Miniature raging fires birthed themselves on our heads without the smell of fire or the yelp of branding pain. What had happened to Moses at both the burning bush (the bush aflame that didn’t burn down) and the Mount of Sinai (the writing of the law through more fire and storm) was happening to our very bodies. The letter of the Law was not being written on a stone however. The letter of God Himself was being fashioned to our hearts, to our souls. So much so that when we opened our mouths to praise God we couldn’t believe what we heard, even though we all still understood. We were praising God with languages we had only ever dreamed of learning. And because of the feast, our people from every culture were around. As people began searching for what was causing the commotion in our little upstairs apartment, they were amazed and disturbed. “They are clearly not from our nation. Look at their hair! Look at their clothing! How is it they speak in our languages? And why are they only praising God with their words?” And then the rumor spread, “These were those that followed Christ. You know how the wine always ‘seemed to disappear’ when they went to weddings. And how Jesus could change water to wine. Those drunkards. They’ve been sipping from ‘Jesus-water’ again.” Then, as a calm seemed to cover not only the house, but the whole town, Peter stood with a confidence, and yet a giddiness, I had never seen in him, even in all of his antics he showed with the Christ.

“Hey! It’s only 9 in the morning! We aren’t drunk! This ain’t Shippensburg! No! This is a result of the promise of Joel, the prophet from centuries ago who he himself could never have imagined this. It would be like asking your great-grandma to describe what an iPod would be like. Yet Joel said these words as if God were speaking right through his mouth like a puppet:

When the tide turns on satan, My Spirit will be infused, Matrixed, right into the core of all who follow Me. They all will encourage one another with words from heaven, with telling the future, and with details no human would normally know. The inexperienced believers will see Me in their hearts and I will tell them secrets because I’m their best friend, and they’ve considered me theirs. The older among you who normally have trouble sleeping because of the cares of this world will explain the deepest desires of my hearts because of dreams I give them, telling them all. I will shame the leaders among all of you when I give my secrets to janitors, bums, the mentally handicapped, left-handers and yes, even Yankees fans. The sky itself will begin to reveal the impossible, and the earth will seem to hate itself. The sun will seem to implode, and the moon will change its moods for all to see. Yet, even in the midst of the greatest strife, hatred, and darkness, anyone who as much hopes for Me to be there for them will find Me there fighting for them.

(skip to Acts 2:40-41)

Peter, as per usual, went overboard with his actions and sermons, but nevertheless his message was clear. “God will be yours, and what you see here today is also yours if you simply believe and not conform to the earth and the people who war amidst her.” You wouldn’t believe it, but in true God-fashion, exactly 3000 people asked to be baptized that day to symbolize their crying out for God and a new way to live. This is wild, because on the very day we celebrated the Law being given Mount Sinai, the very event that killed 3000 people, 3000 people experienced new life because of this mysterious Jesus who resurrects the dead and through His Spirit allows people to spew out languages they wouldn’t know, and secrets they shouldn’t know.

sort of

"As for you, you meant evil for me, but God meant it for good..." Genesis 50:20... sort of.

In the last chapter of Genesis, a book that saw the ebb and flow of God's creativity, goodness, grace, and mercy yet His power, judgment, and (softly put) His clarification of just who is God, we see a weird scene at the end. The sons of Jacob, Joseph's brother, try to trick Joseph into forgiving them! They clearly got that from their father. However, Jacob's response to them is one that when i first had heard really vindicated a lot of events happening in my life.

"As for you, you meant evil for me, but God meant it for good..." Which is funny that i resonated with this. I really don't think i've had too many people intentionally throw me in a cistern, and trick my dad into thinking i'm dead. But i resonated nonetheless. And many do with this verse! We think, "Oh! What has been bad in my life God WILL use for good in my life!"

But oh how deep my selfishness runs. The rest of the verse says, "but God meant it for good, that many people should be kept alive, as they are today."

Joseph's relationship with God ran so deep that he never once needed vindicated personally. (Actually, he did once try to vindicate himself. And it didn't go as he thought it would. See Genesis 40 and 41. But anyway...) It was more important that God use the whole of his life and his story so that "many should live."

When something bad happens to you or someone tries to bring an aspect of your life (more likely just your day) down, maybe we should have our mind more on the others around us, on the eternal, on the worldwide impact that acting Godly in that moment may have.

If i could just get my eyes off of preserving my own well-being...

There.

"Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity...It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore." Psalm 133:1,3

Does anyone else have a sudden hankering or a Biblical appreciation at the least for some Mountain Dew right now?

The dew mentioned here is a dew that fell on vegetation, securing its growth and fruitfulness during relatively dry seasons in the area. Zion if the mount of worship and praise of God. Of Christ as Lord. This idea of unity is very interesting.

Unity isn't having one purpose in this passage. It goes beyond that. Unity is "when brothers dwell." And that dwelling together has an impact like "the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion!" This dwelling together, again, isn't just a bunch of people with a similar purpose. This dwelling together is a form of heavenly praise we offer to God when we cause each other to be fruitful. And when is it hardest to be fruitful? In the dry seasons.

Maybe unity is easy when all is peachy keen. (Where does "peachy keen" come from?) But i think heaven hears our worship of God when we act it out in such a way that our unity doesn't necessarily come in the form of a shared vision, but in a communal help of one another in their personal and corporate fruitfulness. The morning dew doesn't pick and choose the more correct fruit to soak. The morning dew falls and covers all. In verse 2 of the Psalm unity is depicted this way, covering all of Aaron's head, soaking his beard (which for analogy's sake means he probably had a monstrously awesome beard), and staining his clothes. It got him good!

When you think about unity, what do you think about? Where is the blessing of "life forevermore?" It is there, there being where this fruit enabling dew of Hermon falls.

cracking the windows

(Two quick things: facebook friends, i'm sorry, i will try and hit your topics... just not in this post. secondly, my friend Jason has a blog, and his latest post i consider his best of many great posts so far. Please visit In Lieu of Eye Contact and enjoy.)

I drove to Lowe's today to see if they had dry erase paint. It's paint you put on your walls so you can draw directly on the wall with dry erase markers and are still able to erase it right back off. Awesome stuff, except that i failed in my first attempt to put it on my office wall. Long story.

But as i parked my car in the Lowe's parking lot i had a very quick dilemma on my hands: do i lock my car or keep it unlocked? As i exited my car i made this decision: i'm going to "crack the windows to give the appearance of security." I thought those literal words.

In that moment i had an insanely meta-cognitive moment: is this really me? is this who i am? Do i leave the windows cracked just to show people something i'm really not?

Do you leave the windows cracked in your life? Maybe with a trusted friend you tell the stories but leave out the details. "Well, i did something i'm not proud of... but i learned my lesson..." but you don't ever share the details, and what it was you learned. You provide a cracked window, but you don't let them in.

The thing with me is this, i probably crack the windows the best around my wife, closest friends and fellow employees. Why? So that i look secure. But isn't it better to be secure?

In the Kingdom, being open is being secure. "They were naked (bare), and felt no shame." Genesis 2:25. In what ways are you cracking the window, and with whom? Why? Are you afraid they can't help you? Are you afraid of the consequences?

What about with God? Cracking the window with Him comes in various forms. One of the easiest of the many forms to fall into is doing something good instead of doing His will. "I wrote my dad a card," doesn't substitute that exact thing on your heart that you know God's calling you to do in that moment. We create security in the cracked window of a good deed, when our true security comes in following His will. There is no greater security than being in God's unlocked car of His dreams for you.

Stop cracking the window, and you will experience a greater security than the false security you are trying to show off to the world.

Or to the customers at Lowe's for that matter.

Liberty

You know you've seen it recently. That person dancing in the statue-of-liberty costume that is clearly as cheaply made as possible while still resembling her universally renown meaning. That person works for Liberty Tax Service and can usually be seen doing the above...

One morning i watched as our local red-headed twenty-something male donned the costume and was dancing during the morning rush hour. A girl who was about the same age was walking two dogs on leashes right towards the dancing statue of liberty. Then i witnessed "the moment."

This moment is the one where the dude realizes he has to do something to redeem his unfortunate scenario if he's going to impress the girl. So he pauses his dancing, and as the girl is halfway across the street he haunches over to welcome the two puppies.

Well, the two dogs get so freaked out that the he-lady liberty just turned his/her attention to them that they darted out into the middle of the busy intersection. And they darted so quickly that the owner lost control of both of the leashes.

I know. I know. There just can't be a good ending to this. Right?

Well, the girl called the dogs' names and, before being pummeled by oncoming traffic, returned safely to the girl. She scooped them up, grabbed their leashes (firmly) and walked the dogs politely right on by our local friendly Liberty Tax employee.

You know, there are a lot of things dressing themselves up as "liberty" to us these days. And our Master calls our name in those moments, beckoning us back to Him. Will you let those fake promises of liberty run you right out into traffic (which often in our day truly is busy-ness)? Or will you stay on course with your Master? Take some time to recognize the things in your life that dress themselves up as freedom in your life and draw close to your Master instead. It will save you from much unneeded harm.

"It is for freedom Christ set you free." -Galatians 5:1

thinking big

Man! There is so much i want to blog about! So this blog will be in a different style than normal.

*I got to speak to Donald Miller.*

No, you read that right. And to the left is photographic proof. He took it well. Donald brought up some very interesting ideas about competition being a result of the fall of man, valuing relationship, sin, God not really having a plan for our life, and his view on "the problem of evil." I really would want to summarize all of this to you, and my counter for his argument for competition being a result of the fall, but, i'll let you inquire from within. If you want my take, let me know. I'll share/blog about it.

It was a great night, and you should check out his blog at donmilleris.com and specifically read this blog post on God not really having a plan for our lives.

*thinking big*

If you missed this event in Shippensburg tonight, you truly did miss it. Placed in an old warehouse of sorts right in the middle of town, the left for dead building was transformed into a grand hall featuring art, music and coffee. The art was terrific, inspiring and all local. The coffee was debuted by friends Matt and Kristin Ramsay. There were tons of puns: a "Pop Gun" which was an over sized gun in pop art form, a walk-through piece made entirely of envelopes (so that you were enveloped), and a mammoth (adjective) mammoth (elephant) mask that was beaten like a pinata symbolizing the destruction of the giant mask we all put on every day.

People, we should have had to pay for all of this, and it was free. It was incredible, outstanding and wonderful that there was so much culture in Shippensburg. You can check out www.postnowpa.com to see more about the vision for contemporary art in Shippensburg.

*these guys get it.*

I was so inspired in meeting Scott and Lindsay tonight. They are a missionary couple that are home raising funds to head back to Dublin. Scott is also a photographer. The way they do mission's is radical (which means to the root by the way). They develop art centers, hold displays much like tonight, allow the artists to explain their inspiration for their work (God) and allow conversation to take place from there. All the meanwhile training people to be able to church plant and seek community revival in a place that's considered very "dark." Please check out what they are doing here. I would love to have these guys speak to students at Shippensburg because i think they get it. You know. It.

Again, each one of these could have been a blog post in itself, and i know this is short, but hopefully it inspires questions. So feel free to ask me for further thoughts.

Kadesh and Shur

"From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar." -Genesis 20:1

Ever been "stuck between a rock and a hard place?"

In Genesis chapter 20, Abraham journeys between Kadesh (which can be translated "a place in the desert) and Shur (which can be translated "the enemy"). And you could say, that it showed.

He ends up, for the second time in his life, playing his wife off as his sister which potentially made her an option as someone elses wife, concubine, etc. The second time! But God appears to the deceived suitor, Abimelech, in a dream telling him that Sarah is Abraham's wife, not sister.

Abimelech confronts Abraham on it, but then gives him money and lambs and land.

Now, this in no way means that we should sin. No.

But somehow, even in Abraham's weirdest most selfish tactics to keep himself alive and well, God seems to protect him and those he's deceiving. Now we could spend tons of time debating what Abe's real motives were, but one thing i see here is this...

Normally i am the one that condemns myself, not God. When i sin, or try and create my own scheme to get me through the desert and the enemy, and get caught in it, i beat myself up. But somehow God really has always proven faithful. No matter how many times i fail, or scheme, or act selfishly, God is faithful, even in my faithlessness.

"It is for freedom that Christ set you free." Galatians 5:1. Don't encumber yourself with schemes and tactics and selfishness to get yourself out of the desert and away from the enemy. And don't beat yourself up when you do act that way. Simply look to Christ to guide you. He will do so in a way that sets you free. Even from yourself.

Let it Shine!

I love when i find a passage that i've read a bunch of times and discover something new about it. Especially the verses that we base songs off of. Even more especially the ones we base children's songs off of and we are never told their context!

Check out this passage of Luke 8:16-18 in the ESV:

No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.

"...I'm gonna let it shine!" Right?

Interestingly enough, the passage's emphasis seems to be on "shining" "how you hear."

The times that i'm the most "on" in life is when i'm the most richly reading scripture and have spent daily times in conversational prayer, speaking and listening. I think this passage is saying when Jesus reveals to you some quality about Himself or the Kingdom (see the context of Luke 8) that revelation has no purpose of being secret or hidden. "Let it shine!"

But of course, we can not do any shining if we haven't lit the lamp. I believe we can consume the Bible without tasting it, and converse with Jesus without hearing Him. Real easily too.

When we read the Bible, make sure you're not just hogging it down and finishing up the meal. Really taste and digest what is being fed to you.

And when you pray, don't just talk. Listen. Listen, listen, listen. If we really are going to preach "relationship" we must listen, for listening is the key part of communication, which is the key part to any relationship. And the promise says that if you listen, and receive, you will be given more! But it's up to us to begin really listening. So...

"Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!"

too good to be true

"seems too good to be true."

Don't i know it?

I think a lot of us search for God to be true. There's just one problem with that, and Meredith Vieira hits on that poignantly in this interview. God is simply "too good to be true." He's too good to be simply true. In fact, He's just plain good. And that is what makes him true: His goodness. Here's one example how.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

And i believe this is just the first of many, many, many stories we are going to have like this! For four days Florida's best, by land and by air, were searching for this girl. In one morning James King finds her "by the Spirit of the Lord."

My wife asked me, "How does a girl just wander off into the swamp?" It reminded me of the story of when Jesus let Lazarus ("...he sure knows how to take one for the team.") die in John chapter 11. Martha says to Jesus, "if You had been here, my brother would not have died." Earlier in the chapter when Jesus gets wind of Lazarus' sickness He tells the disciples, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son can be glorified through it."

I know that a lot of "bad" happens and doesn't end in this same result. And there still is no one great answer to all the evil in the world. But i know that every situation that is bad is a huge opportunity for God's Son to be glorified.

The question is not whether God's up for the task. He always is. The question is, is James King up for the task?

I can hear the taunts already in his head. "Don't bring water. You won't find her. Don't bother with the toilet paper. There's no chance." I doubt that this was easy for him. But, it was good.

So the question is no longer is James King up to the task. No. Are you up to the task? Am i up to the task?

There are a lot of non-believers out there. And i think Christians often think, "how can they not believe?" Maybe we need to ask this: "What is something impossible i can go after?" Instead of trying to always present proofs and arguments, we should live out lives that reek of the impossible happening "by the Spirit of the Lord." But that only happens if you believe it will and you bring the toilet paper.

Are you up to pursuing the impossible?

my daily chase

the sun rose
my hope began the day
with doubt spitting in his face
across the sky, the sun i chase

and true to form
i run and grasp
only to wildly miss
a shadow only i kiss

now it's dark and i'm tired
wondering where i've been
lost in my own treasure map

i never reach my final lap

the sun set

was it worth it?

the sun seemed to think so

he never dimmed his glow

in the chase after the sun

i only ever lusted after my own shadow

because i put the sun behind me

a now rather obvious fallacy

but the sun never returns

no, he only ever rises

with the sun ever before me
my face bronzes in his glory

(but when the sun does one day return

rise again, it never will
shadows will be that former story
we will all burn from within the sun's glory)

An Ode to Brooks Robinson

"As one writer once said, people may have named candy bars after Reggie Jackson, but they named children after Brooks Robinson." -p. 215, The Baseball UNcyclopedia, Michael Kun

I just got done reading the section of Genesis that involves Noah (directly, Genesis 6-10). There's one part where Noah has been shamed by his one son, Ham. Ham is noted twice as being the father to Canaan. Noah, thusly, curses Canaan and no one has been named "Ham" or "Canaan" since (that i know of). But i have known a Japheth in my time and i think Shem was one of the Three Stooges.

I'll get to the point: what type of person do you strive to be? The one that gets the candy bar named after you, or the one that people name their firstborn after?

I think it's easy in this culture to aspire towards the former. Who's the first to know? Who's the greatest? Who has the most? There's nothing really inherently wrong with Reggie Jackson. But there's something really amazing about Brooks Robinson that i think we all deep down desire more.

Legacy.

I believe a true walk with God, a life with Christ, in tune with His Spirit, produces in us the kindness and grace that turns us from "candy bar" into "namesake" type people. And the greatest most frustrating part is that if you try to become a namesake-type person, you end up chasing the candy bar. To truly be the Brooks Robinson, you need to simply be the namesake-type person, not strive to achieve it.

This is a great mystery, but aren't those the best mysteries? Aren't those the ones you can't wait to find out how they end?

Well, you are the mystery. You can be great, or just another candy bar.

By the way, the Reggie Bar only lasted a couple years, and the best info i can find on it is here on facebook!

But "A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold." Proverbs 22:1

Thank you Brooks Robinson for being esteemed over flaunting (see "The Bronx Zoo" portion) over the fact you could get a candy bar named after you.

Enoch or Noah? Part II

"Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God." Genesis 6:9

Just a few verses after reading about Enoch's walk with God, we read the aforementioned verse.

The story of Noah has become Sunday-schooled. We all conjure up pictures of felt boards, children's books, and even toys. The story has become about a faithful old man who seemingly has the giftings of Ace Ventura and Thomas Andrews (but with a much better outcome than the Titanic).

But there are a couple other verses that tell another story.

"The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain." Genesis 6:5-6

and

"if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others." II Peter 2:5

Please note the words "every inclination" and "was only evil all the time" in Genesis 6:5 above. Now things here on earth aren't exactly peachy keen, but that verse is harrowing! And though people were this way, Noah was blameless among them, and yet was a preacher to them. This reminds me a lot of Jesus in John 1:14:

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

The thing that never makes the felt board is this. While Noah is hammering nails and building a giant sea-faring vessel (maybe the first one ever, which must have looked like a U.F.O. if it were) and warning people of rain (also the first mention ever which must have sounded like "the sky is falling!") he was also a preacher of righteousness to them. Yet, no one killed him! How? He must have been full of the truth of God's heart towards them, yet inviting and gracious to them. Begging them to come into the boat with him.

And when the rain starts falling and the springs of earth open up, and the door to the ark is shut, Noah hears his friends' gurgling last words. And certainly weeps.

This, though gruesome, should hint to us something. Though so much might be perishing all around us, are we full of both grace and truth towards all of those around us?

And there's another hint here too. Not much at all is written about Enoch's walk with God but so much is written about "righteous" Noah. Maybe that's a warning to us! Should we be much more concerned with living Noah-ly than Enoch-ly? Is the story of Noah the prescription to how to have the walk of Enoch?

The main point here is this. Of course we all want to have the kind of walk with God where we are "walking with Him" and He hates to see us taste death. But i believe God gives us the prescription to how that is walked out.

And it's not on the felt board.

Enoch or Noah? Part I

"Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him." Genesis 5:24

"By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek Him." Hebrews 11:5-6

This is about all that is written about Enoch in the Bible. But one thing is certain: this is just plain cool!

Seriously, Enoch walked so tightly with God, God didn't want him to even taste death. I believe that most professing Christians, and even my non-believing friends, really would want such a life where they were, and then were no more. Simply translated from this life to that one. Wow.

But we, i fear, have Christianized the "walk with God" thing pretty well. When is the last time you've thought about what that literally means, to "walk with God?"

When i go on a walk with my wife, it is known that i am on a walk with my wife. We hold hands. We smile. We talk, deeply (goals, God, the future, fears, etc.) and not so deeply (which means i talk about baseball or she talks about The Learning Channel). It's obvious that i'm on a walk, and on a good walk with my wife.

Could you imagine coming up to me and asking, "How's your walk with your wife going?" Hopefully it's obvious! Hopefully i don't have to tell you! You would know. Wouldn't you?

The next time someone asks you "how's your walk with God going?" or something to the like, take it as a challenge. If they have to ask, it's not obvious enough that you are already walking with Him. Because to literally be on a walk with God has to be life's greatest pursuit and achievement and lifestyle all in one. What would one fear? What would one lack? How could one go wrong hand in hand with God? It's not so much what you do in life, but who you are, and who you are with.

Oh, and if they do indeed ask, please answer them politely. That would be nice. Because after all, my walk with my wife...

Ha! It's going great! Can't you tell?

"when you love, you do."

Every year the CCO, whom i work for (the Coalition for Christian Outreach), hosts a conference called "Jubilee." this year's theme was "In Him all things hold together." Jubilee always has this wonderful message that Christ can be, and should be exalted and worshiped through all things. Especially in our majors, vocations, and callings.

One of the main speakers was Bob Goff, a mentor of a favorite author of many young adults, Donald Miller. And his one quote, which i will do my best to represent, was the highlight of the conference to me.

Bob mentioned the movie "Groundhog Day." The movie is based on Bill Murray's character, Phil (a great name), reliving the same day (Groundhog Day, a mediocre holiday. Seriously, no matter what the rodent does, there's more winter. We might as well call it "Bad or worse news day.") over and over and over again. There are some obvious comedic points as a result. But one of the things he does is memorize all this information about a girl so as to woo her. The girl catches on a little and asks, "Are you trying to memorize me?"

After telling that reference, Bob then shared this incredible quote, "When you love, you do."

There are two things i recall being taught about Christianity. Never in just one lesson. But simply over time.

A) Don't __________ (fill-in-the-blank with your typical cardinal sins of drinking, sexual activity, cussing, etc.)

and

2) Memorize __________ (insert Bible verse, typically taken out of context that helps us with letter A above)

This isn't any one person's fault, or even any one of the church's i attended fault. It's more likely a systemic fault. We as the church often leave out the conversation on love. And therefore, we don't do.

God doesn't want to be memorized just like Phil's lady friend didn't want to be memorized.

And people don't want a God they have to remember everything about. They want a God that loves them. And we reveal God in the way that we act every day. No one that needs His love really sees what we memorize about Him. And they likely don't care if they haven't witnessed any sense of His love from us to them.

What if every week we focused not so much on our "devotions" (which are very important, and the backbone to our "doings" and worthy of a blog here in the future) and our "memorizations" but we dedicated ourselves to at least one out of the ordinary act of love a week? A day, even.

Now, Bob told some ridiculous stories of his involving his kids, how he became a consul to Uganda, flipping Jeeps and giving the person at fault a bouquet of flowers, etc.

But the only thing that makes him the speaker on the stage and us the listener in the seats is...

he acted.

"When you love, you do."

Sin, part II (a.k.a. Excellence OR Sin)

The Great Commandment "is this: ... Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." (Mark 12:31, NIV, emphasis mine)

Colossians 3:17 says, "Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."

This idea to love God with all ya got is not only for God's sake. I think we often look at it this way: "i better love God with everything, or He sure will be mad." Or, "that didn't look like i did that 'in Jesus' name.' i better go back and do it again."

I think we miss a little bit of this command to love Him with all we got. It's not only to please God, but so that we are kept from sin! Look at this verse,

"And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it." Genesis 4:7, ESV.

When we cut a corner, or do something half-heartedly, that opens the door to sin. And the character of sin is not very polite, is it? Sin is crouching at the door, ready to push the door down, tackle, and get into the rest of your business.

When you are looking out on your day, do things excellently! Make a good name for Jesus, love Him through anything you do (i.e. doing the dishes for my wife is a LOT different than doing them for my former roommates, no offense guys), and avoid sin in the process.

Sin, part I (a.k.a. God does not want us to stop listening to our wives)

Bible knowledge quiz:

In Genesis 3, God lays curses on the serpent, Eve, and Adam. What were the two reasons God gives for laying a curse on Adam?

...

Here's what Genesis 3:17 says in the NIV:

"Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you..."

We often remember that it was because Adam ate from that infamous tree but forget the "listened to your wife" part. Now, before you start assuming some sort of chauvinistic, over-patriarchal view here, let's look at the ESV of the same verse:

"Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you..." (emphasis my own)

This one little word, which is in the original Hebrew, is so huge.

For Adam, he knew what the command was, but he lost track of what God was saying in that very moment. Eve could have been the mouthpiece of the Lord, cautioning Adam that a crafty serpent was giving this advice. But instead was speaking on behalf of satan in that moment, offering up the forbidden fruit to Adam. And frankly all of us live in that constant reality as well: who do you speak for? Moving on though...

I think a major flaw in our teachings, especially to our youth, is that we often only teach them the commands, i.e. the Bible, the Ten Commandments, the Gospel (of which i think is often well undershot as well), etc. But what we need to teach is a two-fold understanding of God's words: those that are given to us in Scripture and those that continue to come out of His mouth.

Interestingly enough, when satan tempts Adam he is cursed for eating of the tree (breaking the command) and listening to the wrong voice (not adhering to God's voice, again God is NOT trying to tell you to not listen to your wives, i promise). Jesus encounters satan in a very similar way!

When Jesus is tempted by satan in Matthew 4:2-4, the encounter looks like this:

And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." But He answered and said, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'" (NASB)

Oh, after forty days he became hungry? Thank you Captain Obvious! Anyway...

Jesus quotes a command (the first part to knowing how to not sin) that points us to live on "every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." (The second part.) Not proceeded but proceeds. Obviously we need to know the commands, but we also need to realize that life comes from having a very present relationship with Him where i feed off of every word that proceeds from Him continually, every day, even right now.

And we learn this way back in Genesis 3 with Adam.

Know His commands AND gain an ear for His every-moment voice. Not only to avoid sin, but to live fully. Even to live life violently!

Coming posts on sin: how our view on our identity helps us to not sin, and why we should do all things excellently.

true freedom and violent life, part II

i just changed the subtitle above, and i meant to say "insights" not "incites." But ya know? i kinda like it better that way! And for now i'm going to keep it!

violent life

Most Christians hold a pro-life stance. And when Jesus talks about life we have to, we must understand what He implies by life. It is not simply being born.

In John 10:10 (ESV) Jesus says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." I looked up the Greek for the word "abundantly" here are three of the meanings that were expected: superabundant, superior, and excessive. These alone should force us to look in the mirror. "Does my life with Christ look like i have life and life superabundantly?" "Excessively?" "A life superior to others?"

It gets better, or worse depending on your view. The Greek also means "violently."

Does the life of the Holy Spirit have such great influence in you that your love tackles others? What about joy that strangles others? Can you shoot someone right in the chest... with hope? How about a swift kick to the... the face with compassion? The question is simple. Does life come out of you violently?

You see, the reason why so many people do not affirm the choice of life is because we do not, as Christians, give them a reason to. Our lives look just like theirs in so many ways.

"Among young outsiders, 84 percent say they personally know at least one committed Christian. Yet just 15 percent thought the lifestyles of those Christ followers were significantly different from the norm. This gap speaks volumes." (p.48, unChristian, Kinnaman)

We accept the life of Christ, and are impregnated by His Spirit. But before the life of His Spirit matures in us, changing us from the inside-out, we cut Him off. We choose to abort His life in us! (i must admit, i originally read this in a Rick Joyner writing but can not find it to properly credit him.)

So if you are a Christian, and you are pro-life, do not sneer at people who have a pro-choice stance or have had an abortion. Poke them in the eye with compassion, trip them up with comfort, and assault them (peaceably, of course) with a hope that there is reason well beyond birthing a child that you are "pro-life."

Be pro-life by constantly pursuing a life that violently comes forth from you.

true freedom and violent life, part I

true freedom

(I know i'm tackling a big one hear on just my second post, but i ask that you read through this one and my next post which will come as soon as i can get it posted. Reading both will give you the full picture. Thank you new and hopefully faithful reader!)

I spoke tonight at a service called "Remembering the Unborn" on campus. I was requested to speak a message meeting the goal of an "Affirmation of Life," of which i am grateful for such an opportunity. I was very excited to be able to publicly, and for the first time, support a pro-life organziation by speaking at "Remembering the Unborn."

I decided to address two camps in my speech. The one camp: those that were in the audience that were pro-choice or wanted to convey truth to friends that were not pro-life. The other camp: the pro-life camp that i chose to assume was mostly Christian.

Many of the arguments that come from the pro-choice crowd are about their right to freedom. In most of the testimonies that i've heard or read from people who have aborted their babies, i see nothing but bondage - the exact opposite of freedom. These chains of bondage come in the form of shame, guilt, resentment and a life filled with secrets, and all are the results of going through with an abortion. To me, that sounds like nothing but enslavement. Nothing but bondage. True freedom does not, and never will come from doing whatever you please. Nor will it come from doing what is best for you.

I liken freedom to a train.

If you were to see a train engine in your front yard, how far do you think it would make it? Not being on its tracks and all, how far would that train get? Not very far at all, right? It would run into something and crash. It would go down a curb and not be able to get back up. It would encounter a hill and fall over. Mud? Bogged.

You see, the train is designed to be free, but only when it is on its tracks. Because the train is designed with wheels that match its tracks perfectly, it requires those tracks so that it can function, and function fully! And when a train is on its tracks, it's truly such an amazing sight to see that i am pretty sure we all take it for granted way too easily! When you consider the tons and tons of materials that are toted at such incredible velocities, the train is free. Free to truly be a train.

Humans are the same way, and hopefully you see that even if you do not believe in God - that humans and freedom both have an ultimate-ness about them.

"We are free to choose, but our choices don't always free us," my wife Lindsay stated in response to my speech.

If i ran around blindfolded, scissors in one hand, a knife in the other, i might be doing whatever i want, but i am not free. I am dangerous, wild, and placing myself and others in harm's way. True freedom frees one's self and frees others all in one free swoop. When taking the freedom to abort a baby's life, another's freedom is permanently stripped, and at the cost of your own freedom as well. Why? Because freedom does not taste like guilt. It never smells like angst. Is never clothed in regret. Yet, these are all what an abortion causes. That endless wonder of "my child would be __ years old today," does not ever go away.

But "it is for freedom Christ sets us free," says Galatians 5:1. Doesn't this sound repetitive? "It's for pancake's sake i give you pancakes." I think God, through the apostle Paul, is really trying to drive home an important point here. He is being repetitive not so Paul can feel good about sharing such a message. Not to be cutesy wootsy. And, not even for the express purpose for God to get the glory (which i believe He still does get the glory but...). But for you and i to be free, and for freedom's sake! Free because free is what you were designed to be. Freely free. Freed.

So i recognize your quest for freedom and i believe you are onto something. But please pursue the truest, realest freedom you can find! And if the freedom you are pursuing doesn't taste like true freedom, or smell like freedom to everyone else, i would challenge your thinking on what freedom really is. And please, i would love to be in that conversation with you on what real freedom is. Please contact me.

And the greatest part is, if you are suffering these chains from having had an abortion, Christ wants to set you free as well. He doesn't scoff at your decision or hold it against you. "It is for freedom He sets you free." You just need to trust in His ability to do so.

Freedom: It's free. It sets you free. Your freedom spawns freedom in others.

That, is true freedom. And it only comes from Christ.

+++++++++++ +++++++++++

Part II, violent life coming soon: how Jesus promotes a "violent" life (you'll just have to read to find out!), and why i believe that we as Christians are mainly at fault for the abortion pandemic.

the fire in His eyes

My hope is to help everyone in their aspirations towards seeing Christ in their everyday lives. I am hoping to post weekly (at least once a week) for right now. And i hope to share poems, anecdotes, lessons learned from my personal Bible study, conversation outcomes and random observations on life.

To begin, i share a poem that i wrote that gave this blog its namesake. enjoy. (and feel free to comment!)


the fire in his eyes
alone and fearful
no one knows
a path trodden by all
is this avenue of loneliness

running from nothing
headed to nowhere
pleasing to everyone
i flopped next to one lame man

his name was Hope
from him, wise words i received
powerfully, though he was blind
i could see the fire in his eyes

he knew i wouldn't listen
that i'd stumble and i'd fall
but warned me that all this was the sign
because, up, again i would arise

"these falls are buffeted
your worries aren't worth it
take up your burden just far enough
to know it's no longer yours"

though he was on the ground
his blind eyes looking deep into my essence
saw the yearning of both our souls:
to get up, and to fly

difficult as it will be
i will leave this busy avenue of loneliness
to walk with my eyes closed
down the fullness of the boulevard of life

i will not be alone
nor will i be afraid
my guide will know all
for though he's blind, he sees