Discovering the Obvious

I've Moved...

2009-01-28T13:35:00.000-08:00

Hey...this isn't my blog anymore, well it kind of is, but I'm not going to put anything new up here. My new site is www.nicholascharles.wordpress.com

This and That

2009-01-28T12:21:00.000-08:00

Let’s just try and pretend that it hasn’t been over a month since I posted something. I’ve been thinking about a lot though and I thought I would share some of it.

Dusting is definitely an under-appreciated chore. I never think to do it, and you can certainly tell. Guys are bad at the detail work when it comes to cleaning the house. Here’s to all of you women who pay attention to the details. Just let me know when you need the trash taken out.

Too much of our time involves the use of a cell phone. It’s actually quite sad.

Did you know that there is a list out there of the top ten fastest growing churches? I’m not sure this should really be as important as we have made it. What if instead there was a list of the most drastically changing cities/communities? I think that would be kind of interesting.

Yeah, and why do we treat pastors like rock stars? Any why do pastor’s tolerate this? Wasn’t most of the New Testament written by someone who was incarcerated?

I really don’t like getting in the shower when my feet are freezing cold. Kind of ironic that it burns huh?

You know how people say that they wish they could back to a certain period of time and do things differently? Well, what if we lived like we did? Like right now was your second chance to do all of the things you wished you had? It makes you stop and think about what the future you might be wishing you would have done right now. This could make for an interesting life, or movie. Wait…yeah, Brad Bitt already did that. Go see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button right now.

Apathy isn’t something that you are pulled out from; it’s something you crawl out of.

I really need to be more consistent with this whole thing.

Ouch

2008-12-01T10:35:00.000-08:00

This might sound ridiculous, but I think I would rather break a bone or have a large wound rather than a hangnail or a paper cut. Those little nagging injuries are so annoying, and I feel like a complete wuss if I complain about my throbbing hangnail as opposed to oh, you know, my arm falling off.

I’ve heard it said that the number one reason why people don’t believe in God is the problem of pain and suffering. I wonder if there is like a top ten list out there or something. But, the question goes like this, “If God is so good and all powerful, then why do bad things happen? Why do people suffer?” I think this is a fair question. The typical response that they get is something like, “Well pain is God’s way of making us stronger.” Someone told me one time that pain is God’s way of putting His finger on something that needs to change in our lives.

I don’t for one second doubt this to be true. I mean you read things like Romans 5:3-5 that tells us that persevering through suffering produces hope, and in James 1 that perseverance in the face of pain brings about maturity. Not only have I read these passages but I’ve discovered them to be true in my own life. So, I don’t doubt this truth, but I have been asked a very difficult question concerning this truth though. Why?

After explaining how this whole thing works to someone who has asked the pain and suffering question, I was once asked, “Well, why did God make it that way?” It is a really good question and I really didn’t know what to say. If God is God, and can do whatever He wants, and if He supposedly loves us, then why do we have to go through pain in order to grow? Why couldn’t growth happen through something else, like every time I ate chocolate or something?

Now, I’m sure a lot of you out there could easily answer this question and it’s probably something that you’ve known for a long time, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t answer this question without feeling like I was just swallowing something that somebody told me to believe. Until the other day.

Here’s what I’ve come to realize. God didn’t make it this way. Not at all. God didn’t make a world with pain and suffering. Pain is here because of humanity’s rebellion and disobedience. I think pain came into the picture in Genesis chapter 3, when man betrayed God. I happen to believe that how heaven is described is how things weren’t meant to be from the beginning. Revelation 21:4 says, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” That’s how I think things were meant to be.

What I do know about God is that He is a redeemer. He takes things that are ugly, broken, and awful and He makes them beautiful. Whether it is our past, our shameful mistakes, or horrible things that have been done to us, God takes these things and he uses them to offer hope. Look at the cross. It was once the most shameful and disgusting symbol. I’ve heard that the word for the cross (crux) was considered a swear word, but now it is the most powerful symbol of forgiveness and love. That’s what God does. He knows that a human being will not go through their life, probably not even a single day, without experiencing pain, and instead of suffering just being mindless pain; it is now a vessel for change. As a follower of Jesus I can look at pain and see it redeemed, I can see it as a way to experience hope, and it is a reminder of how good God is and of how much He loves me.

Her...

2008-11-17T09:45:00.000-08:00

I don’t normally like the idea of Internet PDA, but I feel that now that I’m engaged I have a bit of a right to express some. As of 10/17/08, Lindsey Grayce Jefferies has decided that the idea of spending the rest of her life with me is somewhat of an ok thing. The proposal went flawlessly! Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen.

In the words of Lou Gehrig, I consider myself the luckiest man alive. I wanted to take some time and tell you about her…

She is the walking, talking proof of God’s love and grace in my life. I, in no way, shape, or form have done anything in my life that is deserving of her. I hope and pray that I will never think that I do deserve her.

I’m pretty sure the word beautiful feels like it’s being used in its truest sense when it is being attributed to her. (If you don’t like mushy stuff, don’t read anymore) She is the kind of person you scratch your head at and you can’t help but wonder if she is real. “Can it be possible for someone to be that…good?”

Her love for God isn’t just a topic for conversation that she pulls out when it’s convenient. She doesn’t offer him, “props”, but she has given him her life. She spends time with him every morning and it seems that her and her mother both have the sort of close relationship with him that is enjoyed over a cozy breakfast. She loves God, and He knows her.

Making her laugh is my favorite thing to do.

She makes the best cinnamon roles in the entire universe.

She can do pull-ups and dips.

Only because of her do I like turtlenecks and high heels.

Her skills at the “air drums” are unmatched.

Playing with my hair makes her and I both sleepy.

Green eyes; curly hair.

She is really good at whispering…too good in fact.

Coffee tastes infinitely times better when she is around.

I used to not believe in the whole, “You just know” business. It seemed all too convenient for already married people to say that they just knew each other where the one. I do believe in it now. If you asked me how I know I would tell you this. It is the most incredible feeling to know that for some crazy reason I am the only one on this earth who is capable of making her as happy as I do. To be that person is the greatest privilege I have ever received. There is nothing better than to know that there is no one who she would rather be with and that there is no one who I would rather make happy.

In my life there is proof of God’s existence, there is proof of God’s grace, there is proof of God’s great love; it is her.

Round On the Sides, High In the Middle

2008-11-17T09:36:00.001-08:00

I thought I would send out an update for all of my adoring fans. (Please understand the sarcasm!) This is my first official blog from the state of Ohio where I am currently watching snow fall outside of my window.

For those of you who haven’t heard, I accepted the position of High School Director for Ginghamsburg Church just outside of Dayton, Ohio. It is historically a Methodist Church, but it honestly doesn’t look much like any Methodist Church I have ever seen. It does, however, carry the same passion as John Wesley to see the world changed by the Gospel, and for that I am honored to be a part of this church.

So far things are great! I am really excited to see what God is going to do here and I am learning a lot. For one, most of my life I’ve been a bit of a dreamer…yeah, shocking I know, but I am now in a place where I can see vision become reality. After all, potential will always stay potential unless something is done with it.

I am currently looking back over the most dynamic year of my life. Trying to describe with words the distance covered and the change that has taken place is somewhat of an overwhelming task. If you don’t keep a journal I highly recommend that you do. It’s a great thing to have written proof of God’s work in your life. I am not the person that I was a year ago and I am incredibly grateful for it.

If I had to use one word to offer a taste of the movement I’ve seen, it would probably be contentment. This is an awfully tough lesson to learn and it’s one that I don’t think is ever finally reached, but is instead daily decided upon. I don’t think of it in a sense that I am satisfied with what I have done or that I have no desire to see things change, but it’s more of being ok with who I am and where I am at and hopeful that God will do what He wants.

All of my friends in South Carolina…I miss you terribly. South Carolina definitely got a hold of my heart and all of you Southerners are right when you say that there really is no place like the South. Thank you so much for your support and friendship and I can’t wait to see you again!

I Do

2008-09-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

For the record, I am not an expert on marriage. Clearly. I’m not married. So please don’t for a second think that I consider myself to know more than you, especially if you’re married. I do however read the Bible on a regular basis and I’ve seen what it has to say about the subject and I just wanted share some of my thoughts.

I’ve recently discovered a huge frustration in my life. I mean this one is big. It’s when married men talk about their wives as if they are “just” their wives. There’s nothing special about it, it’s more work than anything, and the marriage relationship is presented as a hassle that they are forced to put up with. Us single guys who are still excited about the idea of getting married are strongly encouraged to wait because we don’t know what we are getting ourselves into. We hear things like, “The first two years are great, and then it’s all down hill from there.”

Do me a favor; don’t paint yourself as a victim. This seems strange to me. It’s like we’re supposed to feel sorry for them or something because their relationship isn’t what it used to be. Now, I understand that not all relationships are the same and that marriage does require a lot of work, but if your relationship to your wife isn’t what it used to be then I can probably guess that you have something to do with it.

Here’s why I get really frustrated though. The Bible uses the relationship of a husband and wife as a powerful illustration to describe the relationship between God and his people. That means that as followers of Christ one of the most powerful examples we have to show people what it’s like to know God and be in a relationship with Him is the marriage relationship; how husbands love their wives and vise versa.

Your marriage isn’t jut about you. We live in a broken world that lacks true examples of love. Nothing is as good as it seems and nothing seems to last. I refuse to believe that is true. A marriage relationship where two people love each other in a sacrificial way; where a spouse’s fulfillment, satisfaction, and happiness comes from serving the other, offers hope. It proves to people that you can love and be loved in the way you’ve always dreamed of.

Here's an idea. The next time you hear a spouse talking about the other in a positive way, one that reveals passion, love, and commitment, say thank you. It is such a nice thing to hear.

Cutting Loose

2008-09-03T06:51:00.001-07:00

Fall is coming. I love the fall more than any other season. I think that is the only thing I miss about about the state of Indiana, geographically speaking. It is by far the best time of year. Chapped lips, runny noses, the smell of burning leaves, jackets, and watching football Thursday through Monday.

I love oatmeal. I really do. But you have to be careful when cooking it because it swells up to nearly three times its original size and can make quite a mess in the microwave.

I once saw someone put gunpowder wrapped in aluminum foil in the microwave. Wasn't as impressive as you might think.

If it you knew it was the last time you were going to hug someone, do you think the hug would feel differently?

There's nothing better than discovering a new favorite song. Sometimes I get sad thinking about all the favorite songs that I haven't found yet, and maybe I never will, but then I just listen to some of my old favorite songs and I forget about all of that.

I think you should go have some fun today.

Me Being Me (pt. 3)

2008-08-27T08:18:00.000-07:00

Maybe you should read this slowly or something because you might get a little dizzy.

So back to this idea of righteousness. I decided to look up the word in the Greek and it told me that the word meant…drum roll…righteousness. Awesome. Then I decided to look up righteousness in my Webster’s dictionary. Now I don’t know if it is because my Webster’s is really old or just lame, but the word righteousness could not be found in my dictionary, buuuut it did include, “right.” The word right is defined as, “Proper and fitting, properly adjusted, disposed, or placed; orderly; sound in body or mind.” This started to make sense.

See in Romans chapter 6 Paul says, “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of?” Things that I am ashamed of. These tend to be things that I wish I would never have done. Things that seem to be out of character. These are things that I do and then find myself saying, “You shouldn’t have done that, that’s not like you.”

Then in chapter 7 Paul goes on this somewhat confusing rant about the things he does and things he wishes he would do instead. It’s almost like we’ve walked in on this conversation he is having with himself. After it’s all over though Paul says something really interesting. In verse 22 of chapter 7 Paul says, “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law.” This is interesting to me because there is this well-known Psalm, Psalm 139, and in verse 13 David says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” It’s this intimate picture of God creating someone before they were born, knitting together the deepest parts of what it means to be a human being.

So maybe righteousness has something to with all of this. Maybe following Jesus, becoming a slave to righteousness, is reconnecting with something that was created even before I was born. Maybe it’s being the kind of person that God has always intended me to be. I wonder if it’s not necessarily about following some list of rules, but instead what if righteousness, what if putting my faith in Jesus is me being…me for the first time?

To be continued...

?

2008-08-18T08:54:00.000-07:00

I really don’t like to admit that there are times that I struggle with doubt. But I do. I don’t so much doubt the existence of God or whether or not Jesus is God; I really do believe that, but I sometimes find myself questing whether or not He cares about me. It’s usually when I’m not enjoying my circumstances; when things aren’t the way I want them to be that the pity party starts.

There is a really interesting account in Mark 9. This father whose son has been possessed by a demon since he was young approaches Jesus. The father says that the disciples tried to cast out the demon, but they couldn’t. He says to Jesus, “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” Jesus replies, “If you can? Everything is possible for him who believes.” Then the father responds in a way that I automatically relate to, but then ask, “Well, what does that mean?” He says, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief.”

How can you believe something and not believe something at the same time? I mean either you do believe or you don’t…right? I think perhaps if we put ourselves in the father’s shoes we might be able to understand where he’s coming from. The Bible says that the boy has been possessed since he was a small boy and that often the demon tried to kill the boy by throwing him into the water or into fire. Imagine that. Imagine being a father and watching your child go through that…over and over again. And then here come some men supposedly sent by God who can’t do anything about it. I have to wonder if the unbelief that the man is speaking of isn’t directed toward the existence of God, but whether or not He cares about what is going on. Have you ever been there? I know I have. Now compared to the situation in this story my circumstances can seem somewhat trivial, but I can relate.

I can assure you that God is here, and God does care. One of the names for Jesus is “Emanuel.” It means, “God with us.” Not only is God real, but He is with us, and He genuinely cares. So much that he often puts us in situations that only He can handle so that we will begin to only have faith in Him. See the man saw that it was Jesus who drove out the demon. I’m sure that man went home believing that Jesus was God and that He did care about him. The most loving thing God can do is put us in situations where we have no other choice but to trust. These situations produce faith. Faith that Jesus is who He says He is and that He can do what He says He can do because it is only by faith that anything and everything is possible.

Me Being Me (pt. 2)

2008-08-11T08:47:00.001-07:00

Here’s what I’ve come to learn about Scripture; it reveals to us what is true about life, reality, and the world we live in. The words don’t make things true, they tell us what is already true. For example, the Bible says things like, “God is love.” God existed a long time before these words were ever written. God didn’t just become love after John wrote his first letter to the church, but the Bible reveals to us what is already true; that God is the essence, the originator of love. Why is this important? Because we aren’t supposed to just read scripture, we’re supposed to discover the truth of it outside of the pages; we’re supposed to actually live it out. So when I read things like Romans chapter 5 when it says, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character hope”, I can believe it because I haven’t just read the words on the page, but I’ve discovered the truth that they reveal in my life and the world around me.

I’ve come across a word that has grabbed a hold of my attention and won’t seem to let go. Righteousness. It jumped out at me while I was reading Romans chapter 6, which makes sense because I think that righteousness is just about every other word in that chapter. As I read this word over and over again I couldn’t help but ask the question, “What is righteousness?” I’ve heard this word so many times and it seemed that I could tell you what it meant, but when I tried to explain it to myself, I did a horrible job. Kind of like someone who pretends to know about something just so he can be part of a conversation. The way I seemed to understand it was that it was synonymous with obedience. Someone who was righteous was someone who followed the rules; who didn’t break the law, but as I read through the chapter I began to think that I had fallen incredibly short in terms of understanding the depth of righteousness. See I don’t think Jesus came to make us into rule followers, but I think he came to do so much more. He wasn’t about behavior modification; he came to make us into new creations.

How do you understand the idea of righteousness?

To be continued...

Me Being Me (pt. 1)

2008-08-11T08:38:00.000-07:00

So, I've been hearing a lot about how long my bloggs are. I am truly sorry, right from the bottom of my heart. I've decided to break them up for those of you who can't stand to read more than a paragraph at a time :). Here's the first of a series of something I've been thinking a lot about. Hope it gets you thinking!

I’m really not a big fan Scrabble or crossword puzzles, but I love words. I can remember a time when I would actually read through the dictionary for fun. I don’t say this to present myself as smarter than you because most of the time I was looking up words that cause the male mind to snicker. Come on, who hasn’t looked up flatulent in the dictionary? If you haven’t, you most definitely should.

But I really do love words. They are incredibly powerful. They can inspire and move us. They can’t paint pictures and tell stories. They can build people up and they can tear people down. Words separate themselves from noise and raw sound in that they communicate meaning and truth. Well, at least they should.

There are certain words that seem to become less understood the more you hear them. There are probably a lot of these words floating around for those of us who have been immersed in the Christian subculture for a descent amount of time. These are the words that we glance over as we read the Bible, words that we throw around during theological debates, or have screen-printed on our t-shirts. The sad, and very dangerous thing about this is that these words become just words. It’s like they become so familiar to us that they lose their power and fall like dead leaves back to their one dimensional prisons.

To be continued...

Who vs. What

2008-07-28T09:05:00.000-07:00

There is this conversation that I seem to continually have with God. It honestly should have only happened once, but we have it on a regular basis. I like to ask God what He wants me to do. You know, “What great task do you have for me God?” He reminds me that I am getting ahead of myself and He is more interested in who I am.

I’ve heard that restlessness is something that plagues a man throughout his entire life. I think I believe that. It’s like when things start to lose their shine, when I feel like I’ve been standing still I get figity. I begin to pelt Him with questions about the role I’m supposed to play and the things He wants me to do. When I do this I have a tendency to take my focus off of the kind of person I should be. But you see I think that God is more concerned about who we are because God can use someone who loves Him to do, well, anything.

It makes since because Jesus does say, “Seek first the kingdom of God and it’s righteousness and all these things will be given to you.” Oswald Chambers points out that Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.” Mr. Chambers then goes on to say that purity affects vision.

So I guess that when I get a bit frustrated with where I am in life, with what I’m “doing”, I should focus my attention to loving God, being the right kind of person

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

2008-07-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

What is it about a cold that turns men into sissies? I played almost an entire year of football on a fractured foot, I can handle pain, but the minute I get a cold I want someone to make me some food and rub my back. I seem to get them whenever the weather changes, and you would think that after recovering from so many of them I would realize that I’m not going to die from a sinus infection; in fact, I’ll be just fine.

There is this “common cold” that seems to infect most people who claim Jesus as Lord. We call it apathy. It’s when we get bored, we feel dry, and we say things like, “God feels so distant.” I can almost picture myself plucking the pedals off a flower in a grassy meadow comforting myself with a game of “He loves me; me loves me not.” Maybe it’s just me.

But I came across some scripture in Romans chapter 5 that comforts me during these spiritual sinus infections (sorry, I had to say it). Paul tells us of two different ways that God shares His love with us. The first one is found in verse 5, “…because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit…”. These are the times when the air is thick with God’s presence, you know that He’s there and you know that He loves you because you can feel it. The second way is in verse 8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He doesn’t just tell us, He shows us. No matter how apathetic I feel I have a day, an actual real historical point in time that I can look at and know that God loves me. How do I know? He died for me, even when I wasn’t who I should be.

It reminds me of a marriage. From what I hear a married couple doesn’t always feel the same way about their spouse as they did on their wedding day. Rumor has it they get frustrated and tired of each other. Good thing love isn’t a feeling, but a truth. Feelings are fleeting and people are finicky. It takes me a week to decide how I feel about a hair cut. The love that exists between a husband and wife isn’t validated solely by how they feel about one another, but also by an actual day, a point in time when they stood before God and man and made an oath to love the other regardless.

I guess this means I can put the flower down. I really didn’t like the meadow anyway.

Thoughts on Leadership

2008-06-16T09:10:00.001-07:00

For the record, I do not consider myself to be a great leader, but I do hope to be one some day. I am not an expert in leadership, I’ve never been to a leadership conference, but I do feel like God has been teaching me a lot about the subject. The following are just some of my thoughts about leadership.

-One of my professors this past semester said one of the most powerful things I have ever heard about leadership. He said that we love to use the term “servant leadership” when we talk about Jesus, but the thing is Jesus never used the term leadership, He just said serve. Sometimes it sounds like we promote service as a means to get people to follow us. Jesus says in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” So what if leaders served not for the sake of getting people to follow them, but just for the sake of serving?

-I’m going to be honest, I don’t like to read a lot of books on the idea of leadership because a lot of the time I feel like I’m reading a book about how to sell a good product, like I’m signing up for Amway or something. But I did read one this past semester that presented a really intriguing concept. It’s called reverse learning. It’s when a leader/mentor actually seeks to learn from who he/she is leading/mentoring. I think this is a great idea. Why do leaders always think that every moment or encounter you have with them is their opportunity to teach you something? I find this frustrating, especially when I do it other people.

I think this would do a lot to help produce more influential leaders. It seems that if there is a common struggle for almost all leaders it is that they aren’t very teachable. Who hasn’t said that before? But, I have found it to be true, and the thing is that if as a leader you aren’t teachable than you are going to produce other leaders who aren’t teachable. Perhaps the greatest thing a leader can do for someone under them is show them how to be teachable.

I think the idea of reverse learning is a difficult concept for most people in leadership because they think they have a monopoly on wisdom. Leaders seem to think that because they have more experience and the simple fact that they are older than they have more wisdom than those who are under them. Let us not forget that wisdom comes from God. Job 32: 8-9 says, “It is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding. It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right.” It seems that we all have something to learn from each other regardless of age or experience.

-David offers us some really beautiful words about leadership, and I consider him to be a great leader so I will offer them to you.

“The God of Israel spoke, the Rock of Israel said to me: ‘When one rules in the fear of God, he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth.’” 2 Samuel 23:3-4

The God Who is Here (Pt. 2)

2008-06-15T11:07:00.000-07:00

I love my people. I love my church. It's so great to be a part of something I believe in. You guys are great! Thank you.

If we do serve a God who is here, a God who is now, a God who wants to know me; then why can I count on one hand the number of times I have had a genuine intimate encounter with Him? “Well, I know I encountered God on this mission trip, and I know I felt God during this time of worship, and that one time when I prayed that I would find my car keyes and I did.” It seems like an intimate God who is as big as we say He is should be a bit more involved with our lives than the few camio appearance we can remember. Oh, but He is.

Here’s where I think the problem lies. We seem to think that the only way we can encounter God is through what I like to call, “extra-terrestrial life encounters.” These are the moments in our lives that seem so far removed from the everyday; kind of like when God speaks to Moses out of a burning bush. It’s like the only way we expect to experience God is through some type of event that is so far removed from the world we live in, something that has little to do with the life I live from a day-to-day basis because God can’t be that interested in my life anyway can He? I think that He is. In Deuteronomy it says that Lord is our life.

There’s this guy Elijah who has a really interesting encounter with God. You can read about it in 1 Kings 19. Elijah is on the run from king Ahab and his wife Jezebel because they had killed all of his friends. The Lord sends His word to Elijah and tells him to go stand on the mountain and that He will meet with him there. Elijah goes to the mountain and something really peculiar happens. The Bible says that there was a great and powerful wind that tore the mountains apart, but…the Lord wasn’t in the wind. Then there was an earthquake, but…the Lord wasn’t in the earthquake. Finally there was a fire; certainly God was in the fire. Nope. The Lord wasn’t in the fire. The Bible than says that after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it he went out and met with God.

Sometimes, probably most of the time, God speaks to us in whispers. This isn’t a voice that stops us in our tracks or a voice that we can’t help but hear; this is a voice that we have to listen for. Maybe it is a voice that is speaking all the time. Maybe encountering God isn’t about waiting for Him to show up in some “extra-terrestrial life encounter”, but instead about discovering how eternity is right under our noses all the time.

God isn’t far removed from our lives, in fact, He is our life. I think we need to ask more “why questions.” Things like, “Why do I long to love and to be loved? Why do I hate when my favorite movie is over? Why does it bother me so much that people suffer who didn’t do anything to deserve it? Why does music move me the way it does? Why do I get so upset at bad drivers?” If we ask more of these, “why questions” I think we will discover that God has a lot to do with what it means to be a human being and that He is very involved in our lives. God is here, God is now, and He is our life.

The God Who is Here (Pt. 1)

2008-06-08T08:18:00.001-07:00

I'm back. Sorry for the absence. I have some excuses, but none of them are good enough to mention. Let's just say that I was giving those of you who complain about how long my posts are time to catch up. Just joshin. Any way, I'm back and here's what's been on my mind.

I’ve been thinking lately about traffic lights. Normally the only time I think about traffic lights is when I’m stuck at one because for some reason people like to wait until they are ready before they drive their automobile through a green light. I’ve been thinking of them in terms of what they do in the middle of the night. Their twilight operations; what they do when all of the traffic is parked; the time of night when some traffic lights have given up changing colors and have decided to just flash yellow or red. This is the time of the night that makes you feel like you’re breaking the rules, like you’re some sort of rebel for being out this late. Not all traffic lights have decided to give up their color changing ways; many of them are still there varying their colors, determining the flow of traffic. As we sleep theses guardians of the intersection stand at their posts alternating their moods from green, to yellow, to red, reflecting on traffic that has already gone by.

There are a couple of chapters in the book of Job where God is revealing to Job how intimate and how involved He is with His creation. He asks Job things like, “Do you know when the mountain goat gives birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn? Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth?” This is a picture of a God who is very much interested in what is going on in the world He created, this is a picture of a God who is very much here. I’m sitting here right now and I’m overwhelmed by the fact that God knows what the temperature is in my room, how the carpet feels on my feet, and how my fingers feel as they fall asleep from the lack of blood flow as I type out these thoughts. All the while He is aware of what is happening with you and everyone else at this very moment as well as holding the entire universe together.

My favorite part of Job though is a question God asks in verses 25-27 of chapter 38. God asks, “Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it, to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass?” See, God is so “here” that He is even where we are not. Not only is God where I am, but also He is also where I’m not. In the places that I neglect, the places I don’t think about, the places I am unaware of; there God is. The funny thing about all of this is that I’m not usually aware of the places that I am in. I don’t pay much attention to where I am right now, I’m usually thinking about where I need to go or wondering about where I once was.

Here’s the thing. If God is there, “in a desert where no man lives”, where I’m not, then something tells me that He is here with me…now. It isn’t a matter of Him showing up, it’s a matter of me meeting Him here in this place, where He already is. Paul says it best when he says, “He is not far from each of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being.” Jesus is called, “Emanuel”, which means “God with us.” We serve a God who is here. A God who is all around you. A God who is incredibly intimate with His creation. A God who wants you to know Him.

I Heard That

2008-04-21T09:54:00.000-07:00

It’s really hard to have a favorite band isn’t it? When someone asks me that question my brain locks up and it’s almost impossible for me to pick one. I find it pretty common to be able to name your top 5 favorite bands, but rarely can someone come up with their consensus number one.
How about a favorite song? That’s a hard one to pick too. It usually changes. I do have a favorite song though. It is Coldplay’s “Fix You.” I haven’t listened to it for a long time because I’m honestly kind of tired of it, but it’s still my favorite. I like it because of what it does to me. I’m the farthest thing from an expert when it comes to all the technical things about music, I’ll leave that to all of you tight jean wearing guys who seem to speak in another language when it comes to the music you listen to. But “Fix You” has this way of changing me. I can’t tell you how, or why, but it just does. Every song that I know has a “my favorite part.” My favorite part of “Fix You” is probably everyone’s favorite part of that song. You know, when the guitar comes racing in and then the drums drop in and suddenly life just seems really big. That song is so…epic. For some reason it gives me hope.
Music is an interesting…thing. I’ve heard it said that music builds a bridge between heaven and earth. I can understand that. Humans, all of us, respond to music in very powerful ways. It’s everywhere. Music isn’t only found in one culture or people group, but it’s everywhere. How did that happen? How did every group of people, in every part of the world, separated from each other, develop their own type of music? I have an idea.
My biggest question is why do we respond to music the way that we do? Seriously. I went to this show a few weeks ago at a little coffee shop by where I live. There was a band playing called Sleeping at Last, they are incredible by the way. A bunch of my friends were going to be there so I decided to stop by. I saw something incredible there. Now before this show I really didn’t know much about Sleeping at Last, but the people there did. I don’t know if you’re like me, but before a show I usually listen to the artist’s CD a lot, just to somehow get me even more excited about seeing them live. What’s funny is that whenever the band started playing a song that the crowd recognized everyone got really excited like they hadn’t heard the song in years, but I’m thinking to myself, “you probably just listened to this song on the way over here.” During one of their songs I decided to look around at the people, just to see what was going on. It was incredible. People had their eyes closed, singing the words with real passion. Almost all of them. They were feeling something, experiencing something. I turned back around to listen to the music with a smile on my face as long as the east coast. I wondered how someone could experience something like that and question the existence of God.
My question is why. Why do we respond to music the way we do? Particularly at a live concert. I have a few ideas I thought I would share.

1. I think it has a lot to do with the connection you feel between people at a concert. You are united with a group of people, singing the same music, experiencing the same moment. It really is a powerful thing. Whether it’s a worship band, or Jimmy Eat World, when I’m singing the same song with a group of people I’m somewhat overwhelmed.
2. As human beings we are created in the image of a Creator God. I think that this has a lot to do with it. People respond to created things. Whether it’s art, music, literature, nature, or origami we have this way of appreciating something that has been created. We appreciate beauty. All of us are creative in some way or another. Some people are gifted musically; some girls are really good with their make-up. Creativity is something that we all share. I think the response we have to music has a lot to do with the image we were created in.

Just some stuff to think about. Here’s a really beautiful Psalm that helps me to somewhat understand this.

“My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and make music.
Awake my soul!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.”
-Psalm 57:7-8

John Mayer and Deuteronomy

2008-04-06T08:52:00.000-07:00

So, I was driving the other day and listening to John Mayer dominate all that is the guitar, and life was good. There’s this song on his CD, Continuum, called “The Heart of Life”; it’s a very endearing song and the chorus goes likes this, “Pain throws your heart to the ground. Love turns the whole thing around. No, it won’t all go the way it should, but I know the heart of life is good.” This threw my mind into a tailspin, in a good way of course.
There seems to be this understanding amongst the human race, at least the part of the human race that I’m familiar with, that the way things are aren’t the way things are supposed to be. People, no matter what they believe about God or don’t’ believe about God, can take an honest look at the state of the world and how people behave and interact with one another, and say to some extent that it’s not exactly right. For instance, people are becoming more and more interested in social justice. You can buy clothes and etc. that go towards a beautiful cause, you can watch television shows about fixing up a house for a family who desperately needs it, or you can wear a rubber bracelet around your wrist letting everyone know what you stand for. Those bracelets rip the hair off my arms. All that to be said it seems that people can recognize that the state of the world is not the state that it should be, or the state that it could be. You can’t watch the news, or read the paper and not hear about some horrible thing happening to some undeserving person and have something well up inside of you and scream, “That’s not right!” Again, this understanding is not limited to Bible believing Christians. I was at a music festival last December, it was not a Christian music festival, I promise. I remember this one band who after talking about some incredible vulgar things described with an impressive assortment of cuss words say, “This song is for all you out there who recognize that the world is not the way its supposed to be and who want to see it different.” I remember thinking, “hey, that’s me too.”
So, if we can recognize that the world is not the way its supposed to be, then does that mean that somewhere deep down inside of us we know in some way that there is a way it’s…supposed to be? It seems that is what John is getting at in his song. I don’t think he would mind if I called him John. Maybe he’s saying, “This world is painful, but behind it all there is good that can be discovered.” See, by recognizing that the state of the world isn’t the state that it was intended to be means that there is something we have to be comparing it to. Perhaps, the way it…was intended to be?
This all makes me wonder if John was reading Deuteronomy while writing this song. I doubt it, but check this out. Concerning the law that was given to the people, the Ten Commandments, God says, “Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not in heaven, so that you have to ask, ‘who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask ‘Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?’ No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.” The way we were supposed to live isn’t something that is out of reach or beyond our understanding; it’s there inside of us.
See God’s law wasn’t intended to be something that enslaved us, or kept us from life. No, it was meant to show us how life was truly meant to be. Later in chapter 32, Deuteronomy says, “They are not just idle words for you-they are your life.”
There is no doubt in my mind that this world is not the way it was meant to be. It is a dark place and horrible things do happen. But just imagine. Imagine what it would be like if we did live the way it was intended to be. That’s what Jesus came to do. He came to forgive, but not only to forgive, but to also enable us to live the life that God intended his people to live and to escape the slavery of sin. Check out 2nd Peter chapter 1:3-4. “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them YOU MAY PARTICIPATE IN THE DIVINE NATURE AND ESCAPE THE CORRUPTION IN THE WORLD CAUSED BY EVIL DESIRES.” The divine nature. That sounds something like the way life should be. That sounds like something I would like to be a part of.
Do you see what could happen? What this world could be like? What life could be like? Jesus came to redeem us, forgive us, and then enable us to live life the way it was meant to be. This world is dark, but I don’t think it has to be. Here are some words of hope found later in 2nd Peter chapter one. Peter is speaking of God’s word, and of the truth given to us in it. It’s beautiful for people who understand that the world is not the way it should be, but who also believe and have hope that God has not only forgiven us, but has also enabled us to live the way we were intended to live. Enjoy. “And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, AS TO A LIGHT SHINNING IN A DARK PLACE, UNTIL THE DAY DAWNS AND THE MORNING STAR RISES IN YOUR HEARTS.”

Always the Bride, Never a Bridesmaid

2008-03-20T10:05:00.000-07:00

Did you know that the pineapple is the symbol of hospitality? They grace the entrance to many driveways throughout the state of South Carolina and for some reason they are supposed to be our way of saying welcome. I’ve never understood this. Take a look at the pineapple. It looks like a barbed hand grenade. The spiky little fruit doesn’t necessarily scream hospitality to me.
Anyway. I’ve bee thinking a lot about the church lately. Not a specific church, but the church in general, all of us. In 1 Timothy 2:15 Paul describes it as, “…God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” This portion of a verse has had my mind spinning for a few weeks now. When I set what the church currently seems to look like, what it stands for, next to the words, “the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth”, I can’t help but feel a little foolish.
First of all, these are just my thoughts. I am in no way an expert on the church, I’m 24 years old for crying out loud, these are just observation, mostly questions.
I’m not a big fan of bashing the church. I’ve heard people say, and even myself at one time, “I love Jesus, I’m just not down with the church.” I’ve learned that this is a contradiction. Whatever you do in the name of Jesus you do as the church, whether you call it church or not. When I read through Scripture I find that Jesus seems to be quite fond of the church, even despite its weaknesses and failures. He refers to it as His bride. Most grooms are pretty fond of their brides and probably would take offense at people bashing them. Girls can be very critical of other girl’s weddings, even if it is one of their closest friends. After its over you can hear them talking about what they liked and what they didn’t like, that sort of thing. It seems to be the liberty of the bridesmaid to be critical of the brides wedding. Here’s the thing, we’re always the bride in this story and never the bridesmaid. The church should be something fought for and not against. There is only one hope for this world and it’s not the republicans. It’s not the democrats. It’s not liberals, or conservatives, or even the United States. Nope, it’s not Oprah either. It’s God’s household, the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. It seems to me that either you’re just adding to the noise, or you’re doing something about it.
With all that being said when I look at the church right now after reading Paul’s words in 1Timothy, I have to wonder if we have it right. Is this the pillar and foundation of the truth? We’re approaching Easter and I saw on the news a local church getting ready for their Passion play and I couldn’t help but ask, “Is this the best way to communicate what happened at Easter?” I don’t know. It just seems that we so often do a little dance, sing a little song and hope people pay attention. Or there are other churches who are definitely cutting edge, who know how to put on a good show that is very appealing, and very creative, but it sometimes feels like a corporation, or just a good show.
I just see one of two tendencies, both in myself and in others. Either we whore the church out in order to build a kingdom for ourselves, or we enslave it to dusty traditions that really aren’t effective anymore.
Its when I read those words, “the pillar and foundation of the truth”, it just really makes me want to be sure my heart is right. How much of what I’m doing is about me? How much of it is about communicating the realest of realities, the deepest of truths, something that is supposed to change everything?
Church isn’t about buildings, strategies, methods, or rock shows. It’s about people. My little experience with church planting here in the states makes me wonder about a lot of church planter’s motives. A lot of times people plant a church because they are unhappy with the church they’re in. It’s not the way they think church should be done, the music’s not loud enough, or whatever. So they decide to go plant a church where they can do things the way they want to. Then what happens is the church seems to attract other people who are unhappy with their church and how loud the music is and there you have it, a church is planted. Really? I wonder if it starts with a heart for a group of people. I hope to plant a church that reaches those who haven’t been reached. Who have never had the opportunity to complain about how loud the music is.
We have to be careful with how important our identity is to us as a church. I get a little nervous when things are said like, “This is who we are”, or, “This is what we do.” Are we supposed to have an identity? Doesn’t Paul say, “I become all things to all people?” If we’re to have an identity, there it is. Compromise the Gospel? Never. Do what it takes to reach those who haven’t been reached? Yes.
One more thing and I’m done. I promise. I can’t help but wonder, “what if the church was united?” I get really excited when I think about that. What if we weren’t so isolated? What if we understood the idea of the universal church? What if we were organized? We could honestly change the world. Our differences are pretty lame aren’t they? I mean compared to a bleeding world that is looking for something to put their hope in.
I’ll close with this beautiful passage of scripture from Romans 15 and then I’ll be done. “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Heart of the Matter

2008-03-05T09:30:00.000-08:00

There’s really no cute way to start this, no interesting way to capture your attention. This is just it. This is what I’ve been steamrolled with for the past four months. I can’t escape it, I can’t avoid it, I can’t live without it. God is real and He loves me.

Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship. Go ahead, pull out the t-shrt. We’ve all heard it before, we’ve probably said it numerous times, but it’s so profoundly true. To follow Jesus isn’t about submitting yourself to a religion, it’s about entering into a relationship. We say this though as if it were something that makes it easier to follow Jesus. Almost as if all we have to do is say that and “poof” we have a relationship with God and nothing has to change. It’s our answer for everything. “Why do you Christians do this, or don’t do that?” “Well it’s because it’s not a religion, it’s a relationship.” Booyah. Now who can I high five on my team? It seems that we’re so comfortable saying this, but do we really know what it means? Has it impacted the way our lives are lived?

There’s this rich young guy that has an encounter with Jesus. I can’t help but picture him as a Tom Brady-like character. You know, the kind of guy who seems to have everything and all you want to do is mess his really cool hair up and make some crack about his shoes. Maybe that’s just me. But in Mark chapter 10 this guy whom we all would assume has it all together runs up and…falls at the feet of Jesus. He doesn’t tug Jesus’ shirt and ask if he has a few minutes to spare, he doesn’t send him an e-mail, or say, “So, I have this friend who has this problem.” This man runs up to Jesus and he falls at his feet and he asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Do you see what I see here? This is a guy that’s tired, worn out, broken, defeated. Whatever he’s been doing isn’t enough. We learn later that supposedly he’s been keeping the rules like a good Jewish rock star should his whole life, but its not working. In the words of Bono, “he still hasn’t found what he’s looking for.”

After asking him about his obedience to the rules, it says that Jesus looked at him and loved him and then told him to go sell everything he had, give it to the poor, and then to come follow him. This was basically Jesus telling this guy to put the commandments into practice. The two greatest commandments were to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. This would have been demonstrated by giving what he had to the poor and then to go follow Jesus. Normally I would read this and be like, “Woah Jesus, settle down, can’t you tell that this guy is broken. Aren’t you being a little harsh?” That’s before I read Jesus’ command through what he says in verse 21. “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” What Jesus was doing was in no way harsh. He was offering him a way out. He was attempting to rescue him from religion.

He was trying to earn eternal life. Not live in it. Jesus would later say that eternal life is to know the Father. This was the most compassionate thing Jesus could do. Stop trying to earn it. Quit subscribing to a list of do’s and don’t’s, quit trying to present yourself as ok, quit following a set of rules, and…follow me.

The commandments that God gave to His people Israel were never meant to be just a set of rules that they were supposed to follow because God wanted them to. It was how they would actually be able to know God, how they would enter into a relationship with him. Read Deuteronomy 6:4-9, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”

These commandments should find there home in our hearts, not our minds. They are a way of life, a way of communication. Rob Bell points out that what is really going on here is God is entering into a marriage contract with His people. This is what is expected of you, and this is what you can expect of me.

His commandments are not meant to restrict or suffocate us. They are meant to guide us into life, the way it was meant to be. God says in Deuteronomy 30, “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.” He says later in the chapter, “Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life…” It almost seems as if God is pleading is chapter 5 of Deuteronomy, “Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever.” God desires us to obey so that we can experience life abundantly, as Christ would put it, the way life was meant to be. Life filled with love, joy, peace, compassion, forgiveness, grace, and truth. God is real, and He loves me.

This is where obedience is born. What I do and what I don’t do is not just about me following the rules, but it’s about me communicating to God that I love Him, and that His way is right. My disobedience is betrayal. Let that word sink in. It’s not necessarily God’s rules that are broken, but it’s His heart.

Think about it. We find the resurrected Jesus standing with Peter on a beach only a few days after Peter has denied Jesus three times. What is the question Jesus asks Peter? It’s not, “Are you sorry?”, or “How are you going to fix this, make this right?” He asks, “Do you love me?” And that’s always the question we are presented with. Do we love God?

Why do I say all of this? I think its because we miss out on so much, everything really, when our faith is nothing more than a bunch of stuff we know. 1 Corinthians 8:1-3 says, “We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God.” What we… know? What can we know about a God that has no limits? You finish right where you started with Him, infinitely behind. But we can love Him. We can be in a relationship with Him.

So right now. Stop. Be devastated by the fact that there is a God and that He loves you. Right now He fills up the space in the room you are sitting in. He is there. He is in the air you just breathed. He holds you together. Be quiet. Listen. He’s there. Right now. Acts 17 says that in Him we live and move and have our being. God is real, and He loves you.

Why I Need You

2008-02-25T09:44:00.000-08:00

One of the best things to happen to me in a while is getting to be a part of what we at Midtown call a life group. It’s basically a group of guys who don’t pretend to have it all together, but who genuinely want to be more like Christ. You guys are amazing.

God has taught me a lot through this group, namely, the power of sharing life together. We were talking a few weeks ago about what to do when you feel apathetic. You know, those times when you know how much Christ loves you, but you just aren’t experiencing it. You can’t really get excited about anything, you feel somewhat numb. What do you do? I’d hate to say it, but this is a place that those of us who follow Christ will find ourselves more often than we would like.

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:16-19

I’ve read this passage so many times, but the last time I read it something jumped out at me that I’ve never really paid much attention to before. It’s the “together with all the saints” part. Here’s what I got to thinking; maybe the only way we can experience the width, length, height, and depth of Christ is by being in community with all the saints. What do you think? Paul says this love surpasses knowledge. It’s not just knowing it, its experiencing it, its encountering it…together. Are we the primary vessel by which God communicates His love to us? I think so.

Romans 15: 5-6 says, “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Endurance and encouragement seem to be good remedies for apathy. How do we receive that? Unity perhaps? I’m seeing this trend everywhere in Scripture. Jesus says the two greatest commandments are to love the Lord, your God with all your heart, mind, and strength and then to love your neighbor as yourself.

Here’s why this is important. When we are apathetic, when we are depressed, when we find ourselves backsliding, or something devastating happens we have a tendency to withdraw and to isolate, don’t we? When we aren’t experiencing God’s love we pull away from the primary vessel by which God show’s His love, people.

We were talking in my life group about how energizing our times together are. If I’m honest, on my way to life group I’m not exactly looking forward to it. I’m tired from work, I feel sucked dry from trying to motivate people all day, and I’m not really sure I feel all that excited about doing the whole spiritual thing. On my way home from life group that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I feel like I could conquer the world. I feel inspired, I feel refreshed, I feel…loved.

A few weeks ago I was about to go into work and I was worn out, and a bit grumpy. My roommate Heathe, and I started catching up on what God was up to in our lives. After about a 15 minute conversation my work wasn’t ready for me. I was a different person. From a 15 minute conversation?

In fact some of the moments when I’ve felt the closest to God are moments spent in my kitchen. For some reason that’s where all the good conversation takes place. Sitting on the countertops, telling stories, laughing until my throat is sore. Or like this summer when we had a college Bible study in my living room. People, just talking about life and God, saw a group grow from about 5 to over 30 in a few weeks. Talking about God is pretty appealing.

So maybe you’re feeling apathetic, lethargic, un-inspired. Maybe you’re backsliding, forgetting your first love. Maybe you’re battling depression or maybe something has totally destroyed the world you live in. Stop trying to sort it out on your own. You can’t. Try this. Try starting a conversation with someone with these words, “God is…” or “God isn’t…” and see what happens from there. Rob Bell says that two of the most powerful words in the universe are, “me too.”

You need people. I need people. People need us. Who are we making ourselves available to? Who are we sharing life with? It seems to me that in order to not just know that God loves us, but to actually experience it, feel it, we need each other. This is why I need you, and this is why you need me.

Easy

2008-02-24T11:26:00.000-08:00

My favorite part of a song has to be the part where all the other instruments drop out except the drums and vocals. I think I like it because it draws your attention to what’s being said and it offers an opportunity for the audience to participate by singing the lyrics back as loud and as bad as they can. I don’t know what musicians call this part, but I call it my favorite part. That’s what everyone should call it from here on out, Nick’s favorite part. That would be awesome.

I know I used this in my last blog, but I want to use it again.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give rest for your souls. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

I’m about to do something that I normally don’t like doing. I’m about to use a dry dusty word that is going to require me to explain what I mean. I feel as though we Christians operate with far too many presuppositions in how we present Christ to people. Did you catch the word? Presuppositions; what we already assume to be true. For instance, trying to get someone to believe that they should trust Jesus because the Bible says he is the Son of God. When we say that we are assuming that the Bible is true, and that is has authority to tell us what we should believe. Do you see the problem? What if someone says, “Well I don’t think the Bible is true, I think its made up.” I do think that the Bible is the word of God and I do think that you can believe and trust Jesus because the Bible tells us to, but maybe we’re getting ahead of ourselves in terms of communicating the person of Jesus to others.

I was listening to some Jacky J (Jack Johnson) this morning and there’s a line in a song that almost made me label him as a prophet. “Love is the answer for at least most of the questions in my heart. Like why are we here? And where do we go? And how come it’s so hard?” I found myself saying, “Yeah Jack, me too.” I don’t know what Jack Johnson believes about the world we live in, but I do think that we can agree on what people long for and how we should be treated. Maybe in a general way, maybe not even specifically, but there’s bound to be a connection there.

I think that the most appealing thing about Christianity is…Jesus. No, seriously. The way that Jesus lived and the way he taught us to live is probably something most people can agree on as being a beautiful way to live. A life spent loving people, forgiving people, giving yourself to what’s right, compassion, humility, integrity. These are things that people can generally agree on as being things that make this world…better.

That’s what Jesus is saying in Matthew. He is saying, come follow me, learn from me, live the way I live. A yoke was understood to be the teachings of a Rabbi. When you took their yoke upon you, you held to their teachings. Holding to the teachings of Jesus will bring rest for our souls.

Maybe how we convince people to trust Jesus is to show them Jesus. Groundbreaking. Maybe less time reading books that prove historicity of Christ and more time spent reading the Gospels would do our world some good.

“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.” 1 John 4:16-17

Hey You, Chin Up

2008-02-17T11:03:00.000-08:00

"REEEEEEE...MIIIIIXXXX." When I used to hear this at the beginning of a song I would roll my eyes because I thought it was somewhat ridiculous. Most of the time the remixed version of a song wasn't all that different from the original version, they'd add like a synthesized clap or a baby crying or something like that. But have you ever belted out the word remix? Its fantastic. Honestly. Its a bit empowering. It could even be one of my new favorite things to do. I now understand why the remixers get so into it. Give it a shot, its great.

"As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fisherman. 'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will make you fishers of men.' At once they left their nets and followed him." Mark 1:16-18

I used to read this passage and see Andrew and Simon leave their nets in some sort of hypnotic trance and follow this strange glowing Jesus, like he was some sort of martian or something. A lot of us have debated why they were so quick to follow Jesus. Some people say its because there was something about Jesus, something attractive, and I'm sure that's definitely part of the reason, but I feel like there's a whole lot more going on here.

I've heard this passage preached on a lot and you can learn a bunch of really interesting things if you do a little digging into the Jewish culture. The position of Rabbi wasn't something that kids decided to be, it was something they earned, see they were chosen. I've heard it said that every Jewish boy dreamed about being a Rabbi. They were the most respected people around. You were mandated to greet them with a kiss for crying out loud. Every boy began the journey to become a Rabbi together and as the process continued those that couldn't cut it were weeded out and left behind. Now if someone didn't have what it took to be a Rabbi he would return home to take on the trade of their father. Here's where we find Simon and Andrew...fishing. They were fisherman. Their dream wasn't being realized.

This is why I think they were so quick to follow Jesus. He was a Rabbi, a mysterious one at that. At his baptisim a few verses before, God Himself spoke about him, and John the Baptist seemed to think he was someone important. This Rabbi has offered our dream back to us. "Come follow me" was an invitation to these boys to do what Jesus was doing, it was a invitation to remember their dream.

Do you ever feel like you're just trying to get by? I know that the first year out of college for a lot of graduates is hard. You find yourself stuck in a cycle. You repeat what you did the day before. You wake up, go to work, come home, go to bed just to wake up the next day to repeat yourself. You begin to ask, what happened to the dreams I used to have? They've met head first with reality and now they seem almost silly and embarassing. I'm just working for the weekend. Trust me, this is a horrible way to live, but I think it describes most of America. Idealists and dreamers are looked down upon. People say they've lost touch with reality, their heads are in the clouds, things like that. When we live this way life is no longer life...its merely existence.

This why the invitation by Jesus is so great. His invitation is for you to remember your dream. The dream and the hope that your life actually counts for something. That there's more out there than this cyclical lifestyle that repeates itself day after day. There's a kingdom to advance, their is adventure to be had, right now, right here. Seriously. Think about what must be going on around you, in you, and about you if what we say we believe is actually...true. That there is a God that has created everything we see, touch, smell, think, and hear. That this God holds everything together, He holds the oceans in the palm of His hands, but He is also as close as to you as the very air you breathe, that He actually lives inside of you. That how we live actually impacts how things are and how things will be. That we are involved in a battle against darkness and the darkness is fading. See...the dream is alive, the dream is real and at every second of our day eternity dances at our fingertips.

You don't just go to work everyday. You aren't just finishing up college. You don't just go to high school. You're not just a parent, son, daughter, husband, wife, boyfriend, or girlfriend. You are God's workmanship...God's fiction, God's dream come true, created to do what He's dreamed about you doing. You were designed to encounter the devine, the eternal. All the time. Right now. It doesn't start later, or when you're ready...its happening now. The dream is still alive, and more than that...its real. You were designed to do more than exist, you were created to be alive.

Here's the invitation offered to us by Jesus, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" Matthew 11:28-30.

Here's to having the courage to dream again and the faith to believe that we have our dreams for a reason.

Real

2008-02-11T10:22:00.000-08:00

I had to have an examination done a few days ago becauese I'm getting a new life insurance policy. The company sent a nurse to the house to give me my examination. Anyone else think this sounds kind of shady? Yeah, me too. Thats why I found it totally necessary to set the mood before she got there. You know, put on my bathrobe, close the blinds, light all the candles in the house and make sure some Kenny G was playing in the background. Alright, that didn't happen, but it really should have.

I've had some really interesting things happen to me lately. I've been a bit frustrated because I heard myself talking about how I have a heart for the homeless and how I want to "change the world", but I really didn't see myself doing anything about it. It really started to bother me. I really wanted a relationship with someone that I could...love, someone I could serve. The frustrating thing is that my schedule, probably like everyone elses, is a bit crazy. I was having a hard time trying to figure out how I was going to be able to go downtown through the week and see this happen. So, one day I was driving home from class and praying about this. I was very frustrated. I knew God had put this desire on my heart, but I didn't know how it was going to happen. So I prayed that God would make it happen. I'm home from class for ten minutes, TEN MINUTES, and I hear a knock on my door...in Lexington, South Carolina. I go to my door and there is standing, at my front door, a homeless woman named Deborah. She wanted a piece of furniture that we were throwing out. We spent some time together that day and we have been hanging out quite a bit since then. I tell you this not to pat myself on the back, but to share with you how real our God is. It blew my mind. Its still blowing my mind.

Here's where I'm at right now. I've heard myself talk about wanting to make the world a better place, about how I want to love people, grow the kingdom and all of that hoopla, but if I'm honest, most of the time I'm just trying to sound interesting. Truthfully, its cool to be involved in social action right now, people are all fired up about being involved in the next great cause, but do we mean it? Are we just looking for t-shirts? Are we just trying to sound interesting? We love to go to church and worship with our hands raised, but what are our hands doing after the service is over? Who are they serving? We join facebook groups, read the popular books, quote the revolutionaries, but who are we loving? What makes this movement real and not just a fad? Its people who are eager to do good to others. I'll leave you with this, some Scripture, the real Word of God.

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9

"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, paitent in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; morn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited." Romans 12:9-16

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us no love with with words or tongue, but with actions, and in truth." 1 John 3:16-18

This Is What Happens

2008-02-04T10:50:00.000-08:00

I have no idea what I'm about to say, I've just been thinking some lately...

I bought a bowling glove when I was a kid, and I'm struggling to remember why. I didn't bowl that often and I wasn't really good at it. But I do remember convincing myself that I had to have this bowling glove. I think I even spent my own money on it. I remember wearing it in my bedroom, but never to a bowling alley. I must have thought it either looked somewhat "cool" or was I hoping it would give me magic powers.

For anyone that knows me, I somehow manage to quote a line from either Hook, Mrs. Doubtfire, or The Sandlot almost everyday. This isn't something that I try to do, it just happens. I found out that there's a sequel to The Sandlot and it features a girl on the team. This bothers me. A lot actually. Men...how do you feel about this? That was our movie! You know, "you play ball like a girl", that sort of thing. There can't be a girl on the team. Can't we have anything anymore? Honestly. You have Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants or whatever. How about we make a movie, The Brotherhood of the Traveling Slacks? Alright so that was a bit much.

Do you ever stop and think about how complicated a single moment in time is? Well if you haven't, try it sometime. Every moment involves so much. It all depends upon where you are, how you feel, what is going on, etc, etc. They are so intricate and complicated it almost makes my head hurt. The thing that really gets my head spinning is that everyone is sharing the same moment in time, but doing incredibly diverse things with it. Like right now, what is an Amish guy doing with this moment in time...not blogging thats for sure. What's he thinking about? What is important to him? Ah whatever, now this is getting weird. It just makes me feel small. There are so many stories out there that have nothing to do with me. Its actually kind of comforting.

And this is what happens when my brain gets to have recess.

This Is It

2008-01-30T08:38:00.000-08:00

God loves you. Read it again. Again. At least one more time. This is it. This is where everything starts. This is how it finishes. This has to be the message the church, us, those that follow Jesus, will scream at the top of our lungs. This is what we have to be saying with a fierceness in our eyes that proves we believe it. This is where we find life, this is where we die. God's love. Its real. Its everything.

Why are people...people? Why are we here? Whats our "purpose?" All of those stuffy intellectual questions we ask around expensive cups of coffee find there answer somewhere in this truth. God loves you. I recently had a discussion with some people, fellow believers, about why we are here. The favored explanation was for God's glory. To bring glory to God. This is so true, but I don't think it satisfies my question. Put down your rock, and let me explain. When asked why we are here, why God created us I have a hard time believing that the answer is "for God's glory", because that sounds to me like before God created us He was lacking in something, glory perhaps? Was God sitting around in the cosmos and thinking, "I'm just not getting enough glory up here, what to do about that..." Now don't get me wrong, I do think everything, including us, exists for the sole purpose of bringing God glory, but I don't think its "why" we are here. I wonder if why God created us is more about what God would give then what He would get.

I think its because God loves us. Think about it. God, the best thing there is, who is not lacking in anything decided to create something that could share how good He is. I've heard it said that the most selfless thing a perfect being could offer would be Himself. So why did God create us? To give Himself. The best thing He could give. Because He loves us. The reason we were brought into existence is because God loves us. God loved us so much that we were created in a way that when we give God glory, enjoy just how good He is, we are most satisfied.

We have to understand this. We have to communicate this. Because this is where everything starts and ends. When we experience God's love, all that is required of us is to respond to it. That's what this is all about. Responding to the love of our Creator. Obedience isn't just obedience, its a response of love. Its the product of a relationship. Its not just following rules for the sake of following rules, its living in a way that allows you to have a relationship with God, who loves you. I've heard it said that your head will let you get away with a lot more than your heart will.

My friend told me about a conversation he had with a family member who is struggling to understand his position with God. The family member asked, "I just don't know where I stand. What am I supposed to do?" My friend responded with, "Its not about what you do." Its about realizing you're loved by God and then responding to that love.

Some of us claim to love God, to follow Him, but do we though? Really? I would like to think that to be loved by God means to find my satisfaction, my identity, my security, my worth, in Him, how He feels about me. To love Him back would be to live like a person who finds my satisfaction, identity, security and worth in Him. What are we wanting to love us?

We...love because God first...loved...us. This is it.

Charleston

2008-01-28T06:25:00.000-08:00

Over the past few weeks I've had a lot of people ask me about the possible church plant in Charleston so I thought I'd share briefly with whats in the mix. I'm not going to be overly detailed here on the world wide web, buuuut here's what I'm thinking. For those of you who want to know more e-mail me at nicholas.charles1010@gmail.com and maybe we could arrange a time where we could all get together and chat.

Here's the deal. God has given me a passion for church planting. Duh. I've been somewhat crazy about the city of Charleston since I moved to South Carolina. I get really excited when I think about what could happen if you took something similar to what is going on at Midtown and offered it to the city of Charleston. It would have to be different in some respects, but you get my drift.
Charleston is a city of extremes. I'm no expert, but from what I've seen and from the people I've talked to that have and do live there, that seems to be case. The economy is incredibly lopsided, you can find some of the most wealthy people in South Carlolina living right next to some of the poorest. The social/racial realtions don't look a whole lot different from how they probably were 50 years ago, and even if they do look different, they're nowhere near healthy. The city has so much potential. Just imagine what could happen there if a group of people shared with them the love of Christ, lived the way Jesus did. What would happen if one group of people started to care about another group of people and decided to make it different. There's a lot more, but we can save that for later. If you're interested in hearing more, send me an e-mail and maybe we can all get together. Peace!

Snooze You Lose

2008-01-27T11:26:00.000-08:00

Rock Band. It brings people together. Maybe we should play it after communion. What's up with me and communion? Rock Band, you should play it, and hug someone, or just figh five them, but like you mean it.

So I'm feeling a little convicted. Go figure. That seems to happen quite a bit when I'm reading Scripture. The good thing about conviction though is that it brings hope, not guilt. Anyway. I owe the conviction to this little diddy of Scripture;

"And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light."
Romans 13:11-12

I'm a little tired of compromising. Of putting this relationship with God and the purpose He has for my life on hold. It's almost like I hit the snooze button on what I'm going to do with my life. Don't we all kind of do that though? We're not ready to give Him all that we have, we're not ready to love Him with our entire being. I've heard myself and others say things like, "I'm young, I'm just enjoying myself." It's as if we believe that we're allowed a certain number of our years to live how we want to with no consequence then once we're out of college, have a job, maybe thirty or something, we will live our lives in love with God.

I just feel like we're waisting our time. I mean if we really believe that loving God is what we were created to do and if obeying Him is how we demonstrate that love, then why don't we do it? Its not a matter of being moral for the sake of just being good. Or trying to make yourself "ok", or being better than someboyd else, or holy-er than thoug, its a matter of loving God, and being loved by Him. Its like we're cheating on Him with all the crap this world has to offer.
I guess I just feel like its time to wake up. I don't want to find myself twenty years down the road saying things like, "I never thought I'd end up here."

I like what Donald Miller says, "Time, which was God’s friend, is now His enemy, and you and I are going to end with it soon. If you will lift a glass of wine with me, I would like to remember Him: Here’s to Christ for making us, to Christ for rescuing us, and to Christ, who gives hope for tomorrow.”

Here's to being awake. Here's to loving God and finding our purpose and meaning from being loved by Him. Here's to living life to the fullest, all that it could be, all that it should be. I'm tired of waiting.

I'm Screaming It

2008-01-24T09:15:00.000-08:00

Conversations with people dressed in ski gear are quite refreshing. You really have no idea what they look like and you talk to them with no preconcieved notion about who they are or what they are like. Plus everyone looks fluffy, perhaps a bit jolly even. I kind of just want to push them down and watch them try to get up. I mean that in the nicest way.

Read this, its the Bible, you have to.
"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."
Romans 12:9-12

Nothing gets under my skin more than when those of us who follow Jesus live in despair. I don't understand. Its almost like we have given up, as if the fights over. The world is not beyond reach. I don't know if you know this or not, but in the end God wins. Its almost like we see the darkness of the world we live in and ask, "Why bother?" This is what I'm screaming, "BE JOYFUL IN HOPE, PATIENT IN AFFLICTION, FAITHFUL IN PRAYER!" Yes, the world is often a dark place, full of despair, but check out 1 John 2: 8, "the darkness is passing and the true light is already shinning." The end of the Romans 12 passage says this, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

What if? What if we believed that what Jesus came to start, the dream and intention God had for His creation could actually be a reality? What if in those moments of despair when the question, "Why bother?" shows up, we instead asked, "How can I not bother?" That would be something. That would be everything.

You

2008-01-17T12:10:00.000-08:00

Communion breath smells bad. The combination of grape juice and bread does not produce a pleasant aroma. Maybe I just have a case of halitosis.

Lately I've been blown away by the power of community. I went on the "Family Vacation" with my church, Midtown, last weekend. Something like 75 people went to Gatlinburg and packed into two cabins to share our stories with each other. It was incredible. Its nice to be a part of something you can believe in, something you can give your life to.

It just got me thinking about how important it is for us, human beings, to be in community with one another. Its not just a good idea, its essential. I was reading the creation account in Genesis, and most of us are familiar with what God said after creating something, "It is good." Kind of like me after I finish eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Especially a sandwich made with cold bread, grape jelly, and crunch peanut butter. Its nice to if the sandwich has actually been in existence for a while so the jelly is coming through the outside of the bread, all smooshed up like somebody sat on it. Anyway...

Did you know that there is actually one time before the fall of man that God actually says "It is not good..." Really He does. Genesis chapter 3 God says, "It is not good for man to be alone." I find this very compelling. God looks at Adam, the perfect creation, without flaw, someone who finds their worth entirely in his Creator, and sees that he's lonely. I mean this guy is perfect, with out insecurity and he's lonely, and God recognizes that. This is before sin, all the bad stuff, is introduced into creation so nothing is "wrong" at this point, but God still says its not good for man to be alone. So its ok that I don't like to be alone? Its ok that I need companionship? Absolutely.

In John 17 Jesus prays for this. He prays that we, you and me, will be united, be one as the Father and Son are one. Unity. Companionship. We need each other. Its funny though because whenever we are struggling with something we have a tendency to retreat. We become recluses. We even advice people to do this. "All you need is God right now, focus on Him." Or we find ourselves saying things like "I just need to get away from everybody, I need some just me and God time." I do think that we need solitude, times of intimacy with God, but here's Adam, perfect without flaw and God see's him alone and says its not good.
God works through people. Always has, always will. We need each other. We need to share our burdens, our accomplishments, our joys, our sorrows. Not for fulfilment, not for worth, but for companionship. I need that. I need you.

Mud In Your Eyes

2008-01-07T09:36:00.000-08:00

New Years, as fun as it was, is always a bit of a let down. It never lives up to its expectations. I did however enjoy my New Years Eve. Rock Band is simply amazing.

So I ran out of coffee filters the other day. How does that happen? I feel like that's something that you should see coming. Thanks to good friends that are gracious enough to give me some coffee filters.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and encouragements, it really does mean a lot. God is big, really big.

John chapter 9 has become one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. Its the story of when Jesus heals a man born blind. The chapter starts off with the disciples asking the question, "who sinned, this man or his parents? that he was born blind?" Interesting question. Jesus lets them know that it was neither, but it was so that work of God could be displayed in his life. Back to the question though. They are asking essential what is the source of this imperfection. I was trying to think why I would ask this question, why I would want to know how this man ended up being born blind. I came to conclusion that I would probably ask this question to know how to avoid this happening to me.
I think this lets us in on how humans view sin and how it affects our lives. Our view of sin is far to small. We think of it only as the actions that we do, things we do wrong. Its much bigger than that. Sometimes I feel like we look at sin as something, for some unknown reason, God chose to hate and the only reason we're not supposed to do it is because God just doesn't like it. God doesn't like sin because God can't like sin. Its the complete opposite of God. Sin is rebellion to God. Sin is what has broken and destroyed God's creation. Its more than just what we do, its what we're born into. This man's blindness wasn't the result of some one's individual sin, but it was the result of being born into a war-torn creation that has been devastated by sin. A bit of helplessness creeps in.
I feel like they're asking the question in hopes of discovering some sort of formula. What must I do/not do, what steps do I have to take in order to prevent this from happening to me? We can't, we're broken. We need to be fixed. We need the work of God, we need to be restored. That's what Jesus does...
Its bizarre actually. Jesus spit in the dirt, made a mud pie and smeared it on the man's eyes. This is how Jesus heals him. Interesting. The debate is over the the cause of the blindness. Jesus somewhat answers the question with the method of the healing. See in Genesis chapter 2 it says that God formed man from the dust, from the dirt. He breathed into it. Jesus heals the man with what he's made out of.
We're broken versions of what we were meant to be. We need the work of God in our lives. We need to be restored. The hope though is that Jesus doesn't want to make us into something we're not, but instead to restore us to what we were always meant to be.

Tragedy

2007-12-27T08:57:00.001-08:00

I recently discovered my passion for splitting logs. It is so much fun. I honestly don't think I've experienced an emotional roller coaster quite like it. There's nothing better than seeing a log split under the power of my swing, aaand nothing more disheartening than watching the axe bounce off the top of top of the log, leaving the piece of wood in tact, and mocking me.

I have this suspicion that while creating their beloved masterpieces many artists had their audinece in mind. I don't think they created their work thinking, "I wonder what they'll like." I think it was probably more like a desperate attempt to get something that was internally consuming them, out. Much like giving birth. Gross.

So here's what I was thinking about during Christmas. I was confronted with the tragedy of Christmas. Seriously. Read this..."Through him all things were made; with out him nothing was made that has been made.....He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not recieve him." John 1:3, 10-11.

There's something terribly wrong with this picture. God, our source, our origin, our purpose comes to us, and what should be the most easily recognizable thing, the most anticipated arrival wasn't recieved at all. Tragedy. I can look in our world though and I can see this. Can't you? Its suprisingly easy to look and see a world that's not the way it was intended to be. It seems somewhat lacking, something is missing, things are damaged. That's a truth most people can agree on whether they believe in God or not.

Is there anything more painful to watch than someone trying to be somebody they're not? Ah, it's almost unbearable! I think thats why I have such a hard time watching Meet the Parents...Focker...you're so akward. I love The Office, but goodness Michael can drive me nuts. Maybe you've been that guy who has butted in on a conversation and pretended to know what they were talking about when you really didn't. My skin is crawling just thinking about it. Is this what we look like? A bunch of people standing around the preverbial water cooler all pretending to know what's going on? There's a good chance.

This is the tragedy of Christmas to me. God, what defines us, presents Himself to us and we don't even recogize Him. Ouch. The pain He must have felt, and still feels. Donald Miller says it like this, "I don't think we can understand the pain a pure love would feel after being betrayed by the focus of its love."

But there is hope to be found in Christmas, one verse down actually. "Yet to all who recieve him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-children born not of a natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." John 1:12-13

There is a hope out there. You do have a defenition, an origin, a purpose and He came here to rescue us. Merry Christmas.

Do You See What I See...?

2007-12-17T06:03:00.000-08:00

I've never experienced a time in my life where God has answered so many prayers, done so much, or been so evident. Yesterday I felt the urge to thank Him individually for all the things He has done and so I wrote them down. As I went down the list expressing my gratitude for each "blessing" I began to feel rather foolish. I found that the response that I wanted to express wasn't necessarily gratitude for the things God had given me, but it was something deeper. It was the mind blowing truth that He is...real, and if God is real, then by definition He is worthy of my gratitude. I don't think the benefit of answered prayer is found in the answers themselves, but its in the face to face encounter with a real, powerful God that knows you.

Something else I've noticed is this; the more obedient I've become the more liberal I think. Hear me out. Not liberal in a political sense, not loose on my morals, or on the truths that I believe in, but on the way that I choose to let these truths flesh out. Its like when I actually have an "aha" moment about something that has to do with God and what He's about I can't stand to put it in a box and look at it one way. The Gospel and Jesus Christ are bigger than myself and my pea sized brain. Why do we have to do things the way we have always done them? I'm not sure all of these great men who we've started our beloved denominations after ever intended for us to be reaching people the same way they did hundreds of years ago. They saw the lost and they discovered a way to reach them, a way that was probably a little liberal for their time. Wesley took bar songs and wrote lyrics for them that taught theology. Here's to being a little liberal.

Along those lines I've also started to discover another interesting relationship. It seems the more obedient I've become the more compassion I have for the broken, for sinners. I'm not going to lie, I've seen a decrease of personal sin in my life and I take absolutely no credit for it, I am far from perfect, I'm still wretched, no good, and all the sorts of things that people who are filled with humility tend to say :), but I am more Christlike than I was a few months ago. That being the case I can honestly say that I look at people who are drenched in sin, held captive by it and my first reaction isn't to judge them, but it is to have compassion on them. Don't mistake this for tolerance, but I want more and more for them to have a encounter with Jesus. I know what its like to live a life along side of Him, and its great. I don't want to make them feel like they can't do it because they're so "wicked", but its my hope that they can understand that Jesus believes that they don't have to live that way anymore. It really is an interesting relationship.

Please disregard anything you could take offense at, this is my blogg and I can ramble as much as I'd like. Other than that...God bless us, every one.

Murky Waters

2007-12-13T06:11:00.000-08:00

I wish I could play the drums. I've decided that is my favorite instrument. I thought it was the piano for a while, but its not. The piano is now second. I want to be a drummer. Don't go and get any ideas and buy me a set of drums, or they'll do exactly what my bass and keyboard is doing right now...collect dust.

I get to be a part of this life group with my church, Midtown, and it is by far the best thing that's happened to me in a long time. These guys are so authentic and genuine, not to mention unbelievably attractive. I think that's why they put us all together, to have the best looking life group ever.

Ok, so here's what I'm thinking about right now. Christianity today is so clouded. I find myself tired of sorting through agendas in order to hear truth. It shouldn't be this way. I'm thinking its like this, there's Jesus and this incredible truth He embodied, this way of living He demonstrated, and then for the past 2000 years we've piled on layer after layer of man made crap. I said crap, could have said something else. The even scarier thing is that we've convinced ourselves that some, and maybe even a lot, of this crap is necessary. I just want to peel back these layers and immerse myself in the raw and original truth of the Gospel, but whats sad is that more often than not when someone starts to do this, peel back the layers of man made religion, they are labeled as a heretic, and that's an ugly word.

Here's whats really scary. I did a bunch of research a while ago about Elijah and why what he did was so important. He's labeled as the greatest prophet ever in the Old Testament, but honestly when you read his story compared to the rest of the prophets, it really doesn't seem like he did as much as the rest of them, but anyway. So Ahab was king while he was a prophet and his wife was Jezebel, major witch. It says that Ahab angered God more than any of the kings before him. Why you might ask...let me tell you. Before Ahab, all the kings allowed, encouraged, and embraced the worshiping of idols. I found out that the worshiping of idols wasn't necessarily replacing God with a different deity, but they were often seen as something that allowed worship God. It was like, hey, here's this golden object...worship it and it will help you reach God. Ahab on the other hand replaced God with Baal, and I mean what jealous one true God wouldn't get peeved about this?

But back to the idol thing. A lot of times they weren't attempts to replace God, but things that were seen as necessary aides in order to reach God...hmmm. Could some of these "layers" we've piled on our faith, that we've made a part of this thing we called Christianity actually be idols? Things that we've labeled as necessities in order to understand Jesus, that actually... aren't? I'm just asking, maybe you should to.

I just want to let Jesus breathe. I know He doesn't need my help, but He's pretty incredible on His own.

It's Not Always, Always

2007-12-10T05:16:00.000-08:00

When driving, why does it take some people so long to turn right? It's almost as if they picture themselves in the Olympics, "here we go, the approach is good, now oh, oh, oh, yessss, stuck it." Shut up and turn already, your blinker's going to burn out.

The fact that lost love hurts as much as it does proves to me its worth living for. If it is that noticeable when it's gone, then honestly, what is it?

Trevor and I were talking the other day, you know discussing how to change the world from the kitchen counter-top, and he said something that has been bouncing around in my head for a while. He said in one way or another that the older we get the less we buy into absolutes. Absolutes are things that we label as "always", or "all the time." I totally agree. There really are very, very few absolutes in this life. People aren't always like this, things don't always turn out like that.

But there really is beauty in this. It seems to me that life pushes us towards a relational way of living. Things don't fit into formulas. People don't fit into equations. God doesn't exist inside of a method. It is though how we seem to approach these things. If I treat this person this way, say these certain things, follow these steps, then this will happen. I haven't found this to be true very often. God is the same way. I find myself thinking, if I read this much scripture, say these prayers, have this attitude, this behavior then God will respond the way I want Him to. Is He God, or is He a video game? When I think this way I'm not relating to a living God, I'm relating to a method, a equation, a formula, and not a divine being.

What God wants is for us to know Him. To ask Him, "Why did you do that?" Things aren't always so black and white, but that's ok, we tend to enjoy the colors anyway.

I think something incredible happens when we approach people this way as well. We very good at trying to wrap somebody up in a single moment based on first impressions or stereotypes. We see them behaving a certain way and we sum them up instantly. An entire life defined in a moment.

Jesus didn't do this. I heard a really good sermon last night on Luke chapter 7 by my friend Dustin Willis. It's the story of the woman, a prostitute, that washed Jesus' feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, and covered them with expensive perfume. I was thinking about how differently the religious guys looked at her compared to how Jesus looked at her. The religious guys saw her as a prostitute, a horrible person living a horrible life, they summed her up in an instant. Jesus didn't do that. He looked at her in love, with compassion. Jesus looked at her and not only saw her in her current condition, but also her whole life, everything that brought her to that moment. He knew, because He is God, that this woman's dream from the time she was a child wasn't to grow up and become a prostitute, but that a lot of things happened to get her there. Jesus' compassion on this woman not only forgave her of her sins, but it set her free from a life controlled by them. She knew after that moment that Jesus understood, but also that she didn't have to live that way anymore.

Life is relational. With God and with each other. It can be painful, but even then it still shows itself to be beautiful.

The one-eyed critic

2007-11-29T02:31:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who reads this and double thanks to those of you who have sent me messages about what I think about. It really means a lot!

I like the way rain on hot pavement smells, but I don't like the dead worms scattered all over the place.

I'm going to Tampa, Fla this weekend for The Next Big Thing music festival. Jimmy Eat World, Angels and Airwaves, Mute Math, Paramore, Sum 41, Shiny Toy Guns and a whole lot more. Not to mention Michael, Matt, and Rob. Its going to be great.

I don't like it when someone slaps you on the lower back, even if its on accident, it hurts, and the kind of hurt that makes me angry. Its kind of funny actually.

Do you have any idea how many half read books I have sitting around my room? Probably not. Well there's like 5. Half read books...is that grammatically correct?

One thing I'm getting tired of doing is critiquing other people. It really is getting old. People who like to communicate scripture also like to listen to other people that like to communicate scripture on podcasts and things like that. But we also like to decide who is better than who and who is legit and who preaches the Word better and on and on and on. I don't mind having preferences and favorites, but I'm tired of calling someone right and another person wrong. Its too close to the whole judging thing.

It seems that we humans love to sit back and judge the world according to our standards our rules and we really have no idea about their world, or their rules. I think perhaps why Jesus had such a problem with judging has to do with the fact that good ole Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That sounds like the knowledge to be able to determine whats right and whats wrong...the knowledge that enables one to judge perhaps? That right is reserved for Mr. Almighty Himself and I'm quite alright with letting Him do it. Judgement looks an awful lot like the first rebellion, but then again so do a lot of other things that I find myself doing.

Thinking

2007-11-25T08:47:00.000-08:00

I saw August Rush last night. Pretty good movie. Although I think it was the cheesy version of what it should have been. That makes since to me. Dialogue was a little weak, but it was a great story. It touches on the truth that music is powerful. Robin Williams who played a crazy street musician named Wizard said, "Music is God's little reminder that there's more than this, more than us out there." Well put.

Girls smell so much better than boys.

You should listen to the podcast Story by Donald Miller when he spoke at Mars Hill. Its interesting. Here's to telling a good story.

"To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice." Proverbs 21:3
-You could talk about this from many different angles, but it seems we're quicker to give something up or deprive ourselves from something for God than we are to do what is right. Is this easier?

"The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is, ' because the kingdom of God is within you." Luke 17:20-21
-I often look for the kingdom of God outside or separate from myself, as if something else will usher it in. God has chosen to reveal it through us and the way we live. Privilege and responsibility. I'm feelin ya Spiderman.

Hope (part deux)

2007-11-20T02:00:00.000-08:00

Should I be bothered that no one comments on my blogg? That is a shameless attempt to get your comments :).

One of my favorite things to watch is milk or cream being poured into coffee...gorgeous.

Mike and Ikes might be the best road trip candy.

Rachel is on her way home. Yay!

Hope. Our world doesn't have much. We live during a time when you don't have to convince people that this world is messed up, that its not the way its supposed to be. Believer's, non-believers alike, we can all admit it. Watch the news, read the paper, look at the world around you. Horrible things happen. Hope is what people need.

Thats what I love about Jesus. He brings so much hope. He is hope incarnate. I read through the gospels and time and time again before Jesus heals someone He lets them know that it is according to their faith that they are healed. Interesting. He really doesn't have to say it that way, but He...does. It's according to YOUR faith. Its like Jesus doesn't just want to heal their sickness, but He wants them to know that there is something incredibly powerful living inside of them that can accomplish unbelievable things.

Often it seems that our goal as "Christians" is for people on the outside to look at our lives and feel bad about how they are living. Its almost as if we want people to walk away from us feeling like garbage because somehow thats going to make them change. Conviction is part of the process, but its not the end that we're working for. People walked away from an ecounter with Jesus knowing that it was according to THEIR faith, they walked away believing that they didn't have to live this way anymore, they walked away with hope that there was a better way to live. Hope.

Hope

2007-11-16T13:31:00.000-08:00

I believe in God. That's not something I change my mind about that much, well ever. I do have doubts sometimes, but they never lead me to give up my belief in God. I say this because I think its funny that I have these moments where I'm so confronted by the fact that there is a God that I almost lose my mind.

There are these events, realizations, or encounters that stop me where I'm at and almost completely shut me down. Its like everything we've heard about is true. How good He is. How big He is. How much He loves us. Its all true. This God whose dream is responsible for all that we see and know is real.

It reminds me of the Santa days of Christmas. Going to bed on the 24th so excited, so anxious. Waking up in the morning and tip toeing my way to the living room, holding my breath. Hoping that everything I believed about Christmas and Santa would somehow find its way to my living room and then seeing the evidence that he was actually here. I know there are plenty of reasons why this is a bad analogy for my belief in God, but one thing I do understand is that there is hope involved. God is hope realized. Hope that there is something out there that makes this worth it, makes it right. God is like everything we've heard about. God is our hope.

Inspiration

2007-11-12T02:00:00.000-08:00

Q-tips have to be one of the greatest inventions of all time. The after shower version is my favorite.

Fall=chapped lips and I like that.

Angels and Airwaves makes me think of God. No, really. I'm not even sure if these guys are followers of Christ, or if they meant for their cd to inspire me to worship, but seriously. This is what gets me a little frustrated. Of all people who should be inspired shouldn't it be followers of Jesus? We have so much to be inspired by! I get tired of Christian garbage. Here's the formula for the majority of Christian music, or atleast the way I see it; how many nice things can i say about God in three minutes+a cheap melody+pop's latest flavor of the month= a 14.95 worship cd.

God is worthy of so much more than that. I listen to things like Angels and Airwaves, wether they're followers of Christ or not, Sigur Ros, Mute Math, Coldplay, and I reminded of the fact that we are created in the image of a creative God.

The other night I sat and watched a friend of mine, Aaron Robertson, do what God created him to do, make music. Thats how I define inspiration. Its coming in contact with the infinite that is buried inside of us. When it happens its beautiful, powerful, and right. Be inspired today.

Aaron Robertson...keep making that music!

War of the worlds

2007-10-28T18:55:00.000-07:00

Tom Cruise is crazy. Spooky magic man.

Hasn't Dip n Dots been the ice cream of the future for long enough?

Whats behind this feeling of accomplishment that we like so much? Is it the satisfaction of doing something we haven't done before, or is it the relief that comes with checking something off our "to do list"?

But then, we live in far too many worlds, and they seem to be way too small. We trap ourselves into these compartmentalized little lives that somehow have nothing to do with eachother. They are convienent and play by our rules. There is only one world and all of us live in it together. See was driving in town the other day and it was pouring down rain, i mean K-9's and felines, a regular toad washer. There was this guy walking in the rain, drenched and miserable. I thought to myself, "If I didn't have somewhere to go I'd give this guy a ride, but I mean I have things to do so of course it makes since that I won't." Then I looked at all the cars driving by that were probably thinking the same thing. Its like, "this is my world and you don't fit into it right now."

We're all in this together. Injustice happens all around us all the time, just because it doesn't affect us doesn't mean it has nothing to do with us. The fact that it happens in the world we live in should bother us. I'm not sure if any of this makes since, I just want the world to be a different place because I'm in it, and because there's a God whose dream has died in order that it would come true.

October Sky

2007-10-21T18:46:00.000-07:00

I just arrived back in South Carolina after a quick trip home to Indiana. It was basically a trip which enabled me to hit my "reset button." Lets be honest, a lot has changed since the last time I was home and I really just wanted the ten hour drive to be my labratory for sorting things out.

Honestly the only thing, besides family and friends, that I miss about Indiana is the fall. Its beautiful there this time of year. The trees are all burnt colors, harvest decorations are out, the smell of burning leaves, and my personal favorite; the sky. It looks so...old. The clouds seem so close and they're this sort of ancient grey color that causes me to be very reflective. The following are some things that I thought about during my adventure. I apologize in advance.

I find some of the similarities that exist between virtually all people from all over the world to be really interesting. From what I understand, civilizations formed after the separation of Pangaea, the super continent, but you find so many similarities between different ethnic groups. I'm not making any claims about the existence of God, I'm just pointing out a few things.
1. Weapons. So many cultures developed spears, knives, and swords. I know. They're not very complicated, but a lot of people had the same idea. But what about the bow and arrow? I mean who didn't come up with that idea? The American Indians, Europeans, and Asians all shot at each other with feather tipped death sticks.
2. Clapping. Whose idea was this? Oh I have a great idea. Whenever someone does something deemed excellent, lets slap our hands together really fast for a long period of time.
3. Singing. I wonder if everyone does this in the shower?
4. This one might be my favorite. Somehow everyone designated the movement of ones head up and down to mean "yes", and from side to side to mean "no." Figure that one out.
5. We all laugh at humorous things and cry at sad things. Big deal I know.
-anybody else have anymore?

I recently had someone tell me that they believe that when they meet the person they're supposed to be with for the rest of their lives they're just going to know, like God is going to tell them, "this is the one for you." I have to admit, I don't think it works that way. That doesn't sound like the God I know from the Bible. The one that seems to not want to give you more than you need to know for right now (Exodus 16, Matthew 6:34, James 4:13-15). Plus everyone that tells you they knew right away that their spouse was "the one", tells you in hindsight. They're already married, of course they can tell you that they knew from the first time they met them. I would love to travel back in time and corner the guy who says this and ask him right after he met his future wife and ask him if he is going to marry that girl. I'm sure that there is something different about the encounter that gets your attention, but I don't think they know for certain this is the one for them. God requires us to live by faith and I don't think that a relationship is any different. It takes daily submission and commitment and growth for it to work.

Thats all for now, more will follow.

...

2007-10-15T19:04:00.000-07:00

Its hard to pick one thing to write about. A lot has happened. A lot has changed. One thing is for sure; God never stops being God.

Faith is such a bizarre thing. Its one of those ideas that we think we have figured out, but when you observe the way we live you'll find we're pretty close to clueless about the subject. Jesus would get so frustrated with the Jews because they would constantly ask for a sign to prove that He was the Christ. He wouldn't do it because He knew that no matter how many signs He gave them they would ask for another, and another. Its like we prompt Jesus, "Ok, you do enough to prove to me that you're worthy of my life, and I'm in. I'll have faith." But His idea of faith is a little different. He says, "Put your faith in Me and you'll see why I'm God and why you aren't."

I just want to believe. I want to believe that God is good, that He's right. I want faith, not because of what He's done, but because of who He is.

Painfully Beautiful

2007-10-07T05:39:00.000-07:00

I'm not one to share my personal life on the internet, so pardon the lack of details. The past week has been without question the most painful of my entire life. I've lost something that meant so much to me. I lost her.
I find myself in a strange place. I hurt, but I don't regret. I've discovered that life is this painfully beautiful wreck that somehow wiggles itself into making since when you least expect it. The way I feel now...horrible, but what I see is, in a way, beautiful. It's life. It's real. It's raw. It's messy.
I don't want any of it back. Its all hers to keep. Parts of me will always be hers and I don't want them back. They belong where they are.
Its so great that God has made us people who are capable of sharing our lives with others. The danger is in making this a trivial thing and not respecting the implications it has. But I do praise God that my soul is capable of touching another. Friends, family, loved ones. We don't just co-exist. We can actually share life together, and as painful as that is, it's also incredibly beautiful.

New Ends and Old Beginnings

2007-07-09T10:24:00.000-07:00

Approaching the end is usually a bit stranger than the end itself. Needless to say there has been a whole lot of change taking place in my little corner of the universe. Well, see thats the thing...the change hasn't taken place yet, its just about to. Its almost like the apprehension before pulling of the bandaide is somewhat worse than actually pulling it off. I'm in no way defining my current circumstances with the removing of a scabby bandaide, but I think there are some similarities.

Last night was Reverand Wade Joye's last Ignite. It was strange, but awesome. It felt like worship was genuine and passionate. I was just reminded how good of a thing we have here and I'm honestly just going to be a bit sad without it. There is also a fear inside of me that ten years down the road I'm going to look back at this as my peak. Its not that the past four years haven't been great...they've been remarkable, but my hope is to always be reaching for the next step.

Wade-wow. You are such an awesome man of God and I know you will read this because in all of your computer savy your superior intellect will inform you of my new blogg. You have been one of the greatest human influences in my life and I can confidently say that I probably have never been around a better man. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

God has informed me that I have been asking the wrong question. My question is usually, "What great thing do you have for me to do?"-lets be honest, I don't talk like that...I think I stole that from Oswald Chambers or something-I think God is instead instructing me to ask, "Who is the great man you would have me to be." I think what we do flows every so naturally out of who we are. I wonder if all the great men of God were even aware of the great things they were doing for Him because they were so occupied with trying to be like Him.

Most of my bad decisions were just one "No" away from not happening. Thats encouraging and disheartening at the same time. Does, "I gave it my best shot" sound familiar? Yeah, me too. I'm not so sure that I'm called to give it my best shot, but instead to use His limitless power to live the life He has called me to. I mean seriously, God hasn't commanded us to live a life incapable of livivng.

Um..."cough, cough"...how's it goin?

2007-07-07T18:17:00.000-07:00

Maybe if I don't make such a big deal about how long its been since I last posted a blog no one will notice...
Hello world-wide web. I honestly don't know what to write about I just feel guilty for taking up some sort of space on the internet and doing nothing with it. Lets just see what happens.

Rachel...I miss you! I know I can be an insensitive, and horrible...fill in the explicitive...of a friend, BUT I love your guts and I'm praying my face off for you..not really, but I'm doing to start. You really are a great friend and the truth of that is deeply felt and also realized when you're not around.

I want to be the kind of person that greets the greeter at Wal-Mart. I mean even beat them to the greet...be a "greeter beater" maybe...Rachel is laughing right now about this. I tried it today and I definitely won and totally caught the old chap by surprise. I've started my greeter beater career off to a wonderful start. 1-0...FAAAntastic.

Over the past decade since I've written on this thing there has been a lot on my mind, a lot that I intended to blog about, but one moment has made its way to the front of the line. I was asked to speak at a spring retreat a few months ago by a youth pastor friend and I went. It was a great experience and I loved every second of it. Especially this particular moment. One of the junior high boys asked me to talk with him one night after the session. We sat on the porch of this gorgeous beach house in that akward silence that everyone enjoys so much, and I asked him what was up. he had the hardest time getting the question out. He started to ask it atleast three times but he would stop before he spoke the first word each time. Finally he managed to ask me with his head down and his ridiculously cool hair in his face, "How...how do you love?"

Any suggestions? I was floored, honestly. I had spent the entire night talking about the subject and the need for more of it, but then this happened. I almost asked him to ask me another question. I mean seriously. I've been wrestling with this question ever since. I mean yeah, I could give the typical answers that we've all heard or read..."serving others, giving, caring...blah blah blah." But I'm not sure the most powerful action in the universe can be explained with the Boy Scout motto. Love requires a whole lot of somebody, maybe even everything.

So maybe I'm going to be ok with spending my entire life learning how to love and then hopefully I can give my entire life to the cause of doing it.

tastey tastey

2007-04-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

I don't like the way my mouth feels right now. I ate some of these chocolate candy eggs, they were marvelous, but now my mouth feels like its covered in rubber cement. Good thing my parents got me an electric toothbrush.
Speak of brushing my teeth. Does anyone else have to go pee when they are brushing their teeth or washing dishes? Vaccuming as well. Maybe I just pee a lot.
Tonight, I colored eggs. This would have definitely been an activity that would have forced me to question my manhood if there hadn't been a girl involved. Mary suggested we color eggs tonight, so we colored eggs. I actually really got into it, but I discovered that my masculinity makes it difficult for me to be a stellar egg decorator.
Tomorrow, I'm going to the mountains. I'm very very ready. Maybe I'll wrestle a bear.

So This Is How You Do It...

2007-04-03T19:16:00.000-07:00

How about a normal blogg? Lets give it a shot....

I was going to try and not do this, but again in the words of Squince Paladoras, who seems to be my hero, I JUST CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! I'm at that point where if I'm honest I'm not really all that happy for my girlfriend. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad she's had an amazing time and she's learned and grown so much, because wow she has, but now I'm just ready for her to come home. Its like, "ok Dominican, you've had you're four months, now I, and the rest of her friends/family, want her back." Ok, enough for the blogg PDA....well almost enough...i'm crazy about her.

On another note, God has just been...well awesome. I've seen Him do so much in the past week, from college group to The Remix and then Ignite. Its jaw dropping to see Him do such real work. I love when our faith gets removed from its comfy little box and becomes real. I love when you see real, authenitc life change in both yourself and other people. I saw some real authentic life change over this past week and its reminded me of why I accepted this ludacris call into the ministry. Its about real people, hurting and broken, coming to meet Jesus. Its rejuivinating. I get kind of tired sometimes of taking care of Christians. Thats not a shot at anyone, it just seems how the church in general runs things. Take care of who we got and then we can worry about those other people. And I don't mean specifically my church, but just our church, the American church if you will. Its just nice to see someone genuinely just want to know God. This girl accepted Christ on Sunday and it was just...right. She apologized for hurting God and it was so sincere. She even apologized for throwing away her "Jesus is My Homeboy" shirt, and then she humbly asked Jesus to be hers. Wow.

This Jesus thing, its...real.

Hmm...

2007-03-27T06:39:00.000-07:00

Driving around with the windows down listening to Jack Johnson and or G. Love on one of those abnormally warm "winter"days.
Really good coffee.
Chocolate milk.
Seeing someone you love after not seeing them for a long time.
Taking off your shoes and socks after a long day and rubbing them into the carpet.
Getting ridiculously sunburned at the beach, going back to the hotel room, showering and going out to eat.
Meeting new people.
Hanging out in the kitchen telling stories and laughing until your throat is sore.
A really good workout.
First kisses.
Watching little kids play in a fountain on a hot day.
Birds.
Driving by yourself at night listening to a song that comes alive when the sun goes down.
Wet asphalt.
The way the trees sound when the breeze dances with them.
Getting lost in a good book.
Laughing when you're not supposed to.
Licking the frosting off of a cupcake.
New places.
Being afraid.
The cool spots under the pillow and in the sheets.
Eye contact.

I love knowing that whenever I experience these things that they aren't just accidents, but they are proof that I am loved by a God with a huge imagination. Because I know God, these aren't just experiences that I hope for, these are places where I find God and I am swept away by His love for me. "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all who live it in." Psalm 24:1. "My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music. Awake my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn."

7 dollars and 50 cents worth of macho madness

2007-03-17T07:04:00.000-07:00

I came home last night and went to bed a man. I went with some friends to see the movie 300, somebody should warn you about a movie like that. If I wouldn't have been for the soothing effect of Cherry Coke, I may have waylaid the entire theatre. The testosterone in me was screaming to get out. But for serious, the movie was great, minus the incredibly awkward nude/sex scenes. Go see it...twice maybe.

S.O.S.

2007-03-16T06:53:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot. I need help editing my blogg. Like with links and such. I don't know how to do it, and how do I make my blogg look all cool and trendy. I'm really not digging the templates blogger has to offer. Help me please.

Diggle Diggle

2007-03-16T06:33:00.000-07:00

I don't have much to say, but I saw Rachel do this so I want to do this. Here's a list of some of my new favorite things...

10. Organic peanut butter.
9. The Mediterranian Cafe's grilled chicken and vegetables.
8. Amos Lee.
7. Tostones and the green tomatilla sauce.
6. Blogger-I have a new obsession.
5. Speed Stak.
4. The Battle for Middle Earth II for the Xbox 360-shut up.
3. Xbox 360.
2. My new Canon digital camera.
1. Not having a parasite living in my intestines any more.

Dude. How could I not inform the world about THAT. As most of you know I went down to the Domincan Republic...i like how i said "as most of you know", like everyone that knows me is reading this or something. I had an amazing time with my girlfriend. I do think this is the first time I've mentioned her in my blog. I don't know why I don't talk about her more on here. Yeah I do. I feel like if I were to talk about her on here it would almost be a strange form of PDA and I'm not a huge PDA guy. Anyway. Had a great time and then I came home. I got home on a monday and then thursday night I started getting these weird cramps. It felt like I had the bubble gut but I was firing blanks. All bark and no bite kind of thing. Friday waaaas a different story. I proceded to have the green apple quick step for 5 days followed by two days of my best impression of a plado fun factory. I am happy to report that I am up and at em thanks to some awesome antibiotics and some groovy little muscle relaxers. There ya go folks. I'm lightening up my posts.

pea-sized bologna

2007-03-15T06:13:00.000-07:00

I was reading the back of my toothpaste tube yesterday so that I could enlarge my dental hygene data base. I had honestly never read the "Directions" on the back of the tube and I had some time to kill so I took a look at what Crest had to say about brushing your teeth. Did you know that they instruct you to put a "pea-sized" amount onto your brush? I mean come on. Really? Here we are trusting the health of our canines and molars to a company that measures the accurate amount of toothpaste in vegetable sizes. Is this some kind of conspiracy? Do Crest and DelMonte have some sort of deal in this?

Home

2007-03-13T05:31:00.000-07:00

Home, everyone has one. For those of us in college or just out of college, we tend to have two; where your parents are and where you live now. I guess I bring it up because I recently traveled to see my girlfriend in the Dominican Republic which required me to stop in New York City. I love New York City because of its people. Yes, they're rude and they have some ridiculous accents, but there's so many of them! Something happens to me when I see that many people. I was only in the airport, but the airport is filled with so many stories. So many people going to so many different places with so many different homes! It floors me sometimes to think about how much I don't know. How many people I haven't met whose stories have nothing to do with me. I find myself people watching and asking myself in my mind and sometimes out loud, "Where did this person just come from? Where are they going to? Where's home?" Its fun, but it kind of gets my head spinning.

Of course God comes into the picture. Not only does God know everybody's story, but the person whom the story belongs to was His idea. He put them together thought by thought, completely on purpose and I guess when I'm confronted with all of those people with all of those stories I get a fragment of an idea of how big God is. Big seems like a silly word compared to God after seeing so many stories coming from and going to so many places.

I'm a Lion

2007-02-08T18:59:00.000-08:00

I've decided that if I were an animal, I'd be a lion. I don't care what you think, I don't want to hear any crap about looking like a friggin teddy bear, because I'm not. I'm fierce, I'm wild, and I'm the king of the stinkin jungle. If you have a problem with this I'll eat your face off. What animal would you be?

One Minute, Forty-Five Seconds

2007-02-05T06:23:00.000-08:00

First of all, props to my home girl Rachel for catching my spelling blunders. I honestly suck at spelling and I would be clueless to the fact if it weren't for BASS watching my back.

The first thing I do in the morning is fix a cup of coffee. I'm actually really good at getting out of bed as soon as the alarm goes off. I don't think that I'm actually awake, but I'm on auto-pilot. I wake up, make my bed, and head into the kitchen. I'm not aware of what I'm doing until I'm in the kitchen. I also think that it's impossible for me to speak until my first cup of coffee, and that brings us to the subject of this post...

Most of the time I have coffee left over from the day before, yeah I know gross, but I really don't notice in the morning. I poor a cup and put it in the microwave for a minute and forty five seconds and then I wait, and wait, an wait...do realize how long a minute and forty five seconds can last? It's incredible. It doesn't sound like much, but I've realized that I can accomplish a lot in a minute and forty five seconds. Its sort of become a game I play. I see how much I can get done in a minute a forty five seconds. One time I was able to get Tozer (our dog) breakfast (pour both the food and the water), change my clothes (I work outside early in the mornings so that's three layers of clothing), and even check my e-mail before the timer went off on the microwave. It's incredible.

I'm not sure if a minute and forty fives seconds feels like a long time just because I'm impatiently waiting for my morning "go juice", or if it actually is a long time. I always recieved poor marks for my time management skills in elementary school. Honestly I think its a horrible thing to test elementary school students for time management skills, can they even tell time? The only time management I ever understood were those paper chains you would make to countdown the days until Christmas.

I think that a minute and forty five seconds happens to be a good amount of time. I wonder how much could be done if I took advantage of every one minute and forty-five second interval. I would appreciate a lot more. Time with my friends, naps, beauty, face time with God. Jack Johnson probably had the same life altering experience warming up a cup of joe when he penned the words, "Slow down everyone, you're moving too fast." So here's to you Jacky J, and just imagine what would happen if I warmed up my coffee for two minutes a ten seconds.

The Bottom Shelf

2007-02-04T12:36:00.000-08:00

The only time I like to shop for groceries is when I'm hungry. It quickly morphs from a necessary evil to an exciting adventure. There's a lot I love about late night Walmart runs. Buying what you really don't need, having a contest with Trevor to see who spends less. I've figured out that whoever purchases the frozen chicken breasts typically loses. The rare encounter with an attractive member of the opposite sex sprinkled in there from time to time, but my favorite thing about the Walmart endeavor is about six inches from the ground, keep looking, a little farther down, about ankle height. Ah, yes, there it is; the bottom shelf. Collegiate best friend, home of the beat up and bedraggled. Where the deformed and naked find shelter.

It is a good day when a overdrafting college student stumbles upon the mountain of goodies on the bottom shelf. Its where they put the cheap stuff. Dented and crushed cans with torn labels for 10 cents and piles of Ramen that will cost you less than a tank of gas. A person could possibly buy a weeks worth of food for less than the cost of single text book.

There's something homey about the bottom shelf. I can't help but smile and say, "hey guys" when i look down at those cylinder shaped rejects. Its almost as if I can relate to the bottom shelf. If I were a canned good would I find myself on the bottom shelf? I sure hope so.

God shops on the bottom shelf. He just doesn't look there for a bargain or as a last result, that's where He starts. He seems to go after the broken and the beat up. I even think He might hope to find us there. Our God is a redeemer, and until we understand we're broken, redemption will avoid us. I find that God has favor with those who don't understand why God is so crazy about them. David is a guy whom God loved fiercely. The Bible accredits him alone with the phrase, "A man after God's own heart," but he seems to live life with the "who? me?" look on his face.

So here's to the bottom shelf. A place to find an amazing offer, maybe a place to get a picture of grace.

A Chuckle

2007-01-28T19:18:00.000-08:00

Both of my parents worked while I was growing up so I would stay at daycare after school. I loved daycare. One of my favorite memories of all time happened at daycare. If I say daycare one more time this blog will be officially obnoxious.
We were divided into two groups at my...aggg...daycare. The older kids made up one group and we, the younger kids, made up the second. I know, creative way to divide yourselves. Us younger chaps had the job of being tortured by the older kids. We actually didn't mind it too much, it was fun pissing them off and then running away, but I was fat so I could never run very fast, or very far.
My favorite memory happened one afternoon during a rousing game of kickball. Of course the teams were divided according to our age. We knew going into it that we were supposed to be destroyed, and we were. There was this one kid on our team, BJ, he was the smallest in our group and recieved most of the punishment. You could see the look on his face this day, he looked checked out. Kinda like Squintz Paladores in the Sandlot, when he's finally had enough of waiting and decides to go get Wendy Pefercorn. BJ had had enough. He was going to do something about these older brutes. He was playing third base when this moment occured. One of the butt munches from the other team smashed the ball over the fence for a homerun and was making his way around the bases laughing at us like he was somebody. I mean come on...the score was like 56 to nothing. As he was headed toward third base, BJ moved into action. Our bases were those giant orange cones and just when the dirtbag was about to tag it BJ picked it up and....ran. I mean ran like a crazy man. He reminded me of the Jesus lizard from National Geographic that could run across the water...yeah that was BJ with a big orange cone. In a matter of seconds the entire older team was chasing him. Everytime I picture this in my head I chuckle. BJ running for his life carrying a big orange cone, knowing full well he was going to be punished for this, but loving every minute of it. Life is good.

thats MY song

2007-01-26T22:23:00.000-08:00

I love how every song somehow becomes my story. Even if it really has nothing to do with anything that has ever happened to me, its still all about...me :)
I love those songs that have favorite parts to them. As soon as the song starts I'm waiting for that part. The one where everything but the drums drop out, the lyric says something that agrees with my soul, or a guitar riff takes me up and out of here. I love moments like that, moments that feel bigger than life. Or maybe they're moments that are just as big as life, they wake me up to life. Movies do the same thing for me. There are parts in movies where I hold my breathe because they're so good. The pool scene in Garden State is one for example and of course the infamous final scene of Its a Wonderful Life.
Maybe there's something here, maybe there's not, but reguardless...I love these moments.

Today

2007-01-25T07:45:00.000-08:00

I'm bad at this, I mean really bad. I don't even know how many people read this (is it just me or is that at the back of every blogger's mind?), but letting down my "readers" isn't what frustrates me, its that I'm not friggin consistent at another thing. I can't tell you how many books sit on my bookshevles that are half read, or how many journals I have that jump from January to September with one entry in between, and they all start off the same way too..."Ok, I'm going to do this more often..."

I think that it has something to do with what Rachel called me last night, she was joking of course, but she called me the "deep friend." Maybe I don't blog all the time because I think that if I don't have something to deep to say then I don't have something to say. I've come to the conclusion that thats... well, CRAP. I'd love to write a book one day, but its always "one day." I can't tell you how many stories I have already told myself that I feel belong on some paper. If I'm honest I'll tell you that I'm afraid of telling them in ink. I'm afraid that I'll somehow manage to lose them in the transfer from my head to the paper, that somehow I won't tell it right, somehow I'll screw it up. I have a problem with risks these days.

So, with all that said...today has been a good day. I woke up early, I mean really early. I don't necessarily like the reason for waking up early, but I do appreciate seeing the sunrise every morning. Its incredibly different every time. Sometimes it creeps up on you. It desguises itself as night and then sheepishly mentions the morning. My favorite kinds are the ones that explode onto the scene. I can remember one like that two weeks ago. It honestly stopped me in my tracks and I just had to stare at it, and ask, "What are you doing here?" It began as a thin line of violent orange at the bottom of a dark purple sky. I took no notice of it at first and went on doing what ever it was I was doing, whatever it was wasn't important. The next time I turned around the morning had errupted. It was so...happy. It was almost as if this sunrise was laughing. I stood there on the dock, at a freight company, behind a 53 foot tractor trailer, with forklifts momentarily moving in slow motion, and I watched the sunrise. It was great.

Sorry, I think I did again...:) Hey, this is the Big Life. Welcome to my abrupt end.

Self-portraits and iPods

2007-01-24T18:20:00.000-08:00

So Ive noticed a defining characteristic of the current generation. Besides being unable to function without an iPod, the future world leaders have a passion for taking self portraits. Myspace and Facebook are flooded with the typical aireal shot of the subject with the head slightly tilted to the side. So whats the deal? Why the obsession? Well, I have a few ideas...cue the evil sinister laugh...or dont.
1. It could be for the risk factor. The self-portrait allows one to throw caution to the wind and snap the shot without seeing what its in the viewfinder. Could this generations obsession with extreme sports be tied directly to our preference for the self portrait?
2. It could be all about the ego. You dont need to wait for someone else to take a picture of you, you can do it yourself. A digital camera is basically turned into a mirror.
3. Or could it be because we choose to define ourselves? I lean towards this one, because well it sounds deeper :) I think that this generation doesnt like to depend on outside sources to define; to depict who they are. We can take the picture ourselves thank you very much.

Loud

2006-12-03T20:31:00.000-08:00

I'm really bad at doing this blogg thing consistently. I feel like I need an accountability partner or something. I recently heard Tony Campollo quote Abby...or something like that...Hoffman, and it has changed my life. When he was brought in after the Chicago riots the judge asked him, "So, what happens to all the innocent bystanders because of this revolution you're trying to start in America." Hoffman replied, "In a revolution...the bystanders are never innocent." Wow. God has really been challenging me to not just be someone with ideas, but someone with passion. I want what I believe to be understood by how I live. The word is bleeding so bad in so many places and I sometimes find myself watching...feeling bad, yes. Caring, yes, but too lazy to do anything about it. I'm often able to squirm and eventually convince myself that I do enough. I hide behind what I'm already doing in order to ignore what I should be doing. We are called to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves, to be a voice for the voiceless. In the words of Adrian Despres, "God give me the compassion of Jesus when He wept over Jerusalem, but also give me the passion of Jesus when He turned over the money tables in the temple." There are plenty of things that aren't right with the world and if I sit back and do nothing the blood is on my hands. The church cannot not be an innocent bystander, not when God has called us to be the salt and light of the world.

I Dare...

2006-11-20T07:48:00.000-08:00

I know that I don't have the right to ask in light of the fact that I've been given much, everything in fact, but I stand here boldly and I do...dare to ask.
I ask that I may be this man that You hold out before me. That this is the last time I trade in Your forever for my right now. I want to be used by You to do the impossible. I want to toss mountains in the sea and usher in the very Kingdom of Heaven. I want to shake the dead of this generation awake from their sleep, give life to these concrete statues who have somehow tricked themselves into thinking that this is as good as it gets. I want my life to speak louder and more often than my words. I want to live and I want things to change because of it. Most importantly, I want my motive, my inspiration, my purpose to be You. An encounter with me would be devestatingly You. That I would be a foggy memory, a "scratch your head moment", but that You would be painfully real. That my life would scream You and hush me. I'm far to small to live a life for, but You...You are everything. I'm tired of copping out, giving in, and falling short. I need You, I want You. In then end I stand here before my God, asking. I do not ask because I deserve. Honestly, I can only stand here because of what You have done for me, but...I do dare, I dare to ask, ask to be what You have been forever asking me to be. I dare to dream, dream what You have been forever dreaming of me. I dare to live how You have been forever daring me to live.

Lean Wit It

2006-11-07T19:23:00.000-08:00

Alright, so the title is lame, but it might make sense in a few minutes. I have some confessing to do. I wore Hammer pants. It's true. I also had "race tracks" shaved into the side of my head while sporting the infamous rat tail. I donned the slap bracelet, rocked the pumps, and there was even a time when you could find a Don Corlione (how do you spell that?) resting on my head. I guess I'm what you might call a poser. I have a tendency to get caught up in the latest fad. In fact I just ordered this sweet hat from Urban Outfitters...no joke. I find it funny how we can convince ourselves that what we're into will always be "cool." This is what I have to do to stay up with the times, and then a little time passes and we're hiding pictures, giving away clothes, and practically laughing at ourselves on "I Love the 80's."
I guess this post is inspired by people who look at Christianity as nothing more than a fad, or my favorite...a crutch. A few thoughts... I guess first of all, fads are temporary, they fade away, become dusty memories. The world is still living in the aftermath of Acts chapter 2. What twelve men did 2,000 years ago is the complete opposite of a distant memory, it is the present reality. In two thousand years nothing has stopped the church, not even itself. Yes, we've made mistakes, lots of them, horrible ones, but the church never fades. Jesus told Peter that He was going to build His church on Him...ouch...and not even the gates of hell would be able to stand against it. Jesus' words stand tall. Not Nero, not the entire Roman Empire, not fallen Christian leaders, not John Lennon, not Nieche, not Hitler...NOTHING has or will stop the church. It's far from a fad...it will always be here.
Some people think that God is just the product of the human imagination, we need to understand things and so we make up this idea of God to explain what we can't. A crutch if you will. I don't quite see how the human need for the concept of God disproves His existence. Think about it, you can find this need in ever culture, at any time, and in any place, did they all get together and decide that God was the correct answer to thier questions? I think not. They fact that people have a need for a God doesn't disprove Him. Its like a tree's need for sunlight. It will twist and bend itself, grow in quite peculiar directions so that it can compete with the other plant life around it for sunlight. Now if a tree were to ignore this need for sunlight the chances of it surviving are not good.
Crutch...I understand what you're trying to say, but you need something bigger, a crutch falls awfully short. Jesus offers us much more than a crutch, an aid...He offers us... everything. He is how things are. I have to admit, its cute...crutch, but you have no idea. He doesn't just offer a clever way of thinking or solutions to the worlds problems. In the words of Rob Bell, Jesus shows us reality at it most raw. It's how things are supposed to be. A crutch? Tiny Tim could manage to get around without one, he could crawl if necessary. Breathing would be impossible without Jesus "holding all things together" (Colossians 1) I'm ok with that, I'm ok with needing Jesus, in fact I desperately need Jesus.

Then...and...Now

2006-10-31T16:35:00.000-08:00

So this weekend I get to home. It's been a long time, I was 22 for most of my last visit, translated that means that I haven't been home since June. I'm looking forward to it, but something struck me the other day while I was driving. I don't know if its the wanna-be preacher in me that is constantly looking for an illustration or what but you shouldn't be surprised to hear me say this again.
What struck me as odd was that suddenly all at once I noticed how "built up" Lexington has become. I've been down here for almost four years now and the place has exploded. What I find odd though is how it snuck up on me. For instance the other day I was driving my normal drive home from work and I noticed this huge steel frame building being constructed. This frame didn't just suddenly appear out of nowhere, no it has been assembled for months.
Here's the kicker. Whenever I go home after being away for a while I am flambasted by how developed Lafayette has become. Lafayette is my hometown and is quite rural, but never the less, its exploding. Now the growth is really not all that different between the two towns, they are relatively the same size, but I don't see the constant every day growth of Lafayette. When I go home I just see the product of a month's or even a year's worth of work. I don't necessarily see drastic change taking place in Lexington because of the slow and steady work that I live around every day.
All of you clever people out there are like, "Oooo I know where he's going", and that's fine, I'm really not all that clever, but I think that often there are times in my life where I don't feel like I'm growing, I feel stagnant, but that's because I'm comparing today to yesterday. Chances are there hasn't been a lot of change. Maybe we should start looking back to where we haven't been for a while. Where was I last year at this time? Something I learned while in college is that God grows things. He really is in no hurry. I think we need to take a look at back THEN before we can appreciate right NOW.

Ladies and Gentlemen...

2006-10-27T01:37:00.000-07:00

Here's the thing. Girls...I know guys can be frustrating, but the thing you have to understand is that we are honestly clueless when it comes to your ways and for the most part we don't even know it. I have learned a few things in the past year or two that I can classify as tendencies, differences in the sexes if you will. Allow me to share...

1. Ladies...you have a tendency to read into things way too much, while us fellas tend to not read into them at all. Now yes, there are some guys, myself included, who do always suspect there to be more to the situation than there actually is, but hear me out. If a girl asks a guy a simple yes or no question and he responds with either one, a girl quickly begins asking herself, "what does that mean? why did he say that? did he really mean this? or did he really mean that?" When a girl answers a simple yes or no question she rarely means just yes or no, and guys rarely suspects the hidden deapth of information hidden below the surface answer. But, here's an example of how this principle looks besides the answering of questions. Just the other day some of my small group guys decided it would be funny to put a protien bar, still in its wrapper, on a young ladies car. I have no idea why we would find this funny, but we did. After discovering the protien bar on her car, the young lady stormed into the youth room rather ticked off, and seemingly a little hurt. She asked the young man, who happened to be a relative of hers, why he would do something so mean. He defended himself by pointing out that the protien bar was still in its wrapper. It was quickly noted by another individual that this was no ordinary protien bar, but it was in fact a South Beach Diet bar. GASP! The young lady thought her weight was being insulted when in fact she is the walking definition of everything that is not fat. As you can imagine the young man was clueless of his actions and quickly apologized.

2. The second trend I have noticed in my 23 years has to deal with problem solving. I have learned that just because a woman shares her problems with you doesn't mean she is looking for your advice. Ladies, let me inform you of how the male mind works in this situation. As men, we don't like to necessarily discuss our junk, problems, etc., until we are ready for advice. We tend to wrestle with it in our minds, this is probably why we do not like to ask for directions, until we realize we are unable to fix it. We then will confide in someone for advice. So, when a girl is talking to us about her problems we have a tendency to think that she is looking for advice and step in to help.

Well, in 23 years I have accumulated two tendencies in the female sex. I hope and pray that there will be more insights to offer in the future. Peace!

Whisper

2006-10-23T12:06:00.000-07:00

Call me cheesy, cliche, corny...kinda strange all of these words begin with "c"..., but my amazing girlfriend (Amanda Lane) and I drove to the mountains this past Saturday to watch the sunset. Our destination was a spot known as "Pretty Place", no seriously. The place was definitely pretty, and came complete with a cross and plaques offering insightful poetry. Amanda and I noticed that for some reason it felt necessary to whisper. We weren't the only ones, but as we sat there looking at the breath-taking view, everyone was whispering. It was almost as if anything more than a whisper would cause the beauty to vanish. When I think back I see a trend, perhaps an unspoken rule that when ever I am before beauty, greatness I must whisper. Why is that? Perhaps it is from recognizing my place. That there are things out there bigger, greater than me. Maybe its because too many words can ruin the experience. Or maybe its because silence is our way of paying tribute to that which is greater than us.
Regardless of why, it just feels right. So God, I offer you not only words of praise, but also the beauty of silence for You...are...great.

Fiction

2006-10-19T18:02:00.000-07:00

I don't where my obsession with the imagination comes from, but as far back as I can remember a good portion of my life has been spent lost in an imaginary world where I more often than not vanquish an evil villain and save the day. If I'm honest I'll admit to you that I played with GI Joes until...well lets just say I was old enough to legally be one before I retired them in the shoe box underneath my bed. I just love the ability to create whatever I want, be whatever I want, and do whatever I want. I determine what is real, I choose how things are.
I have nothing but respect for people who have mastered their own imagination. People like C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Tolkien has actually created an entire world out of his mind. This world is complete with history and language, its almost too much for me to handle. The imagination is the escape for the human heart, in fact its where our dreams are able to stretch their legs and walk around for a bit.
I guess I say all of this because when I'm confronted with the products of God's imagination I am floored. Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created..." The Creation that we live in is nothing less than the product of God's imagination, and what really baffles me is that God had nothing to work with. Even the greatest artists, authors, musicians have things to work with. An artist usually paints people, or maybe landscapes. An author, even one who writes fiction, is inspired by actual events, or other stories. Musicians listen to the music of others. But you see God is before anything was. God not only painted the picture, but He crafted the paint, the canvas, the brush...and even art itself. He decided what a tree should look like before there was a tree. It was His idea to put into creation secrets, tendencies, patterns that science now is able to unlock.
Our God is a dreamer, an artist, and we are His masterpiece. In Ephesians chapter two Paul says that as believers we are God's "workmanship." Another definition of this word is "fiction." We are straight out of the imagination of God. When the Almighty decided to make something in His image, something to that would reveal His glory, and be in a relationship with Him, He created man, and woman. He wasn't forced to work with unwanted stuff. He's God. With His limitless resources and infinite power God and His IMAGination created us..in...His...IMAGE. You are no mistake. You are the walking, talking, breathing, singing, dancing, laughing, crying dream come true of our awesome God.

Something like a beginning.

2006-10-18T18:42:00.000-07:00

I guess a few things before I "write my first blog." 1. I'm a horrible speller (yeah for spell check) 2. I have a tendency to go overboard with the commas. 3. I've never finished a journal in my life so there's a good chance that I won't be a consistent "blogger." 4. I probably will lean towards the intense concerning my blog topics. With all that said, I guess I'll just write about what's been on my mind. That's how it works right?

The word of the week has been "incentive." I feel as though God has been asking me what my incentive for...everything is. Not in order to find out something He doesn't know, because well He's God, but more so to get me to examine what drives me to live. God has been asking me to look at what inspires me to worship Him, serve Him, love others, like I said...my incentive for everything.
What's funny is I thought I had a good answer, but I should have known because it was a quick answer and not exactly the correct one . God has to see this coming (again because He's God), I picture Him asking me questions like this with a smile on His face...Can God be sneaky? Well anyway, my quick answer was...Because when I do these things I feel that I'm living "life to the fullest/life abundantly." It's what makes me feel alive, satisfied...fill in the blank. It was everything you'd think God would want to hear, but the thing is the question seemed...unanswered. Not in like "a buzzz, wrong answer!" sort of way, but more like a "think about the question again" sort of way.
I can't remember how the answer managed to find its way into my head, but gently, as if it had been there all along, it cleared its throat and called my attention to itself. God's glory. That's the incentive. That's as simple as it gets. I feel that at the center of theology rest these two words. The totality of scripture...God's glory. The meaning of our existence...God's glory. The motivation and accomplishment of Jesus Christ...God's glory.
Why does this matter? I guess I'm just a little tired of seeing Jesus turned into this angelic Dr. Phil. We tell broken people living in a broken world that Jesus will fix all of your problems..."fill the God shaped hole in your heart" sort of thing. If I'm honest, my life since I've been a Christian has been far from perfect, in fact some of the lowest times have been since I've accepted Him as Savior, but here's the thing I've come to understand. The buddy Jesus can only last for so long, like a Band Aide it eventually falls off. Living in a world where horrible things happen to good people eventually proves that Jesus isn't necessarily out to make us "happy", He's after more. There has to be more of a reason for Jesus to die than my problems, my heart aches, and my tears, there has to be a bigger reason for Jesus to die...than me, and there is. Jesus is after more than happiness for the human race, He's after restoration. To return us to our purpose, why we were created in the first place. To be in a relationship with God, to bring Him glory.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think God's unconcerned with our problems, with our heartaches...He is the Father of all compassion, God is...Love. God does love us, and because He loves us He wants us to glorify Him. It's what He designed us for, its where we are most satisfied. Incentive, why I do...what I...do. God's glory.
This was definitely intense, way to long, and I'm not entirely sure it makes sense, but wow...this felt good.