Life or Death?

Mark 8:34-37, Matthew 10:34-39, Psalm 86:1-4, Deuteronomy 30:15-20

When we are faced with the choice, life or death, I think the answer seems fairly obvious, correct? Correct. I hope. Jesus tells us that we must lose our lives for Jesus' sake in order to find true life. Talk abut a paradox! Yet, its so true (as most paradoxes are). By rejecting myself of the self-absorbed desires and concerns that try to take God's place as numero uno in my life, I can open myself to life in Christ. This is called kenosis, or surrenduring to God. It seems interesting to me that this concept is under some criticism recently. The argument is that a spirituality of surrenduring works for those who already have power and can get whatever they want. These people can surrendur their power and become a servant. Other people who have been oppressed don't have much power to relinquish, they are already surrendured.

So, in light of this experience of some people that surrenduring is alreayd what they live and its unjust, how can Jesus' words be useful or redeemed. I believe that many Christians have misunderstood surrenduring, submitting, and serving. They do not as much refer to people losing dignity and becoming apathetic to their own suffering. Keep in mind that Jesus says life is found when people first lose their lives for his sake. Its not just about being submissive to every person or power that comes along, its about being submissive to God, the only person worthy of our service. When we submit to God, it may mean standing up to others and exercising power, challenging authority, and making right the wrongs of the world. There are also times to be sumissive to other people too. When we submit fully to Christ, we take on Christ's mind and we are more aware of when its time to stand up, and when its time to serve in love. Sometimes even the act of loving service can also challenge the most powerful of authorities (see MLK, Jr. or JESUS).

God offers us both options, life and death, prosperity or destruction, and its our choice. God isn't in the business of deciding for us. He wants our love, not zombie robots! That means its not going to be easy. it means God is going to test our love and root for us to make the right decision. So surrendur to his love: its like an ocean of AWESOOOOOOME!...

Finding Myself and Choosing Life

Deuteronomy 34:1-12, Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8, Matthew 22:34-46

What a crazy few weeks! My soul has been up and down and everywhere! Little time to blog, much less take seriously God's real presence. There was unfortunately much paying of lip-service to devotions and prayer. However, I am back into a routine (bahahahahaha...as if my routine could be called a routine...) so I intend to be more faithful. I have spent time at home renewing myself, which has lit the spiritual flame in my heart to continue the work of Jesus. Once more, and probably not the last time, this blog has become more chore than blessing.

I have discovered that God desires for me to do what's best for me. Sounds strange, but what's best for me is what's best for God. And what's best for God is what's best for everyone. Thus, what's best for everyone is what's best for me. Gives a new meaning to selfishness... love: all-encompassing and all-consuming love. May Moses and Paul provide us with examples to live by and the words of Jesus and the prophets encourage us on. Choose what's best for all and best for you: choose Jesus!

I Suffer More Than You Suffer!!!

2 Corinthians 11:16-33

Paul is hilarious sometimes. He gets in these crazy pseudo-sarcastic moods where he goes overboard explaining the awesome ridiculousness of some christian idea. He knows it too! He repeatedly tell readers he is a big fool (fool for Christ, but nonetheless a fool). Paul brags and boasts about all the ways in which he has suffered for his faith in Christ. He was shipwrecked three times! Say what! This guy really believed what he preached. I mean, who would undergo ALL THAT and not be totally convinced of the truth of their convictions? It seems ridiculous to say "Hey, check out how much serving Jesus hurt me." And yet, how else do we serve a God who was executed? We take up our own crosses and follow him. Let us not forget the resurrection of course. There is greater life at the end of the pain, fuller life through the crucible.

God is worshiped and glorified in our weakness. The root of sin is our refusal to hand over our lives to God's will and grace. We keep things for ourselves: be it money, pleasure, control over the future, selfish priorities, or time. God is not glorified when we have control BECAUSE WE ARE FOOLS. We don't really know what is best for us, but God does (by definition). It is less in our human successes that we worship, but when we are persecuted or we display our weaknesses and present all failings and sufferings to God, then, we acknowledge God's power and love. Then we say, "Yes! The Lord our God can do all things, even save us humans from our self-delusions of control." Like Paul, when we worship Christ through handing our lives over, we remain fools, but we become fools FOR CHRIST. Rather than displaying our meaningless successes that won't last next year or even a hundred years, we display the power of God through our rejection of self-reliance. Give it up to God. Do this in two ways: give your lives over to be untied with him, and give it up like applause: WORSHIP!

God provides... DUH!

Matthew 6:9-13, Psalm 127:1-2

Of course God provides! I feel like my blogs lately have been exclamatory! That's why I put exclamation points behind my sentences! God gives us all kinds of things, but we don't really trust that provision. That's why we work our butts off to provide for our own security and well-being. This is not reflective of a christian lifestyle. At least, its not compatible with a mindset that depends on God's provision over ONESELF.

When we pray the Lord's Prayer, we say "Give us Lord, our daily bread," we really mean, "Thank you Lord, for the bread that we have provided ourselves with." Instead, we should pray those words and then let it go, no longer worrying about where our bread will come from. Trust God! Seriously, God provides!

There have been truly life-giving times when my trust in God has been strong and I do not bother preparing days in advance how I will eat, how my work will get done, where I will sleep; because God gave me all those things in his own way. We must trust God's way, which means trusting the unknown. Welcome it. it is God...

Worry is of the Devil

Psalm 128:1-2, Exodus 32:1-14, Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23, Philippians 4:1-9, Matthew 22:1-14, Mark 8:14-21

Seriously! It is! Worry = anxiety over life circumstances, but the only real concern in life is serving Jesus Christ. To worry is to show our lack of faith in Jesus. Now, everyone's faith is subject to such weakness, and frequently too. But the message of scripture and the point of the Gospel should remind us that God is in charge and good defeats evil. We must be careful when worry rears its ugly head because Satan loves to enslave us with worry. When we lose faith Jesus is bigger than all our troubles, we depend on ourselves, or we depend on some other source of power, which is idolatry. I am certainly preaching to myself now. I get worried about schoolwork, paperwork, and my general stupidity a lot. But really, who cares?! Isn't God's plan greater than our desire to please everyone here. Doesn't God's will carry more eternal consequence than temporary financial security, missed deadlines, or perfect home environments. God reigns! Christ is alive! How hard it is to convince ourselves to not care so much about what worries us!

The people of Israel worried a lot. That led them to seek idols and false gods. The disciples worried about lack of supplies and storms. This led Jesus to tell them to get with the program and have faith. People everywhere are so concerned with their temporary issues (that seem important) that they refuse the call to salvation, grace, and freedom offered by Jesus. This is the only real thing that matters, and everything else is, in the end, second to choosing Jesus always.

"When its all been said and done there is just one thing that matters..."

Where Are You, God!?

Psalm 105:1-6, Psalm 90, John 14:27-28, John 16:29-30, 1 Corinthians 13:12, Matthew 27:46, Psalm 22:1, 1Corinthians 2:16, Philippians 2:5

What can we say? God is bigger than everything. And yet God is a part of everything. Jesus lives within us, yet he cannot be bound by us. God created all that is, and God is concerned about the smallest detail.

We find ourselves wondering why we cannot find God: why is God not listening, why is God not responding, why can't God send help, am I alone in this?

We see God at best through a thick mist, or as a pale reflection. That is good, but it leaves us sometimes confused. We feel like God is absent and we have to work out life by ourselves. Its true, Jesus is not here as a brother in the flesh. God is far removed from our insignificance, but he is also closer to us than us, for he formed the workings of us.

God is here, and his CONSTANT reminder is to let go of this world and be more concerned about his world! Those things that cause us stress are almost always of this world (and I include here school troubles, work troubles, LEGAL troubles, and the expectations of others). Spend time in prayer and Bible study. I sure have to. Without it, I would be lost. When we seek God's will first, all else will fall as it will (and God is good).

He Is Still Risen

Mark 16:1-8

"Trembling and bewildered." That's how the women who came to the empty tomb left. They had encountered instead of a dead corpse, a man in a white robe who said some strange things about their executed rabbi.

"Trembling and bewildered." Sometimes that's how I am. I get in moods where I am confused and stressed and all kinds of messed up for no real reason. I try to seek God, but he is not in the usual readings, the routine prayers, or the everyday reliabilities. I thought I could depend on God to be there! Where is God hiding?!

Turns out he is risen. Like the women searching for their master in a tomb, expecting to find a harmless and useless dead body, we sometimes expect God to stay in our own little Christ-boxes. We get so used to meeting God in certain places that we forget to seek him everywhere and everywhen. God does not stay in one place. He is alive and moving. We get addicted to keeping God in one setting, be it a type of devotional, a worship experience, or a prayer mode. We actually trap Jesus in tombs! We expect to lock him in there for when we need to find him quick without searching, but Jesus is a Lord of life and transformation, constantly beckoning us deeper and in new ways.

Jesus isn't going to stay in our tombs. When we come to find him, he will be up and gone, and we will act "trembling and bewildered" because our foundation is shaken. Jesus isn't far away though. He just wants us to seek him always and everywhere, not on our terms, but on his. I mean, come on, who's more in the know about what's going on? He IS God...

So when you're feeling "trembling and bewildered," don't give up like God's abandoned you. He is risen! He is alive and waiting for you. Just call his name and you won't be far away! Christ is risen from the tomb of our control! May we also rise to life anew!

Carefree Resignation

Acts 1:6-11

I got ticked off when I read this passage this morning. How could Jesus just leave?! The disciples certainly seemed shocked that he would just up and vanish (literally). They all believed the fullness of the Kingdom of God was at hand, but here was Jesus saying "see ya!" and leaving the disciples alone and hopeless. ...Now that's kind of not true, Jesus left them with the Holy Spirit, teachings, and a promise for a blessed future.

Perhaps the adventure really began here... Jesus is gone. Now we have the work to do. We became the body of Christ, to continue the work and preach the Gospel. How clueless they all were! A bunch of ignorant fools... uneducated crazies... What horrors and wonders would be unleashed on the world. These men and women had no idea, but they followed the will of the One who sent them. They had no choice. They knew God, and though they missed his face, they had his message and his love, both imprinted on their hearts. All that the world once promised them was now "naught but ash" and all was for Christ.

Sometimes it is hard to be joyful, even though scripture tells us to be. Sometimes the only when to move forward is to resign ourselves to God's service, without worry, but also without happiness. We have God with us the whole way, but not necessarily comfort or ease. May Christ be our only true comfort and ease...!

Chosen

1 Thessalonians 1:2-10

I can easily fall into a state of overwhelming disorientation. Things hit me at once and I long for my teenage and/or college years when I could easily and efficiently jump from one thing to another without the feeling of losing something. Add to that general confusion about the way the world works, disappointment and loss of hope in leaders and institutions, a lack of knowledge where to go ext, what to do next, and what consequences any one choice may have, and I am pretty depressingly escapist. No wonder people turn to addictions, fantasies, or God to cope. The world seems very complicated, not by choice, but by expectation. Somehow, I am still alive and seemingly well. I do not know how. It is a testament to God's continual presence and providence that we don't destroy ourselves totally.

Paul says, "For we know, brothers [and sisters] loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simple with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction." Yeah... that is true. Paul was pretty good at encouraging Christians when they needed it. He reminds the church in Thessalonica (1) that they are loved by God, and (2) that they were chosen by God. Neither claim is in dispute, even though Christians everywhere and in every time may doubt their faith or their calling. Paul's justification for this claim is not based on words. Anyone can repeat creeds or dogma or catchphrases popular with churches, but words do not mean squat when it comes to the chosen nature of Christ-followers. Paul says the gospel, the good news of Jesus, was not simply heard and understood and accepted as a proposition. No, in fact the Holy Spirit itself made clear to all that these people had been chosen by God for a purpose. The Holy Spirit manifested itself with power and conviction: hard things to dispute within oneself.

What the Holy Spirit has made known to us, may we not forsake or fall away from. The Spirit deals not in mere words and ideas, but makes those words and ideas 3D! They are given life and vibrancy, power and conviction that pop out from a static world of Super Nintendo into the realm of Wii. I apologize for the pop culture references, but it works at a superficial level. Nothing stops the power of the Spirit in us except our failure to live into it. Politics, education, paperwork, routines, interruptions, suffering, death- none of them are comparable to the power of the Spirit.

We are chosen, friends. Let us not forget the power we have been given. May we count all else as loss, but the love of Jesus Christ for which we give our all.

God With Us

John 14:1-3, Luke 24:28-35

Who else feels at times like God is not around? Like he's hiding or she's busy elsewhere? Sometime when I pray, it feels so hard to connect, whereas other times its like I never left Jesus' side. Same for studying the Bible. It helps when I pray or study in a group of believers because Jesus is more assuredly present when people gather in his name. But when alone and seeking God, it can be difficult. Do not let people tell you that its easy and always such a simple task, seeking God. It SHOULD be, but that would be assuming we are another part of God and have nothing distancing us from Christ. For indeed, we are not God, nor are we even in the same category with God. Sin prevents us from always walking with Jesus. Our desires and weaknesses cloud our awareness of the Holy Spirit. And yet, in actuality, God IS always there!

That is good news! God is NOT hiding from us! God is here now, with you, seeking you, waiting for you, like a patient lover. Jesus assures his disciples not to worry many times. I wonder if we are like the disciples on the Emmaus Road. Jesus is with us, talking and showing signs of who he is, but we are far from him in mind and heart, believing the lies of culture and wallowing in our petty concerns and depression. Its not until later that we look back and see God trying to make himself known to us, but we were not paying attention. We were hiding from God, God was not hiding from us.

An Evolution of Expectations

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20, Psalm 19, Philippians 3:4-14, Matthew 21:33-46, Luke 23:46

People love talking about the Ten Commandments. They are possibly one of the best short lists of morality and theology out there. Of them the Psalmist goes on and on, lavishing beautiful words to impress upon listeners and readers their great worth. There are debates about them, movies centered on them, and lives struggling to live by them. The Law in its entirety as outlined in the Torah (Pentateuch... first five books of the Bible) is fairly complicated; with directions on what to eat, how to eat, how to clean up, and how to prepare the food; not to mention all other facets of life. Comparatively, the Ten biggies look much simpler (if more impossible to fulfill).

Crazy how later Paul looks back on his life as a Pharisee and "counts all as loss" when compared to the life of service to Christ. Annnnnd yes, I'd say that includes the Ten Commandos. Life in Christ is not law-based, but grace-based. The Big Ten are great goals to live by, but not even they measure up to the goal of complete surrender to the love of Jesus. Hopefully, such a life would naturally include much of the Law, ESPECIALLY the Ten Commandments. After all, Jesus is Lord and the law of the Lord is awesome, so Jesus' law is awesome.

Strange how so many reject the way of Jesus who would uplift the Ten Commandments. Jesus way is even better then the Ten! One reason we tend to choose law over Jesus is that we rework laws in our own image, according to our own desires. The only way to correctly interpret the law is in the light of Christ's love and grace. But we humans love our control and power. It would be unheard of to simply hand over our rational processes and submit to someone else, no matter how trustworthy (and in fact incapable of lying...)

But still, Jesus models for us just how easy it should be. On the cross, Jesus recognizes the lure of power and control when he utters, "Father, why have you forsaken me?" We assume that because God doesn't do for us what we feel is right, he must not be for us. And yet, Jesus surrenders. "Into your hands I commend my Spirit." He stops trying to be in control, and let's God do what God will do. And look! Awesomeness happened! Yeah, Jesus dies... but he also rises again! In glory undimmed!

Letting go and letting God I guess... the Jesus way.

Courage So Far

Matthew 14:22-33

Stepping out in faith is not easy. It takes a good deal of courage to dare to step out of the boat and defy the eaves of trouble, heading ever toward our master. Jesus beckons us lovingly to take a chance, risk it all, and reach for him. Jesus promises that by faith, the waves will not overwhelm, the wind will not carry away, and the great unknown will not destroy.

Peter takes him up on his offer, boldly stepping out into the impossible, but when he realizes where he is and how far he has come and how ludicrous this would have seemed before he knew Jesus, he considers that maybe Jesus is wrong, maybe this is all a lie, maybe the forces set against us are more powerful than Jesus. We wonder this too, consciously, subconsciously...

Fortunately, Jesus already knows that we are weak. He is prepared to overlook our weakness and snatch us from the hands of the Enemy as soon as we call out to him "Lord, save me!" Faith can carry us long distances, allow us to perform great deeds in Christ's name, but only Christ himself can bring us fully over to safety, to peace, and to life-love everlasting.

Bad Stuff... From God?

Philippians 1:12-14, 27-30, Isaiah 43:1-3, John 15:2, Hebrews 12:10, James1:3

Theodicy is not cool. Theodicy is the question of why bad things happen to good people. Does God not really care about us? Is God unable to help? No one has a sufficient answer to assuage every concerned feeling, every grief, every fear, every anger, every doubt. Its hard to explain any answer to someone who is hurting or passionate. Answering logic to emotion often ends in further pain. That's not cool either. On one hand, we have the assurance that God is always with us and even FOR us. On the other, crap happens.

As for me, I believe things happen for reasons and there are no coincidences. I also believe that sorrows are sad, unfortunate, and often empty of meaning (that we can see). There is a strange balance in things like death, endings, and tragedy. There is both comfort and outrage in the fact that God is behind everything that happens. How can we be both comforted and outraged!? It makes no sense, and yet its there, unavoidable and obvious, even if we try to blind ourselves to it. "The problem with these mysteries is they're so mysterious" as Caedmon's Call puts it. This is where faith is really tested, not in questions of believing certain statements or whether or not we are strong in our Christian walk. Its when the storms hit and meaning is absent and we can see no reason why things are happening that hurt SO MUCH. We humans long to know WHY WHY WHY, but God is not a God who answers why so much as he says "Wait" and waiting is not a strong human ability...

God is in control, but he also grieves with us. All things work out for good, but the best things are recognized in light of the darkness that came before. Victory over evil requires us to have experienced evil, before we can experience the victory, the peace, the sigh of relief. This is a dangerous topic to share ideas on because every person is at a difference place emotionally when it comes to the crap of life. And yet, one response from Paul is that God uses perceived evils to strengthen us and make us holier, reminding us of our mortality so we can strive to be nearer to God. Let the pain in. Let the pain make you strong. But let God control the pain. Do not let the pain control you.

And remember also, God is the only one in a position to judge and control events. The ends do not justify the means for us. The "greater good" argument applies only when God uses it. If we try to use it, we are claiming to be God... and that can have TRULY serious consequences...