Friday, November 28, 2008

hurt.

I hurt....

Because of sin done by me and sin done against me, my soul aches for healing. I feel a very real and physical pain at my core because sin separates me from God; the giver of life. When I sin, I die a little inside. A small part of me that shone for the glory of God is now blackened by the inky stain of disobedience against a holy and righteous God. This stain, this blot on my soul is right before me. I cannot escape it, and it is seen by all. For Jesus said, "the things whispered in the ears shall be shouted from the rooftops." But my hope is that this God is not removed from my pain, but has experienced it in real human physical form by taking it, all of it upon himself and suffering in my place for the very pain I should have endured. By death, this God has brought life to the very people who have hurt him so that we might not suffer this hurt forever but be healed from the pain we deal and the pain we feel. I know this sin and the pain caused by it will lead to my death as well, but I am confident that because of the death of my God in my place for my sin, that the victory and sting of death will not stand against me but that a better death and a better blood covers my inky black soul and makes me white as snow. In Jesus is the only place where black and red equal white. So, If you're hurting, know that He hurt as well. When you are aching, know He is ready to heal. And when you are dying know that He has been there and back and if you trust in His life. death and resurrection that it will not hold you back either. SIn equals death, but death has been taken care of for those who believe. Life is pain, but pain is only a mile-marker in the journey of faith. Hurt is there, but healing is not far off.

I hurt.... but He hurt for me.

Monday, June 30, 2008

7 Reasons Why the Church is Not a Club.

I have been seeing a trend, actually its more of a mindset that is bothering me in the church lately. I am going to keep it brief, but here in short are 7 reasons why the church is not, and should not be a club.

1.
-A club exists to serve the needs of the members.
-The Church exists to be the light of the world.(Matt. 5:14)
2.
-A club exists to promote the values of the club.
-The Church exists to point to Jesus, and only Jesus.(1 Cor. 2:1-2)
3.
-A club is focused inwardly
-The Church is focused externally.(Matt. 28:19-20)
4.
-A club pursues people with similar goals and interests.
-The Church pursues every tribe, nation and tongue(Rev. 14:6)
5.
-A club focuses on the good of the club.
-The Church focuses on being the salt of the Earth.(Matt.5:13)
6.
-A club relies on club leadership to plan, execute and promote said club
-The Church is a body where every part works together for the purpose of Christ.(1 Cor.12:27,Rom. 12:5)
7.
-A club meeting only consists of members of the club.
-A Church service consists of people who love Jesus, don't love Jesus and have never heard of the Gospel of Jesus.(The whole book of Acts)

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

JC, John Stamos and the day I met Keya.

So, after an unexpectedly refreshing night of talk and funny red and white cards I realized how much I truly love conversation. Some might see it as a quirk or flaw, but I thoroughly enjoy being able to talk to anybody at anytime about almost anything. I know some of my friends find it endearing yet tiresome my ability to talk and ask questions, but I think there is something deeper here than my gift of gab. Why do we love to communicate? what is about our humanity that yearns for community and expression? I wonder about this quite a bit, and then i came across this peculiar passage in the book of Genesis.

" Then God said, Let US make man in OUR own image, in our likeness....."

Genesis 1:26 (emphasis added)

So, I at first was very confused by this, particularly by the words US and OUR. Now I was no theologian, but I could have sworn there was only one God in the Bible. As I continued to study I realized that God is a relational God because He is on community with Himself. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit all are God and all have personalities and voices that make them unique while still maintaining unity. I know as Augustine said " If you reject the Trinity you lose your soul and if your try to explain it, you lose your mind" but i am just trying to figure out what the image of God looks like. I am glad that the Doctrine of the Trinity is true, because if God were by Himself not 3 in 1, then I imagine He would get rather lonely. But I know that God is fully fulfilled in part or in whole because of the His Trinitarian nature.

This is why the Bible says that "God is love."(1 John 4:8) He is the fullest example of love because the Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father and so on and so forth. So, in this we see why we as humans, created in the image of God desire community, expression and love. We are just emulating our Creator. If we could actually get this concept, wouldn't the world be such a better place? thats why living Imago Dei (the image of God) is so important because the way we treat the Created is how we treat the Creator.

Monday, April 14, 2008

An In-ignorable Humility.

In the last week, I have had an epiphany of sorts. Thanks to my friends JR and Spectacular, I have come to realize that it always seems to be the good(and by good I mean loving, caring and obedient) christians that think they are bad and the bad(and by bad I mean apathetic and anti-altruistic) christians that seem to think they are good. I think that the "bad" ones think that they are bad because they are comparing themselves to others who have a rigid sound theology and memorized doctrine(which by all means is important). But they will go out of their way to help out a friend or stranger in need. The "good" christians on the other hand are planted firm in their theology, with their creeds memorized and their bibles ready to "do battle", but fail to see the hurting dying world that so desperately needs them to be the hands and feet of the Jesus they so diligently study.

As i was saying, last week I had what you would say a "living discrepancy." I was without a place to lay my head for a couple days and my above listed friends came to my rescue; calling people with empty couches and even paying for a hotel room one night. I was blown away because these particular friends are always telling me how they feel like they are bad christians because they don't study the bible enough or don't know exactly what they believe. all the while I have friends who are in bible college or in ministry in some capacity who don't see the opportunities to serve "the least of these" outside of scheduled homeless outreaches' and troubled youth camps. This all comes down to an in-ignorable humility that followers of Christ should ooze out. Instead of being proud of our knowledge and values we should humbly accept the opportunities we get to serve others.

So, Jr and Spectacular, i want to thank you for being Jesus for me when I needed Him. I think He is very proud of you.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Where are you Lord?

Last night, after a eye-opening experience at RHOP(the Roseville House Of Prayer) I realized why I haven't felt that God is near lately. This may seem way too simple, but as followers of Christ we are supposed to follow him. That means we will want to go where He is going. As Jesus goes to and fro, we should "be covered in the dust of our Rabbi." We should want to be where he is and not where we want to be. Now as a semi-affluent but rebellious American I have been constantly covered in not dust, but in comfort and complacency, and I am fairly certain that Jesus is not hanging out at Starbucks in Suburbia. Now thats not to say that the coffee-shop goers are being neglected, but we have to keep ourselves in check and realize who is leading us. Are pride, comfort and success leading us down their path, or is Jesus leading us down His dusty trail? I hope as you read this your prayer would be "Take me with you, Lord. I want to go where you are going. I want to be where you are."

So continually ask your self, "do you want to go where Jesus is?" Because He is not always where we'd expect Him to be.

Sneaky Jesus...