This One isn't for You.... It's for us Eagles

    I'm not good with goodbyes. In fact I hate them. Especially those of a more permanent variety. So for the past couple of days I have been stewing over the latest goodbye I had to issue, to a place close to my heart. I have been dwelling on the words that could appropriately fit the situation  I find myself in, and the goodbye I have to give, and they never came. Others issued their goodbyes, and did so eloquently and in such a manner that expressed exactly what I was feeling. The only problem was it wasn't my goodbye. It wasn't my own, it was someone else's goodbye that I resonated with. I needed to say goodbye for myself. So when I say that this one is not for you, it is not intended to be harsh or to be selfish. Well maybe it is a little bit selfish. Yet, all it means is that it is my goodbye. In all it's inefficiencies, and it's lacking. It is my best description of thanks, of appreciation, of this feeling of blessing, and of the place called Bethany College.
    Sunday April 26th. That was the day I lost a home. It may not have looked like a home upon first arriving on campus, but it became a second home, with a second family. Hepburn, the place "Where friends and family meet." No truer words could have been adopted by Bethany College. Once you walked in those doors you were both a friend and part of the family. So by the time the tears started to flow in that crammed Gymnasium I knew that they were both necessary, and wanted. There was nothing else to do. Nothing else to do but sit, and cry, and listen to the testimony of a place that had touched the lives of five thousand eight hundred people directly, and countless others indirectly. After all we had all lost a home of sorts. Whether you spent one day, or you spent four or more years on the campus when you came to Bethany's campus you came to a home, and on this particular Sunday this home gave it's final farewell. Five thousand eight hundred alumni, while not that big of a number, had dwelled here at one point or another. It's not a particularly large number, but then it's not really about a number, after all it never was.
    It was never about how many came through the doors on a September long weekend, wide eyed, with parents in tow (or towed by parents). It was never about that because it was about something more important than that (Although, I'm sure there was always wishes of numbers, it wasn't the focus). It was something that the staff and faculty understood about this place. It was something that the students came to appreciate about the place. The first time you drove up that dirt rode and pulled into that building you didn't get it. There is no way you could have. Maybe the odd person sensed something, or maybe you could tell by the looks on the faces of those that had resided there before, but you didn't really know. You didn't really know because deep down it wasn't about the building, the building was just the meeting place. It was about one thing, that when you understood and experienced, that also became the most cliche thing to actually say. Community.
    Everyone knew it. It might have been because they heard that word uttered fifty some odd times in the first week. I believe that they also felt it, some for a short period of time, and some for a time longer. Yet, when you chose to give some of your time to Bethany, you were guaranteed to be a part of a community. I will never understand it, how it always worked, and how it was always tried, tested, and true. Maybe it was the faithfulness of countless staff that poured their heart and soul into every single year at this place. They weren't building into a job, they were parents pouring into their family. They, for 8 months of a year, collectively adopted anywhere from 60-120 students and set out to make sure that they were looked after, and cared for, and loved. From long hours, to long talks, to short but sweet classes (we only hoped!). They poured their heart and soul into everything and everyone they encountered. Some, I'm sure, were easier to put up with and pour into. Some took a little more work (and a little more Advil), but that never stopped them from keeping up the task and pouring into every single individual. It was for these such people that the tears fell for on this day.
    Maybe this was the example that was set by the President's and Board members of the school. The many meetings, and budgets and conversations were necessary to keep such a school up and running, so that students had the opportunity to come and experience. The many headaches, and I'm sure tears that led up to the fateful decision that all of this would eventually be coming to an end. The writing on the wall that was there for all to see, accompanied by a deep sense of loss and heartache for the understanding that the environment that they worked so hard to make the best it could be and maintain that standard, would be no more. That no more would students be able to experience the wonder and joy that existed in the halls. These weren't necessarily the front lines workers in the sense that they worked directly with the students. This isn't to say they were invisible, we saw them. They were on the front lines of tough decisions and discerning the will and guidance of God, and following where He was leading them. I will never know what happened in the rooms where those meetings took place, or the atmosphere that accompanied them. Yet, I do know that these were also on the front-lines of making Bethany the kind of place that it was. It was for these such people that the tears fell for on this day.
    Everyone bought in to this environment. Have I mentioned yet, how I don't really understand how it all worked and fit together? It's because it didn't make sense that it did work. To avoid making it seem like it was all butterflies and rainbows and something from a too good to be true fairy-tale, there were hardships, and trials, and issues that arose. There were fights, and not everyone was the best of friends (not everyone held hands and skipped around the streets of Hepburn). I don't think everyone was always even keen on being at Bethany. I've heard it said that it's in the gritty and the grimy of relationship that you truly see the face of God. This was no less true about Bethany. It was messy, and gritty, and grimy at times, but in some ways that was also where we saw the face of God. Despite these things, there was always a part of Bethany that people bought into. People almost always bought into the people. The relationships that developed and remain to this day are a testament to the kind of place that Bethany was and the kind of community it fostered. People bought into the classes and the teachings; or at least they faked that they did and hoped that Gil, Randy, Rick or another professor didn't notice they were on Facebook (FYI they did notice). They bought into the person of Jesus that was present and working within the walls of Bethany, both in the dorms and in structures that made up Bethany. Almost everyone bought into something that was present at Bethany, and that's what made it so special. It was for all these such people that the tears fell for that day.
    I took up reading the book of Lamentations as I saw it as kind of a fitting place to read in light of the sorrow that I was feeling. I was expecting a book about sorrow and grief, something I could resonate with. Yet, as I started reading this book I noticed, right smack dab in the middle, a section titled: Great is Your Faithfulness. This is not my idea of grieving, and I didn't know how to fully describe the sense of deep loss and grief alongside the incredible foundation of hope found in Jesus that I was feeling, but I wouldn't have used the word Faithfulness if you did ask me. This is what I read:

"But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning; 

great is your faithfulness

'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul,

'therefore I will hope in him.'

The Lord is good to those who wait for him, 

to the soul who seeks him. 

It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. 

Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; 

let him put his mouth in the dust -- there may yet be hope;

let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,

and let him be filled with insults.

For the Lord will not cast off forever, but,

though he cause grief,

he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;

for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men." (Lam 3:21-33)

    I stood in a gymnasium on April 26th and sang about the faithfulness of God, and his right to be honored and glorified, and blessed his name. Tears rolling down my cheeks as I sang these words and reflected on four years, and countless other visits to Bethany. The words could not have been more true. I had sang many songs like this within the walls of Bethany. It was the faithfulness and blessing of God that I was able to experience in such a place, and have it change me into a large part of the person I am today. It was the faithfulness of God that kept Bethany the place it was for 88 years. No other place has had such a deeply felt impact on my life, and as a result I don't really even fully know how to say Thank You. Words don't do it justice, and I will never be able to fully explain what this place was to me. It was a home, a theater, a church, an stadium, a meeting place, a comedy club, a concert hall, and so much more. It was a place where a faithful God chose to dwell. It was the home and resting place of Eagles. 

    I read a description on a Facebook status the other day, about a month before this day would come. It was talking about Eagles and the image of the eagle used in the Bible. It spoke to me profoundly, and I asked if I could share it but for some reason I didn't right away. I don't know what stopped me because it spoke to me and touched me. I think it was meant to go here: 

Eagles are one of the most powerful creation of God, they are symbols of power, grace, superiority and freedom. 

In its own right, the Eagle is the king of the air. It dominates,and is able to do what other birds are not capable of doing.It is a skillful flyer.

God has made you, much more powerful than the Eagle, he has given you the ability to dominate the air, land and sea. You are a King, made to dominate your territory for God, why are you seeking the approval of man, when God has approved you himself, why bow and perform before political office holders, mare men, for favor. As they say in the military wake up!, stand up and stand out!, Your case is and should be different! you are the child of the King of Kings.

While other birds fly, the eagle soars.When other birds struggle with the elements, that is the wind, the sun etc,the eagle takes advantage of it, rather than struggle to gain momentum, the eagle simply studies the direction of the wind and takes advantage if it, it glides and soars, allowing the wind to take it to its desired destination.

Child of God, relax, stop struggling, enjoy the benefit of your sonship, tap into the promises of God. Jesus has paid the price. Glide like the Eagle rest upon the wings of the Almighty let him carry you as he carried the weight of the world upon his shoulders, lay your troubles at his feet.

•Eagles have unusual eyes, the eagles’ vision is among the sharpest of any animal, for example,humans see just three basic colors,the eagles see five this enable them to spot well-camouflaged prey from a very long distance. 

Where many see discouragement, failure, and closed doors may you see the potentials for promotion, success and victory.in Jesus name!.

Hear what the Almighty says concerning you child of God

[Most] blessed is the man who believes in, trusts in, and relies on the Lord, and whose hope and confidence the Lord is. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters that spreads out its roots by the river; and it shall not see and fear when heat comes; but its leaf shall be green. It shall not be anxious and full of care in the year of drought, nor shall it cease yielding fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8

So thank you Bethany for everything you became and everything that you were. Despite your flaws and short comings you were a blessing and a gift of God for these 88 years. Thank you for letting me be an Eagle, both as a member of sports teams and as a child of God. After all whenever you attend a school, no matter if you're on the court (or ice) or not, you adopt whatever mascot the team boasts. Every one that walked through those doors and gave some time to Bethany was a Bethany Eagle. So I'm sorry this one isn't for you. This one is for all of us Eagles. 

A Log and a Speck

It's a slow afternoon on a nondescript day in January. There I was on a particularly slow day, at a particularly slow time of this slow day. Now, when these sort of circumstances present themselves one does whatever it takes to wheedle away the minutes and hours. With the hum of numerous electronics and belts (I work at an airport, with baggage, so not the belts that you would put around your waist to keep your pants nice and snug). For this reason, I read on my phone, play various games, scroll through my twitter and Facebook feeds, and listen to music. This is all when I am not engaged in conversation with fellow co-workers, (or actually doing the work that needs to get done).

Now it is this scrolling through various feeds of various social networking sites that both frustrates and gets me into trouble. After all, social networking is not the place to post controversial statuses and risk the inability to properly communicate the many nuances of any one of these discussions. Most people avoid these statuses because of a desire not to post a blog-esque length comment under a status, fully flushing out the argument of your side, or fully explaining yourself so that you do not have mis-communication. Even if people don't avoid this and decide to pursue such a bold and futile venture, the fact that it is typed messages and not face to face, vocal, back and forth, causes misunderstanding and oversimplification of possibly complex discussions. These statuses coupled with the many, many articles on various topics (both controversial and not) have gotten me into self-proclaimed trouble. Not that I love most of the articles, although some are worth the read, there is just such an overload of these articles both worthwhile and not that there simply isn't time and it gives Facebook the feel of an impersonal advocacy center for whatever the cause or complaint of the week. It is because of this that I even left Facebook for a while, and deleted the app off my phone. The urge to post opinions in the boredom of a day can sometimes be too much, especially when you are opinionated, and not shy about those opinions. Too often I should just keep the opinion to myself or unload it on someone that is actually there in live person. However, this doesn't always happen and can then lead to a lengthy, and often grueling, "discussion" in a comment section. For this reason, I have re-booted this blog. This blog is as much for myself as it is for others. A place to splurge so to speak and possibly (hopefully) flush out my opinions. You have  a right to disagree, and I love discussions if you do. I am no authority, and this is simply my opinion. If you disagree, comment that you disagree, but if you want to discuss and explain why talk to me in person, not in the comments section.

With all that said, the real reason for this post is in a response to many of said articles in Facebook. I have noticed that the particular kick of the week has to do with modesty of Christian Woman (I am talking about Christians for this whole post, and would rather put a disclaimer here for convenience sake), and the back and forth between two parties saying who should do and say what. As well is the very comical satirical article about modesty of Men in regards to suits which is quite humerous, and worth a read. Most of these are from Christian perspectives, and as I am one of those (a Christian not a woman) I get more and more frustrated with both sides of the argument on this one. The interesting part is it isn't a disagreeance that is causing frustration. I actually agree with both sides. The problem I see is with the starting point of the argument. You see the very watered down, readers digest version of the argument as I see it goes like this:

Men's point of veiw. We are visual beings and as a result Christian Woman should be conscience of what the wear in order to not cause men to stumble and lust after them. The Bible talks about woman being modest, and not causing others to stumble so they should cover up... buy a burka. (Ok I added that last bit, but there has been mention of burka's in comment sections of some of these articles)

Woman's point of view. It is unreasonable for men to ask woman to basically wear a burka. Some of the "so-called" clothing items in question are worn for comfort and not with the purpose of being revealing. It is unreasonable for men to place their problems with lust on the shoulders of women. As a result men need to take care of their problems and not just blame them on the dressing of woman.

I think that I understand both points of view. I think I agree with both points of view. My problem is that both arguments come from the starting point of pointing the finger at the other party. Both have truthful statements and I don't think I disagree with either statement, to a point. See what comes to mind is a verse about a log and a speck. In fact, it is Jesus teaching in Matthew 7 and it goes as follows:

"Judge not, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbour's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbour, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye, while the log is in your own eye?' You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbour's eye." (NRSV). 

In this particular instance and context this verse seems to apply in multiple facets. First, I think that when coming at the problem of modesty (for lack of a better name) both are failing to search themselves first. Both parties immediately are either attacking or defensively retaliating rather than maybe examining themselves and working on their problems before pointing blame at one another. Or God forbid we actually worked together to solve some of our problems.  

Men, yes we are visual creatures, but just because a woman is wearing something does not mean that her main goal is to cater to you and try and lure you off course in a rage of lust. The reality is even if all Christian women dressed like nuns there are a lot of non-christians out there that may have a different value system than a Christians might.  What are you going to do in those situations, convert them all on the basis of modesty? (Good luck with that).  Men you need to work on you, on your mental space, on where your mind goes, and how to control your thoughts and take those thoughts captive. "Renew your minds" daily, and control your eyes, because even though we are visual, you don't always have to look either. In fact, every time I'm in a mall, I have to look the other way purposefully passing some stores because of the content displayed that is hyper-sexualized. (These are women's stores too btw). Men, learn self-control, and utilize it, there is a reason it is one of the fruits of the Spirit. We too quickly forget, that one of the biggest problems that can plague women is self-image. I am not saying that this is why all women dress the way they do, or even that all women have this struggle. That being said some women do dress a certain way to get attention, for whatever reason. Maybe, they just like the clothes, but maybe they feel that the only way they have value is if guys are looking. Let's look at how we are thinking, and how we are treating women before we point the finger at them, and accuse them of all being Jezebel because it's summer and they don't want to wear a sweater. Learn to control yourself, and maybe it won't be as big of a deal for you. 

Women, I am not a woman, and because of that I have less right to talk to your 'stuff'. However, you are not blameless either. While I understand that some of those clothes may be comfortable and that is why you wear them. It is still your job to AT LEAST have an understanding of how your choice of clothing is going to come across. Understand where the line is, and I don't say this so you second guess every single wardrobe decision, but you need to focus on yourselves as well before your pointing the finger. The fact is that men are visual beings. It's not always bad thing, it's not an excuse either. Sometimes it doesn't matter how much you like that shirt or those pants, sometimes maybe you can choose not to wear it because you know that it is a little more revealing. Or you wear it differently, to be a little more modest. Like I understand those yoga pants (the most common example in this discussion) are comfortable, but wear a lower riding shirt. Understand your context and the purpose for what you are wearing. For me it is harder to speak to women because I see the women's side of it as more of a heart thing, than an actual practical action. However, I think that this is just as much about you as it is involving you. Instead of blaming men for placing all their lustful thoughts on your shoulders, and making you deal with them, try and look inwards and see if there are things you can do to help Men and their major stumbling block of thinking that you are beautiful. After all how dare they think that right? 

That really is the main point of my ranting. It's not just to get everything off my chest. With issues like this (and I think it goes beyond the whole modesty thing), what if instead of arguing and pointing fingers at other parties. We worried about ourselves and our own faction of the problem. Or heaven forbid we actually work together to be better. If there is a argument, how can you be the solution, don't wait for someone else to be a solution. Work together as much as possible to make things better. Jesus has some pretty strong words for these kinds of conflict, and more than once. In the sermon on the mount he talks about walking the extra mile for someone who forces you to go one. (NRSV) To give more to the person that SUES you. To turn the other cheek (a concept that I think has become watered down). It means actually allowing someone to hit you on the other side, it's not rolling over and just being meek about it. It's actually actively turning and offering the other cheek (not aggressively mind you). All these are active. It is not a passive avoidance of conflict, it is looking at the conflict, throwing your own pride aside and loving those who persecute you. The focus in all of these is on your response, not what the other person did. Get over yourself enough that you can humble yourself and see where you are in the wrong in certain situations. After all is said and done, the main point isn't about who is wrong and who is right. The point is living in proper healthy relationship with one another. The point is living in relationship in a way that is pleasing to God.  The point is showing a lifestyle that says the kingdom of God and Jesus' teaching are more important than my pride, or my opinion. Maybe we should be more focused on our own logs, and not be trying to remove the specks from our neighbours. All blame does is allow us to be lazy with our own crap, our own issues. And it makes it seem that it's "all on them", it's "their problem" more than ours. The reality is, it's all of ours. Do the heavy lifting. Cause last I checked Logs are a little heftier than specks. 

That's my opinion, agree or disagree? 

Where is God in Evil?

        In the light of recent events in the U.S. and around the world, this common refrain has again come to the forefront, "where is God in all this evil?"It is a question with not a lot of answers. Christians back away from the question because I think most Christians if they are honest with themselves have asked the question to themselves at least once before. In fact. the questioning of the world and the turning to Christians for the answer forces Christians to thinking they need to have an answer. The reality is that most people that are asking the question of Christians are doing so because a) they have a legitimate desire to get an answer b) they have a personal vendetta against Christianity or God c) they don't know where else to look. I would even venture to say that the reason most people ask this question in times of horrific evil or unexplainable tragedy, is because they don't know where else to look in these cases so they start looking for God. It's probably one of the only times they actually ask the question of, "where is God in all of this?". See it's less about the answer to the question and more about the question itself.
        Granted in the aftermath of great tragedy it is hard to look for these things and harder yet to even try and answer that question in a way that will make God look like he actually cares and loves people. It's hard to try and cover for a God who doesn't show his plan to his people. This is not a dig on God, guaranteed it's for the best that he doesn't reveal his full plan to his people. The question is why do we think we need to cover for him? We come up with excuses like, "uh, well, see, God loves you and he has a plan, we don't know what that is, but, uh, we just have to trust him!" or, "well see God, uh, doesn't want bad things to happen, but uh, the world is fallen and evil is a part of that, so, uh, we just have to try and see how God is going to work through it." Or, probably my favorite (because it's the most Sunday school, Hollywood answer) "well see, Satan makes all the bad things happen, see there's this cosmic battle, and uh, well God has won, but, uh bad stuff still happens because it's not technically over yet, uh..." While there is some truth in all of these, they are all just excuses, and responses that we use to try and 'cover' for God, so we can still say he is Good, but not say that he allowed the evil to happen, or caused it to happen. However I want to share something I read this past week in a book by Francis Chan from Erasing Hell. He is ending the book and he goes into a section on how we need to allow God to be God, no matter how uncomfortable that may make us, no matter how confusing that may be at times. "The fact is, scripture is filled with divine actions that don't fit our human standards of logic or morality. But they don't need to, because we are the clay and He is the potter. We need to stop trying to domesticate God or confine Him to tidy categories and compartments that reflect our human sentiments rather than His inexplicable ways."

        We need to ask ourselves if we need God to explain his action or inaction to us, or if we can trust in God's ways and his plan for humanity. God is going to be God, no matter how much we like it. No matter how much we want him to look nicer for our friends. It's not a matter of trying to explain why God allowed something to happen or 'where he was' in certain instances. Although that would make us a lot less squirmy and a lot more comfortable, it's not the way it is. The biggest thing that we can do in these circumstances is show that at the centrality of our faith is a God who loves and resonates with the victims. Not in a naive sense, that we ignore what is going on, but recognize and convey that it's part of something greater, no matter how hard that is to swallow. It's not about trying to explain where God was or wasn't, I have complete faith that God isn't confined to where we do or do not want him. God can be anywhere and everywhere at the same time. Does that mean he is? I don't know.

        The reality is that God is God, in the end he can do pretty much whatever he pleases and not deserve questioning. The fact that he doesn't just do whatever he wants is whenever he wants is what makes him literally amazing and awesome (in the sense that he is worthy of awe). He chooses to limit himself to fit himself in and alongside the human story (in a way that I can't fully grasp and don't fully understand how he does it). He chooses to not abuse his power and authority (if that's possible), even though he of all has every right to do so. And greatest of all, he chooses to use Love and reconciliation as his tools of redemption, even though he has every right to Judge and Smite people for the evil they commit. Yes, that means that love and redemption can even be worked out in a situation like that of the Connecticut shootings. I think it's about time we saw that kind of method worked out in these situations. It would be quite something if our first reaction was forgiveness instead of judgment. After all, isn't that the God we serve?

So where is God when these evil things happen? Probably bleeding out on two posts pointing to a different way. waiting for us to look to him, and live in his example, and bring others along for the ride. to live in forgiveness and love and redemption, and to trust in his wisdom and in his plan. Awful easy things to say. Now it's time to do it.  

And he built an altar...

I started again... meaning I am starting again from the book of Genesis, because by the time you actually reach the end of reading the bible, it is about time to go back to the beginning. How can the book that we are supposed to base our life on be too ingrained right? More than that, I am listening to an audio version, and actually finding it quite rewarding. I can almost imagine myself sitting down like a good little Jewish boy back in the time of Moses, and Moses recounting the stories that he had been told and telling them to the people. It brings a whole new realistic aspect to it, when you realize that these stories are being told like they would have in those days. (minus the voice-actors, and probably some of the interpretation choices). For those who are thinking, your listening to an audio-bible? That's so lazy, and less "holy" or whatever association seems to go along with audio-recordings of the bible. It actually is quite a bit more biblical accurate, as it is the form that many would have heard these stories and accounts given.

With that long introduction out of the way, I was listening to Genesis, and one thing that really caught my attention listening to the recording, was the choice of the people to "build and altar" or to give certain areas a name based on what happened there. For so long I have thought that it was a nice gesture, and that it was just an easy way to name things. Yet, the more I thought about it the more I realized how aware these 'Jews' were of the human condition. Abram is conscious of the need to remember, and how easy it is to forget. Maybe it is the fact that most people in those days lived over 130 years, and they needed constant reminders in order to remember I don't know. What I do know is that they have these reminders everywhere. Yet, these reminders are not just for their individual benefit. These have an everlasting benefit, in the fact that, whenever that places name comes up, or whenever that altar is passed, it is a reminder to that individual, but also an opportunity for them to share what God had done in that place. They can share the story of why that altar is there, or why this place is named as it is. It's an amazing part of the Jewish culture to set reminders all over the place for these things. Obviously they eventually build up and some are a little odd, but it is a question that I think our culture has lost. Why are things the way they are? Not just that, but why is the city I live in called Calgary? Didn't learn that in school, yes we learn history of our country and in a broader, more global, sense, however, we have lost something of the fascination with where we come from and why.

It made me start to think of what practical things I could do that are more permanent to remind me of such things. I think it needs to be more permanent then sticky notes all over my room, or reminders in my phone. These are not bad, but they are brief reminders, until we clean our rooms, or erase that reminder in our phones. They have no comparison to naming a specific place after such things. Then, I started to think about societal things that are like our altars to God, or have the potential to be, and immediately tattoos popped into my mind. Which, obviously I chuckled a little to myself, because a lot of Christians have a problem with the idea of getting tattoos and would not even think about it. Now they do have good reason, because they claim the verse of 1 Corinthians 6. However, when I think about this verse it does not really say anything about tattoos. Only maybe if you are thinking of getting something along the lines of Bubba in the shape of a heart or something. But, if you think about it, tattoos have the potential, especially in our society, of being quite the conversation starter. More than just Christians have them, and a lot of people find an interest in the reasoning behind getting a tattoo. One of the main questions about tattoos is "will you still want it when you are 90, and your skin is drooping", however, if that tattoo is your way of reminding yourself of the faithfulness, or love, or power of God in your life, and it has a story that tells of God's goodness, who cares what it looks like when you are 90. I don't think Abraham asked when he was building an altar what it would  look like in 90 years, if the stones would wear nicely, or if it would even look like it originally meant to. (I do realize that this is a different and probably unfair comparison) however I think it should be reconsidered. Now tattoos I'm sure aren't the only way of making altars to God, and creating reminders for ourselves that others can ask about and will open the door to share stories of what God is doing, or has done in our lives. However I think it has gotten a bad rap simply because of all the bad tattoos out there, and the way they are normally used.

The point is we need to remind ourselves in some way or another that there are things God has and is doing in our lives. There should be things that when I have kids and they see something and ask why I do something or what 'that' symbolizes (whatever that may be) I can tell them about the time God provided for me, and the goodness of the God I serve. It is about reminding ourselves about God's provision and action, and also about being an open doorway to share about the action of the God we serve.

What's the Difference?

I was thinking the other day about the walk of Christians and the walk of non-Christians and that intersection point. There is a tension that has been present for probably as long as Christians have been around on how to live in the world in light of the gospel. Then I started thinking of what I have seen in our culture and society and how Christians walk compared to non-Christians.

Every Christian would not disagree that our lives are meant to be a witness to those that we come in contact with. The easy part is establishing this, the hard part has always been how and in what way do we do this? I think that for every person you talk to you will probably get a little bit different of a variation on how Christians are supposed to witness to those around them. I do not have the answer for this question, just to burst that bubble and so you don't get to the end of reading this and wonder where in the world the parting of the clouds and great epiphany went. However I do want to pose a question that should maybe get us all thinking about how we are living. I think that for the most part we (Christians) have enveloped ourself in our culture so much that nobody really can tell the difference. We watch the same t.v. shows, we listen to some of the same music, we possibly (depending on your convictions) drink the same drinks, and for the most part we actually have the same attitudes as the people around us. whether that is an attitude of consumerism, or an attitude of laziness, or an attitude of alcoholism, there is not much that separates us from them (and I shudder to use the old 'us'' and 'them' terminology but it just is the easiest to use).

So then, the question I want to pose is what makes your life different enough that people actually can look at you and notice that you live a life different than others? Now it's easy to say "well I believe different things" or "I have more love, or more joy than others", but the reality is, if no one is noticing (and granted you might not hear about if people are noticing) then perhaps possibly you are doing something wrong, or not allowing Christ to do his part in your life. It's nothing concrete and I am not thinking about anything in particular but it is fairly clear in the Bible that Christians are supposed to be a witness that people notice. It is not a matter of words and I think this is where the famous saying by St. Francis rings the most true "share the gospel, use words if necessary" (paraphrase). This quote has actually always rubbed me the wrong way to be honest, I always thought it was ridiculous, the gospel could not be told simply through actions, but the heart I think of the quote is that our actions should be enough that people notice a different, can I use "counter-cultural" aspect. What in your life is counter-cultural? Church does not count, I asked what in your life, not what day in your week that non-Christians aren't a part of, is counter-cultural, but what could others point to in your life and either not understand, or point to your Christianity.

Again, this is not to point fingers at others, saying I don't recognize your faith, or you are doing something wrong. It is merely an honest question that I think we Christians could benefit from, a little more, if we were willing to re-evaluate ourselves every once in a while.

A Question of Glee

If you have ever watched the hit t.v. show Glee you know the motto that they profess: be who you are and don't let anyone change that. Now whether you like the show or not this is an interesting concept and a prevalent one in our culture. One of the most common areas where this is addressed is in the gay-lesbian discussion among Christians and non-Christians alike. There are people that say they were born gay or lesbian, and then Christians say, no you weren't, and the back and forth continues with no progress. Now the catchphrase among Christians in regards to this is "hate the sin not the person", which leaves a sort of bitter taste in the mouth with people wondering how in the world that works out. Now I don't really want to talk about that part at all but as my random mind thought about the new season of Glee and such at work (yes I watch the show and enjoy it) I thought about their message to people, the one that can be seen almost anywhere you look in society: the rise of Lady Gaga, the relativistic attitude towards religion, the "positive mental attitude" movement, etc.  So I want to pose two questions then: is this a good thing to be professing? and what is the difference between Glee's "being who you are", and being who God made you to be?

Here is the difference. Pop culture just says that we should just accept people's dispositions without question because that must have been how they were born. If they were born that way then what right does anybody have to try and change. The problem comes with the fact that nobody can even question if that disposition is by choice or natural, because that would be offensive even if it seems that it is a choice. However I think there is a way that God made us to be. Now this does not mean that all of us were made to be the same, it also doesn't mean that Christians have a reason to not be loving or to start being judgmental, however I also don't think that having such a flimsy stance on certain things is good or healthy, it allows for us to sit in our sinful nature without having to work towards that person God made us to be. I don't think God made anyone to be gay, or a chronic liar, or a thief, or lustful, or a plethora of other things. How do I know? Because God is none of those things, and he made us in his image. I still think that God wants us to be an individual and he gives us personalities and passions and desires that make us unique and we should not be ashamed of those things. I am not ashamed of the fact that I like the show Glee even though some people think I should be.

I used to struggle with anger issues, and the slightest thing would tip me off (a lot of things were small and ridiculous). I always thought that it was just kind of the way I was, after all it's not like I thought 'I'm going to lose my temper and freak-out, and look like and idiot'. It seemed to be a natural reaction, and I thought that I might deal with it my whole life. You want to know the one thing that started to change my attitude problems? My mom had a conversation in the car after an explosion at a baseball game and told me that it was my choice whether I got angry or not. As soon as that realization that I had a choice came (and by the grace of God) I started to change that attitude and today people can hardly believe that I used to have anger issues. In fact, I think I am most complimented on my always smiling, and laughing. What a turnaround eh? So why did it happen? Because I refused to believe that I was just angry by nature, and I started instead to work towards who God made me to be. Now I realize that it's not an easy process to change some of those things that seem to be such a part of who we are, but it's a worthwhile process. So the challenge that I have is not necessarily to finger wag at people and say that they are not actually just born gay, but to try and point and guide people to show them who God made them to be. It's a worthwhile question to ask: was I born this way? Really, were you?

Love Indifference

     I'm starting to think that this blog should really be about song lyrics, that i get bigger ideas from. I don't care how much you like music, but anyone who says that music is simply entertainment is way off. This latest blog post comes from a song by the Lumineers called "Stubborn Love". There is a line in this song that goes like this, "the opposite of Love is indifference".

        The very first time I heard this line, I was not quite sure if I believed this to be true. After all, it seems like the opposite of Love is Hate, at least that is what we grow up believing. Yet, the more I think about it the less that I can believe this.

     Let's start from the basis that God is Love. I think this is a pretty common truth that every believer can agree on that comes from the bible. So God IS Love, not God loves (even though he does love) but in his essence he IS Love, it is his being, just the same that I am human. I can't decide whether I am human or not, it is a fact of who I am. It is a state of being, rather than an optional disposition. OK, so God IS Love. Yet, we read in multiple places in the Bible that God describe God as hating something (e.g. Deut 12:31,Psalm 45:7, Proverbs 6:16 etc.). As well, this is a common term we use for God's stance toward sin, we say "God hates sin", or a popular phrase among Christians, "God hates the sin, not the sinner" (I know, the eyes are rolling right now).  Yet there is obvious reference to things God hates. It might be helpful, as well, to define the term hate. Dictionary.com says that hate is "to dislike intensely or passionately: feel extreme aversion toward or hostility toward, detest". So I think it is fair to say that God feels this way about certain things, and behaviours. So the real point is, if hate is truly the opposite of love, how is it that a being who is in essence Love with a capital L, be what is contrary to himself? It's about as confusing as that sentence sounds. Something that is light cannot also be in turn darkness and vice-versa. Just as something that is Love cannot be the opposite of what Love is. So if God can hate, then hate cannot be the opposite of Love. Which leads to a whole bunch of other questions, or conclusions.
     If you ever thought that all evil was just hatred, then you might want to rethink that. Without trying to really define what evil really is, evil is simply working as contrary to good. (I thought I would give you as vague a definition as you can get). Yet, hatred towards certain things can lead to good being done, which means that hatred and evil are not synonymous. Which tends to be the way we use the terms today. As well this means that Satan is not just a big ball of hatred that sits and hates everything, because in reality hating certain things are actually good, which means that if Satan just hated everything, in some areas he would actually be good. On this point I tread very lightly as it is easy to say something that could be quite off target, but I will say that I believe Satan is evil, which means that he hates some things and loves others, which is like God but it tends to be that what Satan hates God loves, and what Satan loves God hates. I feel like that should be enough without getting into too much of the relationship between God and Satan, because to be honest I have very little knowledge about how Satan works, and how he relates to God, and all I want to know is that I want less of satan and more of God. Another question, and the main one that I started thinking about was, if hate is not the opposite of love, then what is?
     This thought obviously led me back to the song lyrics. Could indifference really be the opposing force of love? Well instead of trying to define Love in order to find out what is it's opposite, I figured I should look at what composes love. I think that love is a combination of many things. It is not quite the same as kindness, gentleness, compassion, passion, desire, it is the umbrella that covers those things and all those contribute to love. This is why it is so hard to define Love, because if you just define it as a good feeling, well your only covering desire, or passion. If you define it as turning the other cheek, you are only looking at mercy or gentleness. When in reality it is both at the same time. So if Love covers a multitude (sorry not of sins in this case for all those bible readers out there) but a multitude of emotions and attitudes, then the opposite of love is a lack of emotion or lack of care. It is a reckless abandon of indifference in each and every situation. The only way to show complete lack of Love at all is to be indifferent. Every action that involves an emotional response, even if it seems like a hateful act is because of a love for something else. Let me explain. If someone chooses to hurt another person either physically or emotionally, unless they are a psychopath (can't feel emotion, or feels incredibly reduced emotion) is doing it out of a love for something else. Whether that be a love of themselves and so they feel that they need to boost themselves above, or out of jealousy they hurt someone to boost their standing (and I think that a love of self is most often the case of harming another individual) but it is still showing a love of something, even if the priority and that Love is misdirected. So again the only way to not love anything at any point in time is to simply not care about anything. Now I don't know if this is fully possible, but it is interesting to think that by not caring we are choosing not to love. That is the only time that we are really not showing any love at all. Now there are certain ways we should direct our love as well, and how we balance our love between god and others and such is another ball game completely but as soon as we stop caring, as soon as we stop becoming enraged at injustice and disobedience towards God, then we stop becoming children of the Light, because there is no Love in us.
    May we Love as the Father loves, and hate what the father hates, and may we not be indifferent to the world, but may we work in it to bring heaven here to earth, one step at a time.

SILENCE!!!

This might seem like a waste of time. I read my last blog post and timed myself as I read it. It was just over two minutes. If you are reading this then I suggest the time you would take to read my blog here, you dedicate instead to just sitting in silence for 5 minutes. Try sitting for 5 minutes in silence once a day for one week. I think it could have a huge impact. try to get as silent as you can, maybe put in earphones with no music to block out some noise or something. May God bless your sitting and waiting time.

Freedom ain't Free

"If God had a face. What would it look like and would you want to see. If seeing meant that you would have to believe. In things like heaven, and in Jesus and the saints and all the prophets."

A very interesting lyric even just to ponder on the words as they are... Think about it for a minute... I mean it's obviously a trivial thing to think if God has a face or not. But the question posed to most of the world, that doesn't really want to believe in God, specifically the God of Christianity. I wonder what the answers would be if this question was seriously posed and not just in a lyric that so many people pass over for the music. But even to pose the question to Christians, I like to think many would say yes, I just want to see so that I know. But the question comes down to choice. The choice gets made for you if God is revealed, there is no choice to make but to "believe". It's like when somebody tells you a ridiculous story and you don't really know whether you should believe them or not, but then they give you undeniable proof that the event occurred, you have no choice but to believe them no matter how much credibility you think the person's word alone has. The fact is, that if God was "proven" true beyond all question, then there are other things that would have to follow with it. I'm not sure many people would answer yes to this question that are not Christians. The sole reason being it limits their idea of what freedom is. The question boils down to whether freedom is really the most important thing in life, as it seems to be one of the most influential concepts. There are wars that are fought for freedom, there are belief systems chosen just to keep freedom, there are protests and rallies to make sure that freedom is kept. There is a value in freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to move freely (I know that's probably not the best phrasing). And I could not keep my head high if I did not mention one of the most popular movie quotes that get's most men's blood rushing, the epic scene from Braveheart where William Wallace goes into battle yelling "FREEEEEEDDDDDDOOOOOOMMMMM" (I think that's about how long it is).

The question is whether is really is true and pure freedom that we are really fighting so hard for, or just a better form of it, and maybe a style that we like. What would have happened if there were slaves back in the day that were treated well by their masters and actually did not mind being slaves? What would happen if there were mass amounts of people that questioned the freedom that they have in the United States, or Canada? We don't hear stories about slaves that actually were not treated poorly, this may be because it did not happen, and I am not trying to speak out in favor of slavery. However, our concept of freedom is quite skewed, because we want absolute freedom at all costs, and yet if we ever got it, then we would discover that it's not a very good goal. Absolute freedom means a lack of government, which obviously leads to anarchy. The real desire is not for absolute freedom, it is for a control that is looking out for our best interests and can look at each situation and do what is best in all those situations while factoring in our own choice. Sound like a familiar concept?  Freedom is not free, are we more willing to put our life on the line to further a sense of freedom that merely gives us comfort? Or are we willing to put our faith maybe in God who might require we lay down our own concept of freedom in order to put him in control and maybe actually get what is in our best interest. Until we are willing to accept that not all forms of power and leadership is bad and corrupt, our society will never be able to accept a God and give up our freedom to accept his provision.

So back to the initial question, if it meant giving up your freedom in order for your best interest would you want to see the face of God, if it meant you would have to believe?

Dostoevsky Part 1

I am reading a book by the title of The Brothers Karamazov written by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I was pointed towards it by a prof at Bethany (where i went to school) and decided I should read it. This is the first part of my classic literature readings that I am wanting to do more of. However this book integrates a bunch of interesting ideas through the conversation of the characters. This is how Dostoevsky displays his mental process and his own ideas, through the conversation and dialogue of the different personalities that he has created. As I was reading I came across a very interesting one, and thought about posting a little bit on FB (facebook for those that aren't with the lingo), however I realized that this simply would not do the excerpt justice. So I decided that I would post it here and see what anyone who reads this thinks. This particular excerpt has to do with the justice system and the difference between state and church. To give a little backdrop, the conversation is talking about what role the Church community has in judicial matters, and how the Church and the state are separate. It is basically a Church and State discussion that talks about whether they should be integrated, or one should envelope the other, and this is flushed out through the discussion about crime and punishment (coincidentally the title of a famous work of Dostoevsky [next on my list]). With that I give you this dialogue:

"If everything were integrated into the Church, the Church would excommunicate the criminal and the subversive, instead of chopping off their heads,' Ivan went on. ' Just think- where could the excommunicate go? Why, he would be cut off not only from men but also from Christ, since his crime would be a crime not only against his fellow men but also against Christ's Church. Strictly speaking, of course, this is true now. But it has not been officially proclaimed, and our criminals today often compromise with their consciences in a number of ways. 'I steal,' one may say, for instance, 'but I wouldn't do anything against the Church, because I am not an enemy of Christ.' But while criminals often justify themselves in this way today, the moment the Church superseded the State, they could no longer appease their consciences unless they said: 'Everyone else is wrong; they have all lost God, and their Church is a false church. It is we, the thieves and murderers, who alone represent the true Church of Christ.' But it would be rather difficult for a man to say that to himself unless he was living under exceptional circumstances, during world-shaking events, and such situations do not occur very often. Now let us look at the Church's approach to crime: isn't it bound to differ from the State's approach today, which is an almost pagan approach - the mechanical amputation of the diseased limb for the protection of society? The Church would aim at the total, true regeneration of man, his spiritual rebirth, and the salvation of his..." ...
..."If Christ's Church did not exist today, there would be nothing to restrain a man from committing crimes, for there would be no real punishment... I'm not talking of 'mechanical' punishment, such as was described a moment ago, which in most cases only hardens a criminal, but of real punishment, the only effective one, that people fear and that can bring peace - the awareness of one's own conscience." ...
..." What I mean," the elder went on, "is that all this business of sentencing people to hard labor, with or without flogging, does not reform criminals and, more to the point, does not deter them from committing crimes. So the number of crimes not only does not diminish - it keeps increasing. Why, you must concede that at least. It turns out, consequently, that society is not really protected by this method because, even if a dangerous member is cut off and put far away out of sign, immediately another criminal will appear in his place, and sometimes even two. If anything protects society in our time, if anything can reform the criminal and make a new man our of him, it is only the law of Christ, which manifests itself in the awareness of a man's own conscience. It is only after a man has recognized his guilt as a son of Christ's society, that is, of the Church, that he will become conscious of his guilt toward society, that is, toward the Church. Consequently, today's criminal can recognize his guilt only toward the Church, and not toward the State...But as things stand today, the Church has no legal authority, only the power of moral condemnation. And so she refuses to take part in the punishment of a criminal. She does not excommunicate him, she only offers him maternal advice. Indeed, she tries to abide by the pledge made by Christ's Church to the criminal; to admit him to church services and to the holy sacrament, to give him alms and treat him as a captive rather than as a convict. And what would become of the criminal, O Lord, if the Christian community, that is, the Church, rejected him and cut him off as the law of the State does? What would happen if every time a man was punished by the State, the Church followed suit by excommunicating him? The answer is that there could be no deeper despair, at least for a Russian criminal, because Russian criminals are still believers. And who knows, perhaps the result would be truly tragic - in his despair the criminal might lose his faith. And what would be gained by that? 
"But a non-Russian criminal, I have been told, rarely repents, since many modern theories confirm him in his belief that a crime is not really a crime but only a gesture of protest against an unjust and oppressive force. Society cuts him off, as a matter of course, because it is stronger than he, and accompanies its ostracism of him with hatred... then it shows no interest whatever in the further fate of that human being and soon forgets about him. and as all this takes place, there is not one to take pity on the condemned man, because many countries there is not church any longer; all they have left is the clergy and magnificent buildings that used to be churches. For their churches have been long evolving from the lower form of church into the higher form of state, in which they will be completely dissolved and vanish..."

There is a lot more to this dialogue and I cannot even begin to give the full context for this. I do not assume that many will read the book (after all it is over 1000 pages long) but this brings up some interesting thoughts, as well as some interesting viewpoints that seem almost more relevant today than Dostoevsky could have imagined. Let me know what you think.

What to Learn From Harry Potter?

    You have got to be kidding right? One of the most controversial book/movie series to Christians cannot by any means have something to actually teach Christians! Well, I think that this is where we would be wrong. There is an interesting story in the Bible where Paul is in Athens and he is talking with philosophers and other Greeks, and says that the altar to the 'unknown God' is actually to the God of the Israelites, and is the God he knows. He uses the altar that is setup, something that is a part of their society, to point towards God. This is something that seems to happen less and less in our society, and comes with the belief that society has a lot wrong with it so we cannot trust anything. However, this is wrong, we need to be careful about how far we take these things, and how much we look into, but we also need to be ready to see God in societal or 'secular' places, he is there.                  
    So with that long and probably overdone introduction, I want to look at some aspects of the Harry Potter series and how they correlate to the Christian Faith. I think this first came up when I was watching the last movie, 'The Deathly Hallows: Part 2'.
    Oh and by the way there is a lot that is going to be spoiled if you have not seen these movies and are wanting to, or don't know the storyline. So if you are wanting to watch/read them then I suggest reading this after you have.    
    I was watching the last Harry Potter movie and there is a point in the last movie where Voldemort thinks he has killed Harry and goes to Hogwarts carrying Harry's seemingly lifeless body. He comes to all of those that were fighting against him, and says to them, "from this day forth, you put your faith... in me". Cue the chills down my spine, not only because it is an eerie thing to say and a scary concept but also because this scene, to me, captures the Devil's mindset that came with the death of Jesus on the cross. In my mind I could almost carry over the meaning to the story of Jesus being crucified, and seeing Satan coming forward to the believers in Jesus saying, "from this day forth, you put your faith... in me". It is a possible small glimpse into what Satan could have been thinking with the death of Jesus, and is quite a humbling concept when you think of how the followers of Jesus must have felt in response. Needless to say that this came to my mind, and I started to see even more parallels between the biblical story and the story of Harry Potter.
    It's the story of a boy who grows up with unheard of expectations from everyone on him. Who has the confidence of his peers and those above him that are expecting great things, while there are also those such as Malfoy who would rather stick to traditional wizardry and do not like the special treatment that seems to come to Harry and because of such treat him poorly and pick on him more than anyone else (*cough* Pharisees *cough*). In doing so they side with Voldemort, even if they are not really consciously doing so. Now in order to not risk taking things too far, I don't want to really push any other things, but Harry Potter has many parallels to the gospel story. It's a story of a boy who dies to rid the world of the most evil person the world has seen. Who chooses to sacrifice himself for the sake of those he loves, because he knows it's the right thing to do even when he knows he could probably save himself. Also he comes 'back to life' and through doing so destroys the 'evil one'.
    I heard somewhere that many stories that come out of Hollywood have a subconscious parallel to the biblical story in the hero that seemingly dies and comes back to save the day. This is in countless movies, so what makes Harry Potter different, and am I not just reading into it a little too much? Possibly, but the same could probably be said for Paul when he was in Athens talking about the 'unknown God' and the fact that he knows who that is. After all how does Paul know that that is the God of Israel? He doesn't really, but he makes it into that from whatever they meant and changes the meaning to redeem it for God. This is the same sort of thing I want to do here. There is an undeniable parallel that exceeds the normal hero dying routine, and has many more parallels (even though this hero dying routine still makes an appearance). Yet, when I watched this and saw this scene with Voldemort telling others that they need to realign their allegiance, I got chills and could not ignore the incredible insight that this gave to the biblical story. Whether this is done on purpose or by accident is completely irrelevant. As Christians it is cool to redeem things and give them new meaning, and finding purpose whether it was intended or not.
    These are my thoughts on the Harry Potter series, and there are a lot of trivial things that us Christians tend to dismiss right away as 'wrong' when in fact they might not actually be that bad. It is a matter of the heart and the mindset. By no means do these things take the place of the biblical story, or even sit on level ground as the biblical story, but they can help in understanding the biblical story and be used as a tool for Christians to evangelize to those who would dismiss religion and religious language. Who knows maybe these parallels could bring someone to Jesus Christ, through the story of Harry Potter. We never really know where we can redeem things for Christ, that doesn't mean we stop looking. So what else do you learn from Harry Potter?

The Stove Top

     I've grown up as a kid learning what is safe and what is not. It's not always an easy thing to learn, but it's the "don't take candy from strangers", "don't touch the stove top" type safety that we learn as kids. This is important, and a lot of the safety we learn in North America is learnt from our parents our experience. Yet, as we grow older there are things we tend to grow out of, and things that we need to learn anew. It's rarely explicitly communicated but are implicitly picked up. The real question is, are these lessons that we are picking up about what a "safe life" looks like what we should be living by? What is a proper balance between being smart and safe, and relying on God to supply safety and keep us safe.
    For me, this question goes back to the sovereignty of God. what you believe about the Sovereignty of God will change your part in how you remain safe. How many times do we back away from things because of the lack of safety? One of the most interesting things about the bible is the definition of safety that guys like Paul, and Jeremiah seem to have. There are many puzzling texts that seem to point to God's protection and safe-keeping, even in the midst of physical harm coming upon them. For example, in Jeremiah chapter 20, Jeremiah has just been beaten by Pashur (a man of the temple I might add), and yet in his words to God, Jeremiah points to a God that is fighting on his behalf. He points to God rescuing "the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked". All of this after being beaten, whereas I think if this happened to me today I would probably be asking God where he is and why he is allowing this to happen, like I think many would.
    The sense that one gets in reading these words and some of the words of Paul is that safety is not about physicality. They are not as worried about physical harm, as they are about God keeping them from evil. While it is easy to present a sort of dualism that can separate physical and spiritual safety, that is not the point but the point that I am trying to make is that they don't think of safety in the same way we do. They are more worried about doing God's will than whatever might happen to them. They are fully convinced that as long as they are working to further the kingdom then God will be faithful in his plan.
    The faith in the plan and sovereignty of God is something that we don't really look at in our Western context. It is something that I have had the privilege of understanding just a little bit more this past year. If we can't trust in the plan of God, and if our idea of the plan of God is simply 'good' things according to us, then we are not really having faith in his plan. We too often mistake God's plan for what we think his plan should be. There are definitely promises in the Bible that God will give us good gifts, and that he wants what is best for us. I don't know if that means that it is always going to be in the way we imagine it. What if getting what is best requires something that we don't understand first! The tendency is to deem what we don't understand as not good, and thus we try and get what is good by our standards. I want to say above all, that the moment that we think we understand God is the moment that we think too highly of ourselves and too low of God.
   Bottom line, one thing that I need to learn and I think much of our society needs to learn is how to rely on the safety and sovereignty of God. It involves trust when things are not going well and availability when things are going well. Our view of safety might not be exactly what it should be. This does not mean we are to act stupid, but it means that sometimes our own logic tends to be taken at higher value than our trust in God. These two need to work together, not in opposition.
   Hopefully we can keep trusting in God to guide us and not our alarm system that was put in place when we were kids. Stay safe, at least God's definition of safety. Remember the worst they can do is send you to him.

God is in the whisper

So I'm sure if you have been a believer for a while, you have asked the question, "why don't I hear God?" Your not alone in asking this question. I have asked it myself, as sometimes it is very frustrating that God does not talk audibly. However, our go to verse when thinking about the voice of God is 1 Kings 19:11. Elijah goes up on a mountain and is looking for the Lord because he is going to pass by. Now I think that this verse has been misinterpreted over the years. Elijah goes on the mountain because the Lord is going to "pass by". Yet, in our interpretation of it, our end result is hearing the voice of the Lord. Now these two could be related but just wait and bear with me. So Elijah goes onto the mountain to wait for the Lord to pass by. While on the mountain there is a wind, "but the Lord was not in the wind". Now this refrain is repeated three times with and earthquake, fire, and the previously mentioned wind. "But the Lord was not in the ____". After this "a sound of sheer silence". Now first off, this doesn't make any sense, because the sound of silence is contradictory, yet somehow Elijah 'heard' the silence. See we end here in a sense, because well Elijah hears the silence and then the voice speaks to him so God must have been in the silence right? Well, yes but I would ask you to think outside of the christianese box that has been given to you. Work outside the teaching that you have been given for a moment. Yes, God is in the silence, why? Because that refrain earlier is not repeated. Yet, there is mroe going on. Elijah hears a silence, and then there comes a voice to him. Even if it is not a silence, if your translation says a whisper or a gentle blowing, it is always followed by a 'then a voice'. They are related and yet they are not. While God may be in the silence, or the gentle whisper or the blowing, that is not his voice. He speaks after Elijah hears it. God seems to be testing Elijah. The wind comes and God seems to be asking 'where are you looking for me Elijah'? Then the earthquake and God keeps on seeing if Elijah will stay, showing that he does not believe that the Lord has passed. Then the fire, and Elijah still stays. you see because if the Lord was in any of those, Elijah would have had no reason to remain where he was. What reason is there to stay after the Lord has passed? So Elijah's remaining there shows that he does not really believe the Lord has passed by yet. He passes God's test. Then, God comes in the silence that follows, Elijah responds, and then God speaks. You see it seems to be just as much about God seeing where Elijah is looking for him as where God actually is. It is the same for us today. Are we looking for God in the earthquake events of life, where everything is huge and on a grand scale? Are we looking for God in the winds when we are blown about and life is not going as we want? Are we looking for God in the fires when the heat is on and you don't know what to do? And are we really looking for God in the silence? I'll ask again, are we really looking for God in the silence? Those other areas are where it's easy to look for God. You can see the result of God's work in them, and you can see the effect of God in them. Yet, God wants us to look for him in the silence. when the pressure is off, when you have that time of rest, when you have no other things that need to get done. When you are going to relax and have down-time. Is that when you look for him? Maybe we should start...

What's It All About?

What is it all about? What am I here for, and what are you here for? Of course you answer this question differently depending on where 'here' is. Is here being alive, being present in society today. Is here this blog? Many people have tried to answer the first question and it seems that everyone has to find some sort of explanation for the first question. However I want to pose it in the second sense. Why is my blog here? why do I write down these thoughts and why in the world do you find that you should come and read them? I started this blog because I wanted to get my ideas out, i love ideas and I like to express them and share them with others. However, ideas are only good if they change and grow people. Everyone today wants some new challenge, some new inspiration to motivate them to do something. I will admit that I wanted to be that inspiration and that motivation, and maybe I have for some people that read this. However, I have seen so often in my own life where I get that inspired, chills in the spine, motivated feeling to do absolutely nothing with it. The reality of it is that this feeling really doesn't compel us to do anything but search for that feeling again. I would argue that the most influential feeling that compels people to action today is discontent or discomfort. It actually is quite disturbing when you think about it, that the only thing that compels us is really what directly affects our attitude and feeling in a negative way. Good inspiration fades quickly, discomfort lasts. It is not really something that I fully understand, in fact I would think that I don't really understand it at all. Negative emotion moves us to action, positive emotion moves us to... well... um... ok... yea I am still waiting to see what positive emotion moves us to. We hear about the good things that are happening and we say "that's nice, good job", however we hear about the negative things and we say "something should be done!". Now I want to be very honest and very open here, and so it is going to be very generalized and I don't believe this about everyone, but it is about society as a whole. However, do not take this disclaimer to excuse yourself from what I am about to say. I am speaking to you, and you can discern with the help of God if it's something you need to change. I AM TIRED OF LAZINESS! Why do we think that we can check out after our day in the office, and leave every other sort of injustice for others to sort out? Why is it that we leave all sorts of injustice that we see and simply state that 'something needs to be done' when in fact you are standing right there with the means to do something!!! This does not always even mean going out of your way to do something, and it is not that hard. Yet, we convince ourselves that we are not the right person for the job. That for some reason we are not worthy to do it. AND YOU ARE RIGHT! We are not worthy to do it. We CAN'T do it. That' the point. Our society has made us yo depend on our own skills and resources and what we can do and reject everything we think we can't do. Yet, God tells us that he will be there for us in those times. Woe to us of little faith. (and don't get me wrong I include myself in this just as much as anyone else). When do we stop asking who is going to take the baton and act and start actually acting? When do we stop asking if we are ready, are we ready? are we ready? Am I ready after bible school? Am I ready after seminary? Am I ready after I'm 20? After I'm 30? The answer is yes, these things are not bad to do, but what are you doing while at these places? Where are you working and coming alongside God's plan? Where are you acting NOW? No more excuses, God has either equipped you now or will equip you to fulfill his works. and even if you fail, you will learn? We need to stop being afraid of the gospel, and stop being afraid of acting and just start doing it out of faith. This is my rant... there is probably a lot more I could say but out of a fear of being redundant I am going to stop there. I hope this does not inspire you. I hope that instead this gives you a nasty little knot in your brain that doesn't leave you alone the next time you say to yourself, "someone should do something"... Grace and Peace to you

I think I'll try defying Gravity

One of the things you learn about fairly early on in life is the scientific law of gravity. Gravity is not something that is really understood very well. We understand what it does, but not really why it's there. We learn what it is from the very instance we come into this world, even if we don't understand it. Then, we get into junior high and learn a little more about it. We learn at least what it is called and what it does, even if that still means we don't really understand it. We learn to live with it, to adapt to work within it's boundaries and in a sense to defy it. Not ultimately or for infinite amounts of time, but for some instances there are times where gravity cannot fully hold us down. We learn to walk, jump, climb, fly (at least for a little while, and with machines that help). All of these actions in a sense are defying gravity to some extent. yet, that does not mean the force leaves, we do not attribute jumping to the fact that gravity for that instance in that specific area "stopped working" or "wasn't present". No these actions occur in spite of the fact that gravity is still there trying to bring us back down to earth, so to speak. Ok Nick, thanks for the science lesson that I already knew, but what does it have to do with me other than the fact that it is kind of a cool idea. Well there is also a sinful nature that is part of every man. The famous verse of Paul that has him saying that he does not do what he wants to do and what he wants to do he does not do? Yea that verse is talking about how his sinful nature tends to get the best of him. There is also, surprise surprise, an adversary that is trying to bring us down. It seems like the odds are against us to rise and become like Christ. It seems like there is some force, something that is not really fully understood, although we can see the effects and know what it does, we do not really understand why, or where it comes from. this force seems to be trying to bring us down, take us out, bog us down. The Christian walk is the same as that baby coming out of the womb, already feeling and understanding the force of gravity even if they don't fully recognize it by it's term or understanding it's there. However just as that baby has to learn to 'defy' gravity and walk, jump, run, climb. Christians also need to learn to do these same things to defy our sinful nature, defy the forces that are trying to bring us down. Reality check, IT DOES NOT JUST HAPPEN. It is something that is learned. I think too often Christians think that as soon as you believe in Jesus all of the sudden life gets easy. Let me ask you a question. As soon as you understand that there is gravity trying to bring you down does that mean that you are able to walk? NO!!! It takes practice, and work, and frustration and joy and falling and getting back up. I do not know of one baby that has never fallen. In fact, i still don't know of one person that still doesn't fall. You see the thing about gravity is that it never gives up. Although many people don't give up either once they fall. It would sound pretty ridiculous if someone all of the sudden said "I'm giving up on walking, gravity just keep dragging me down, I keep falling, I think I am just going to stop trying to work against gravity." Many people would think it's absurd. We learn to stand more often than we fall. We learn to stay on our feet longer than we fall. Falling is still inevitable, but we understand and have grace for falling. Obviously falling does not impact others as much as sin does I understand that, that is not the point of this post. I think it is important to start teaching people how to defy the spiritual gravity that wants to see us fall. Being patient with people when they do, when not if. And starting to disciple people and try and grow ourselves so that we can learn to take our first steps, run, jump and maybe fly. And then when we fall, picking ourselves back up again and letting our father clean us up, and running back to him and running the race marked out for us. I think I'll try defying gravity

The Center of it All

Why did Peter look down? He was walking on water, he was doing something that no one other than Jesus had done in the history of the world and he chose to look down? What does it mean? Is that a pointer to human pride?
Many times Jesus calls humanity and those that follow him to simply keep their eyes on him and keep him as the central point of their focus. He promises that if we do this that our lives will be enriched. This is present in this story as Peter keeps walking on water as long as Jesus is his central focus. Yet, as soon as Peter looks away and chooses not to have Jesus as the central focus that is when the drowning starts.
So if this is the case why would Peter look away? Surely, he knew that as long as Jesus was his central focus that things would go well for him. Or did he? Did Peter know that Jesus was the cause of his walking on water? Did the thought come into his mind that he may just be doing this by himself, or maybe even that Jesus was doing it but he didn't really need to have him as his main focus. Whatever the case, he chose to look away.
This seems to be a sign of pride on the part of Peter and a symbol of the troubles that humanity faces in keeping Christ at the centre of their focus. Peter starts walking on water and everything is going super well for him as long as his eyes are on Christ. But at one point Peter had to actually realize what he was doing, he had to have at some point clued in to the fact that he was walking on water. That HE was walking on water. The only other person to do that was Jesus. So what other reaction should be expected from him but to see what HE was doing. At some point he got it in his head that he was doing it by himself. That what he was doing was of his own ability and did not directly relate to the fact that Jesus was at the centre of his focus. Or even that he didn't really need Jesus to be the centre of his focus.

If his eyes had stayed on Christ there is no doubt that he would have been able to stay on the water, but he would not have been able to explain the feeling other than what his vision of Christ was. Others could have given account, but Peter himself would not have been able to describe what happened, his description would have been Christ centered. Unfortunately as soon as he takes his eyes off of Christ to look at the water (either out of horror or out of pride, or both) things fall apart, and all of the sudden there is not reason why he would want to boast about what he was able to do.
The reality is that he was not doing it at all. This is the same with our everyday lives, we start doing things that are amazing when our focus is on God, and then we want to bask in our own accomplishments so we look away and focus on ourselves. This is where the spiritual low comes in. IF we were to keep our focus on God, we might not even be able to explain everything that happened other than explaining the fact that our focus was God. Our explanation of the amazing things that happen would be nothing other than "I have no idea exactly, but God was working". Others would have to give testament, and what tends to happen when others give testament is they do not sugarcoat it as much as we might do if we were talking our own situations up. The situation might actually be told as it happened instead of building ourselves up in the story. So there would actually be real genuine stories about what was happening. Real eyewitness accounts into what took place and amazing things that God did through different individuals, and then when the individual is asked all they can do is point to God as their focus.

It really is too bad that so often we fail when it comes to this and take credit where credit is not due. I pray that anyone that reads this and even those that don't can keep God as the center of their focus, and have no other explanation as to why things are happening other than pointing to God.

The Matrix of your mind!

One of my favorite movie series of all-time is the matrix series... Now there are some very obvious parallels with Christianity but sometimes we can forget about those parallels. One of the things that struck me the most while watching it this last time comes right at the beginning of the first movie. The matrix is being explained to Neo and what it is and what it does.

"The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work... when you go to church... when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth. That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch. A prison for your mind."

Ok so let's start with this quote... Have you ever wondered if there was more than just this physical world? Cause there is, Jesus says that "he who has eyes should see", now this does not necessarily refer to the spiritual realm that is around us, but it definitely has potential to. I think that one of the greatest tools of the enemy is to say that what you sense is all that there is. He wants us to be oblivious to the spiritual world around us. The enemy wants to keep you in the "prison for your mind". To keep you "blind to the truth" and keep you "a slave" to him. I think many times we too easily accept this as true. It is so much easier to simply accept what is in front of us as reality and ignore the fact that there is a spiritual realm around us, that has just as much effect (if not more) than what we can see, taste, touch, smell, hear. As soon as we can learn (through the help of God) to start to see, to open our eyes, we can escape the prison and learn about the world behind our world. This is a very uneasy thought and feeling. The world of our senses is so comfortable but it is a mistake to simply stay content with just this. There are battles going on around us everyday. So now to the next quote:

"The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system, and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so injured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it"

I think this is so true of a lot of unbelievers. this is why bible-thumping is such a flawed way of trying to evangelize to people. We can see people just like us around us everyday. A lot of them are not ready to accept Jesus christ as their lord and saviour. We cannot fault people because they are not ready, but we need to be ready when they are ready. This means befriending people, accepting them as they are understanding that God is working within their systems and beliefs and is trying to get them to a place where they understand that something is wrong with those systems and beliefs. That there is something more than the "matrix" they have created for themselves. That there is a world that is full of life that only God can give people! One of the most clever lines in the matrix movies comes when neo has just been freed from the matrix and asks why his eyes are sore. Morpheus responds with "because you've never used them before". This is true of new believers, hopefully the church can open their eyes to a new world that they have never seen before. something that causes them to ask why they never noticed it before, and the church can say "because you have never truly seen, never truly lived, and now you can"!

There is a lot more christian truth in the matrix movies even if it was not meant to be there. I think this is just touching the tip of the iceberg. Hopefully this will enrich your matrix movie watching and will help you in your walk. I pray that we could learn to open our eyes and truly see the truth and life that God has for us.

Love Languages of God

I went to a Switchfoot concert this evening. One of my passions in life is music, both live and recorded. See music has always had a place in my heart that I have never fully been able to describe. There are those songs that stir me to the core, or that just have something about them that is drawing. Because of this lack of explanation that I had for it, I simply did not really try to describe it to people. I simply said that music was a passion and let them believe that it was just something I liked.

However I was reminded of something at this Switchfoot concert. Switchfoot has a song called Your Love is a Song and they came to this song in their set, and then as they progressed through the chorus it hit me,

"O Your Love is a symphony, all around me, running through me,
O your Love is a melody, underneath me, run into me,
O Your Love is a song"

These are the words of the chorus. I simple could not describe the full extent of what I felt with certain songs or certain melodies, because it was God's love language with me. it was his way of expressing his love to me, of showing me a cool rift, or something that stirs my core. It is the same as the love between a husband and a wife. There is that "it" factor that can't really fully be describe (while I don't know this from first hand experience, it is something that I understand to be true. There is that love in an intimate relationship that you can try and describe in the best sense that the english language will allow, and yet it still falls short.

This realization was huge for me, and while it helps me to explain that feeling (although I am sure that the first time I say "it's god's love language to me" I will get some funny looks) it is not the same for everyone.

I encourage you to look for the love languages that God has put into your life. If your not really into music or it does not hold that place in your life, what does? Sports (the rush of competition, I am in this boat too because God speaks his love in more than one way), art?, servanthood?, teaching?, learning? what are your passions? start there, whatever gets your blood rushing to the point that it is hard for you to describe to others, that is probably the thing that God is speaking his love to you through...

next time you get that feeling thank him and remember he loves you.

Fighting!

When did you last get in an argument or fight? Like a real fight, a real argument, you were actually upset... Do you remember what it was about? If Yes keep reading, if no... keep reading. I think that a lot of our arguments and fights are because we feel a sense of entitlement. In some cases we are right, but I think a lot of the time it is simply the sense that we think we deserve better or should get things OUR way or that THEY are wrong. Pride seems to be at the centre of a lot of our arguments. I think a lot of this has to do with the culture that we live in but can not be fully attributed to it. A lot of the time these arguments could be resolved if we stepped back looked at the situation and stopped thinking about ourselves. If we lay down our pride and looked to lifting somebody else up rather than "winning" the argument. A lot of the petty arguments and anger that infilitrates our lives comes from this sense of entitlement. We have this sense in our culture that "we deserve the best" therefore if we get anything less than what we deserve we get mad, get angry, DESERVE BETTER.

It is not an easy thing to just remove yourself from a situation and tell yourself that well maybe it is just my ego in the way. Trust me, I have struggled with anger issues for the better part of 16 years and by the grace of God have been described as "always happy" nowadays. This is not true, obviously, I am not always happy but I like to think that I am able to remove myself from situations better, something that came with practice and God's help in self-control. Yet, a lot of the times I got angry it was not even justified, but it was because I felt that I deserved better, that I should have gotten better, or that something went wrong so something must be wrong with someone/something else. I pointed the finger instead of looking at my own expectations and what I thought I deserved.

Many times Jesus demonstrates and talks about being a servant. Often times we take this to mean actually physically serving others. I think we can miss the full extent of this meaning, and instead serve others through humbling ourselves before them. In everyday life, whether the person at the drive-thru window got your order wrong, whether someone makes a small mistake that costs you, in a bunch of situations. humbling ourselves before others is a huge thing that we seem to be missing today.

Now there are times where anger is okay. Many times we point to the fact that Jesus got angry when turning over the temples too far. But we need to continually ask ourselves, am I angry for the right reasons? Is this something that could be avoided by me simply laying down my expectations for myself and serving others? Or is it something that needs to be dealt with and anger is an appropriate response. I think we will find that most of the time the first option is completely acceptable.

So next time your angry take a step back and try humbling yourself, ask God to give you the self-control to do this and try lowering your expectations for yourself and for others towards you. Humble yourselves.

God Bless

Heaven or God?

Have you ever noticed bow many people seem to have problems with God? There seem to be a lot, and a lot of the time it seems that the response to why they have problems with God is either evil, or lack of gifts bestowed on people (meaning 'he has not done anything for me lately', this belief of course being despite the fact that he allowed them to breathe for another day) but anyway.
Have you also noticed that many of these people (mostly non-christians) seem to still have a belief in some sort of heaven? Never mind that as a Christian this means the consequent hell belief must go with it, however this is not the point. I find it super interesting that while people can have huge issues with God that cause them to either reject him or choose not to believe in him (which has issues on its own, because even though God does not do things for you in your own mind does not mean you can choose to make him not exist)they seem to have no problems with heaven. While as a christian community our beliefs tend to lie in the fact that these two are inseperable, could it be that we have given the wrong idea of what heaven is?

Now it is hard to get into it without offering up a view of heaven that could seem suspect, because it is also hard to say "I know what heaven will look like" it seems to be a touchy subject, however i will try and offer up a view that can be expected by most, if not all.

The secular belief about heaven seems to be that it is this nice place that you get everything that you want. There is a warm fuzzy feeling that goes along with the idea of heaven that it is the ideal place to be. While I have no problems with this why is their concept of God so much different. You see the reason is that Christians have portrayed heaven like this for so long. As long as you are "in" it is going to be this amazing place that basically is everything that we want. I don't know that this is necessarily the right way to look at heaven the "everything you want" attitude. While I don't think this is necessarily wrong either.

I think that we must believe that heaven is in sync with the character of God. Heaven cannot be something that is out of God's character or contrary to his character that would defeat the purpose of a lot of other theology behind the Christian belief. However, it seems to have been portrayed that heaven can somehow be separate from God and/or his character, or the secular community is just picking up on things about the christian faith that they find appealing, and it could easily be either one or a combination of these options. Yet, I think that it must constantly be spoken and implied that you can't have heaven without God, heaven is an outpouring of God's character. It is the in essence the incarnation of his character fully realized by humanity, his character showed in the way that humanity can enjoy. It is relationship with God in it's fullest extent, a relationship with God that is fully realized.

So while it may be easy to separate God and heaven for the secular world, I think it is important to realize that this portrayal is not necessarily truth, and to keep reminding ourselves that in the end we get to spend an eternity with our creator and how wonderful it will be!