In radically following Christ as He calls you and me to do so, there is never promised a life of comfort, approval by the world, or logevity of life. Rather, what is gonna happen is that you'll be faced with a life of persecution, hatred by the world and even death before we would ideally like or hope so. So, when you and I have our moment of persecution, should we follow Christ to such a moment, we will have two natural reactions towards those who and Christ through us...

1) Fight

"...Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear." (Matthew 26:50-51, ESV)

2) Flight

"...Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him...Then all the disciples left him and fled." (Matthew 26:50 & 56, ESV)

Both of these reactions are a reflection of something far deeper than just our humanly natural reaction. These reactions are the fruit of the seeds of distrust in Christ's appealing before the Father as we follow Him, His sovereign purposes' fulfillment and ultimate promise of the resurrection of the dead beyond this present life. You're probably asking me, "Whoa there buddy! Where you getting this?"

Just look @ Jesus' rebuke at the man who drew his sword to try and fight for Him!

"Then Jesus said to him, 'Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?'" (Matthew 26:52-54, ESV)

When you and I should ever be so blessed as to suffer for Christ's sake and for His gospel, our natural reaction would, understandably so, be to want nothing more than to fight back and let them have it or to get outta sight and run. But! When we face such persecution and such suffering in our following Christ, let our natural reaction to them be be the evidence of a life transformed by the renewal of the mind according to God's Word. Let our natural reaction to persecution and suffering be like the One Who we are following. Let us trustingly cling on that...

1) Jesus is before the throne of God this very moment making appeals for His people in persecution and suffering:

"...Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us." (Romans 8:34, ESV)

2) God is sovereign over all and any suffering we go through in following Christ:

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33, ESV)

3) Our suffering testifies to the world that this life is not all there is and that Christ is of greatest worth:

"If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied." (1 Corinthians 15:19, ESV)

So What?

Christ suffered and died so that He would be raised to life again by the power of the God's Holy Spirit so that the sin that God is so displeased with and hates would lose its' sting and so that death would no longer have the last laugh in the end which is to come. Our suffering and even death for Christ's sake and for the sake of His good news of a message, may we humbly suffer joyfully and cling on to Christ's words...

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:10-12, ESV)

It's Been a While

"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and your right hand delivers me.
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands." (Psalm 138:7-8, ESV)

This psalm gives me great comfort for all that life's circumstances bring under God's sovereignty. Essentially what David said was that the troubled waters of life and wrath-pouring enemies can only do so much as far as God sees fit.

Let's not take forgranted the simple glories of what is tucked in here. Because we are promised, "the Lord will fulfill his purpose for me," you and I can confidentlty plead with the Lord, "Do not forsake the work of your hands," knowing that He answers the prayers of those that are in line with His good and perfect and pleasing will, as He reveals it from His Word.

Understanding God's Seamless Precepts and Wondrous Works

"Make me understand the way of your precepts..." (Psalm 119:27a, ESV)

As God makes me understand the way of His precepts it is right there that I can see His holy, righteous, just, merciful, gracious, loving-divine ways. I am then exposed and undone, seeing the precepts and the ways of my own life and of my own heart. His making me understand the ways of His precepts are His glorious light shining into the dark, unsearchable, never-before-seen depths of sin in my life, as exposed by the Truth; the Truth that sets me free (John 8:31-32) and the Truth which God, as He makes me understand the way of His precepts, sanctifies me in (John 17:17). It is like a steak that is marinaded over-night in the fridge and all the next day to then be grilled up for dinner. With each bite, the flavor of the marinade oozes from the steak and it is as if the marinade and steak are in seamless connection. As the marinade is so is the steak."

...and I will meditate on your wondrous works." (Psalm 119:27b, ESV)

As God makes me understand the the way of His precepts I can then meditate, or camp out in deep reflection, on His "wondrous works" that are in seamless connection with the way of His precepts.

The ultimate display of the way of His precepts and His wondrous works in seamless connection is in the Incarnate, Word-Become-Man, Jesus Christ. All of God's precepts and wondrous works were 100% embodied through Jesus Christ in His life in accordance with the Scriptures, His death for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, His burial, His resurrection on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures and His appearing (1 Corinthians 15:3-5). Therefore, it is the Truth, Jesus Christ, by Whom I am set free from the locked-up chains of sin and the prison-cell of death and by Whom I am sanctified in.

"I will run in the way of your commandments for you set my heart free!" (Psalm 119:32, ESV)

Because the Truth sets me free, I will run in the way of God's commandments. These are His commandments for all people to abide, or set up their entire residence, by now...

1. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:37)

2. "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:39)

Would you just look at what we are commanded to do!? "You shall love God first, supremely and foremost! You shall love people as you love yourself!" Camp out in deep reflection on the seamless connection between the way of God's precepts, or commandments, and God's "wondrous works" which were ultimately worked-out in Jesus Christ; the Incarnate, Word-Became-Man who sets you free!

Grace and peace be with you :)

Actively Passive to God

"Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end.
Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.
Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it.
Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!
Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.
Confirm to your servant your promise, that you may be feared.
Turn away the reproach that I dread, for your rules are good.
Behold, I long for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life!"

(Psalm 119:33-40, ESV)

This Psalm is an example here of being "actively passive" towards God when praying. I call it "actively passive" because it takes a literal God given desire that His Spirit resuscitates in us to (actively) come to Him with longings for Him teach us, lead us and give us life in the freedom-giving slavery to His Word. It is when He does these things in our life that we are completely passive (not retaliative) to His teachings, wisdom giving and life in His Word.

Look at all the requests! "Teach me!" "Give me!" "Lead me!" "Turn my eyes!" "Give me life!" These are all things that, without God's doing, we cannot have. So even in actively comming to Him, it is ultimately God's drawing us to Him in the first place and our passivity. Either way, there's no room for anyone to get the heavenly kudos but God Himself! Any desire in us to seek Him, to learn from Him and to obey Him is all to His credit.

Let us be a paralytic in the hands of the One who holds us into motion. Let us live in the life His righteousness gives us! (v.40)

Declaration of Dependence

So 4th of July is comming here! Woo! So with that I'm also studying as a Greek minor right now and as I was doing some exercises just now trying to keep my chops up over the summer, I was translating Matthew 17:1-5. Here's how it reads...

"And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (ESV)

I was looking back on it and I couldn't help but ask God, "How could you love me and call ME your son? I'm not perfect! I'm not good 100% I am BAD in my heart of hearts! There's selfishness, moments where my life doesn't match what I say, pride, impurity..." As I was on this rant to God, it was in an instant that the obvious was made obvious to my dense brain and really Savior-needy heart.

When God said to Peter, James and his brother John, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased," and yet (as they would see with their own eyes) a few pages later allowed Him to be crushed and killed through the most shameful of all deaths in the Roman world, a cross there seems to be some SERIOUS contradiction going on here!

Merinading in this and thinking about a few more pages later, this vocal loving-on-Jesus by God showed that the beloved and well-pleasing Son was treated and punished by God, just through humans, as an enemy, unpleasing, sinful object of God's wrath so that those who were not beloved and were not pleasing to God would now be beloved and well-pleasing.

What's even more is that in the sight of God, no one can earn their way to be in a beloved well-pleasing relationship to God. We're not judged by God based on what we do or do not do because one way or another, we just are sinners. It is NOT by our own efforts, or our own charity fund-raisers or own being a good person but by the only man who God ever called, "my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased" yet killed him and slaughtered him like a lamb at the butcher shop.

So with amazed gratitude I believe this and will continue to declare with the grace God gives me my declaration of independence from myself and pethetic desperation and dependence on Jesus the Messiah alone for my true freedom. Through Him alone are we made beloved and well pleasing...it is finished :)

These Old Fishing Nets

I'll never forget hearing from CU's president, Joe Stowell, a sermon on the last part of the Gospel of John. I say that b/c I wanna give thanks to God for the men and women He uses to shape my life. Any ways, here's what comes back to me months later in light of recent run-in's with relationships, good n easy things I used to do, and not-bad but not-the-best activities God called me out of to pursue His call on my life in serving the Church...

"Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing." (John 21:3 ESV)

Fishing was where Jesus called Peter from to "become a fisher of men" (Mark 1:17) Fishing was not a bad thing by any means. No doubt, it was good! It brought home the bacon...the lamb chops in the disciples case b/c they were Jews and didn't eat pork... it provided a service for the community as a grocery item, it was what their fathers did as a little boys and taught them how to do when they were little boys and that they too were to eventually pass on as the family trade... it was their element! They could catch fish in their sleep if they wanted to! But not this time.

God did not call them to be fishers of fish but fishers of men...to catch people into God's Kingdom, God's reign in their lives, awe, faith and trust in God's consuming grace and mercy and forgiveness! Though they had saw Jesus already crucified and had seen Him already gloriously resurrected from that horrifying death, something kept them from believing they were called any more.

Peter had denied his association with Jesus 3 times while Jesus was still on trial to get crucified. Add to it that Peter in his youthful passion vowed to Jesus, “Lord…I will lay down my life for you” (John 13:37) makes one guilt-heavy young man. Ever been there?

Yet, because God made clear that He was well-pleased with only Jesus and called only Jesus His beloved Son (John 16:5) He punished Him through humans as if He was a stench of sin, unpleasing and hated in our place so we could now be forgiven for all we have done against God, are doing against God, and will do against God. Peter didn't get this until later on. Jesus asked Peter 3 times (coincidence? no!) "Do you love me?...Feed/tend my sheep/lambs." Peter caught His drift so much that he broke down sobbing, and he was forgiven and charged with an even greater calling!

The comfortable, seemingly secure, and easy "old fishing nets" you once tossed out with your dad at work as a kid seem to be a perfect place to retreat to when you've denied Christ, when the cross He calls you to carry makes you trip, when you run in to your old buddies you once used to toss it out with. But like Peter, Christ has restored you at His own expense.

Rather than taking up our “old fishing nets,” God help us when we hear you say, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?" (Matthew 16:24-26, ESV)

How Do the Homeless Show that God is Good?

Here's a conversation I had with a friend of mine that I thought would be of worth to share with all b/c I enjoy and appreciate this man's mind that asks good Q's and challenges me a follower of my Master, Jesus Christ. Here was his Q in response to me saying that the homeless show God's goodness.

James: "What exactly about the homeless speaks the Lord's goodness?"

Me: "From what I undestand in the Bible the homeless showcase God's goodness in that they are who God holds dearest and nearest to His heart. Because of this they are who He desires that His people would honor, love, and provide care for in His Kingdom...they're the greatest in His eyes not the least...
...If God is as great and glorious and powerful as the Bible says He is and then for Him to have the homeless be who His affections are so deeply directed towards and who He desires to serve, that makes my jaw drop b/c that's not how humans tend to think. We tend to be the opposite...get greatness, get glory, get power then get the hell away from the homeless. That's not God's way. He is good even though tragically a lot of times His people aren't...

...God spoke it clearest through His servant James,

"Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." (James 1:22)

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." (James 1:27)

...That's how the homeless show God is good. It's pretty amazing, really."

My friend James pushed back,

"So let me ask you this: would the eradication of homelessness represent a moral evil? Which is to say, working toward affordable housing for all, as a lot of ministries do."

Here's my response...

"Logic would say, 'If the homeless show the goodness of God then the removal of them and their state of living would be evil and therefore we should leave them and homelessness be.' However, St. Paul spoke on this issue in the context of discussing sin. Some Christians had this thought that if they sin more then they're showing God's goodness more because He is gracious and forgiving and therefore can show more grace and forgiveness. But that is a perverted use of His grace and forgiveness. We are given grace and given forgiveness that we may live joyfully righteous in response...

...St. Paul told the Roman Christians in a letter God's Spirit inspired him to write, "where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!" (Romans 5:20-6:2) So I'll piggy back on that and say shall we leave the homeless be and forsake them that God's goodness may be showcased? By no means! May the abundance we have be the portion that the homeless glean from."

Thanks so much James! I appreciate you very much n hope this will point you to deep affection and joy in God, ultimately through Christ :)

How Do Christians Show that God is Good?

Pursuing that Kingdom (God’s call, the dream of the Kingdom, where all sorrows will cease and all injustices will end, and where care for the poor is lived out) sets our feet on an adventure that is so challenging and dynamic that all so-called “virtual realities” seem dull and lifeless in comparison. Neither our youth nor our adults will want to waste time on a synthetic electronic replica of reality when the real thing is so captivating.

-Tim Dearborn, The Local Church in a Global Era, 214.

I loved this! I say this from experience where last night a group of friends and I met up downtown by Rosa Parks Circle to then be sovereignly led by God to interact with many homeless people. What a joy to interact with those who God calls the greatest in the Kingdom! In seeing the homeless and the poor as if they were Christ himself gives a whole different outlook and joy to fellowship, feed and give drink to them. Christ showed how blessed it is to care for the homeless and poor when He associated Himself with them in Matthew 25:34-36 saying, "(when He comes back in glory to finally sit on His throne for the Judgment of all nations) the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For (stating the reason why they are blessed by His Father and are to inherit the kingdom prepared for them) I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me."

John Piper captures this concept of banking on the real pleasures and satisfaction that we long for when he made these comments that continue to challenge me daily,

“It is not that we are all trying to please ourselves, but that we are all far too easily pleased. We do not believe Jesus when He says there is more blessedness, more joy, more lasting pleasure in a life devoted to helping others than there is in a life devoted to our material comfort. And therefore, the very longing for contentment that ought to drive us to simplicity of life and labors of love contents itself instead with the broken cisterns of prosperity and comfort. The message that needs to be shouted from the houses of high finance is this: Secular man, you are not nearly hedonistic enough! “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19–20) Quit being satisfied with the little 5 percent yields of pleasure that get eaten up by the moths of inflation and the rust of death. Invest in the blue-chip, high-yield, divinely insured security of heaven. Devoting a life to material comforts and thrills is like throwing money down a rat hole. But investing a life in the labor of love yields dividends of joy unsurpassed and unending: “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. [And thus] provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail.” (Luke 12:33) This message is very good news: Come to Christ, in whose presence are fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. Join us in the labor of Christian Hedonism. For the Lord has spoken: It is more blessed to love than to live in luxury!”

- John Piper, Desiring God, pg. 128-129.

Mr. President Obama...

Though a few months into it, I praise God with absolute joy over the election of a president...let alone a black president. Any one who knows me knows my passion and love for the black community. However, if I was so gifted to say such things as this video I would. I would say such things as this video not because I'm some old Republican chump who has nothing better to do with time than read Rush Limbough's latest "unbiased" commentary...not because all I live for is to bicker and moan @ Democrats but because my God is the defender of the weak, He is the Father to the fatherless, Savior for the sinner. With that, I will toss the mic and cut to the chase of this video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O68MByaMVdM

To: The Broken and Trampled Rose...From: The Vase

O broken and trampled rose, what beauty I intended for you.
Though all your pedals have been torn off,
though your thorns are great
though no one will take you in I will take you in.
Come to Me and I will make you beautiful.

You are no longer broken with Me as your Vase but healed.
You are no longer trampled with Me as your Vase but lifted up.
You are no longer dry with Me as your Vase but nourished and well hydrated.
You are My prized possession.

"How so?" you say.
I say, "See My hands, see My feet, see My side, see My empty grave."
I became the broken and trampled rose to make for you a Vase you can call home.
Having your pedals restored and your thorns trimmed away and your stem well hydrated.

Come to Me and live, O beautiful and desired rose.
Let Me be your Vase and you be My rose.

A Real Life Parable on Easter Sunday...

Earlier today, there was a captain of a ship who had been held captive by Somalian pirate hijackers since earlier this week. When his life was seconds away from being ended by an AK-47, the Pentagon gave the command for American Navy Seals to sniper the pirates and rescue the captain that now he may be free.

So it is for those who believe that the Father gave the command for Jesus' Roman-crucified death and heavenly-divine resurrection to sniper the pirate hijacker of sin and its' AK-47 of judgment and death eternal, that now they may be free and live outta its' captivity.

Amazing how God worked that out on Easter Sunday :)

My Story...and I Aint Even the Main Character!

Here's a lil somethin somethin I had to write up for one of my classes re: the story on how I became a Christian and why. As I'm gettin back in touch with a lot of family and friends I grew up with back in the Twp. through Facebook here, a lot of change has taken place in my life where I've been ripped a new one basically. Why do I share this any ways? For a pat on the back and a "I'm happy for you, Dave!" is farthest thing from it. But outta a joy like a lil kid on Christmas to tell everyone about the gift he recieved would be more on the spot. That gift being what you'll read below...

My life has been one roller coaster to where I am at now. As a child, I grew up going to church every so often and even attended the weekly church education classes to learn the history and foundational principles on which the church built itself upon. Despite this I lived in many ways as if I wasn’t. As I hit middle school I was the center of the universe, female companionship became the object of my treasure, football was my battlefield and music was my celebration of all of it put together. Add it all up with the fact that I looked much older than I really was and used it to hang out with older girls equaled one cocky young buck.

When the end of my 7th grade year came around and it was Ash Wednesday, the kickoff of Lent which is a season in some church calendars for spiritual preparation that lasts forty days before the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah, called “Easter.” Ash Wednesday is marked by people getting ashes on their foreheads in the shape of the cross and are to wear them all that day. Being that I was “Joe Cool,” I went to go wash the ashes off. As I walked in the bathroom, I saw what looked precisely like the face of what I thought to be Jesus the Messiah in the cross-shaped ashes on my forehead. Strange? You bet! I called my family in to check whether or not I was seeing things. They saw it too! Nevertheless, I washed the ashes off and went on thinking nothing of it.

The month or two following was marked with me becoming increasingly aware of the existence of God in my life. There was a growing desire to not just know about God, which is code for when I decided to pay attention in church, but to know God in all of my life. My conversations, or prayers, to God shifted from talking to Him like He was my genie in the sky to actually talking to God about my life. But not a lot went on beyond that. That is, until one night.

I found myself alone in my bedroom, on my knees, crying out to God like a little kid lost in the store wanting to find his mommy. I remember specifically expressing to Him, “Jesus, You are the Shepherd and I am the sheep. If You are calling me to serve You, I will obey You.” I was lost in a pile of sin, or rebellion and disobedience towards God. I was worthy of nothing less than to be smoked by His wrath because of my sinfulness. Upon dethroning myself and crowing Jesus as King and Savior of “Daveland,” all I could hear inside was a whispering whisper, “Then go My way.”

The reason this story is worth sharing with anyone is because I have bad news for people according to what God has spoken in the Bible...not human opinion. Eugene Peterson breaks down what God said like this, “There’s nobody living right, not even one, nobody who knows the score, nobody alert for God” (Romans 3:18 The Message). The result of this bad news is physical and spiritual death...an immeasurable eternity in Hell. But good news is not far behind because God has also spoken in the Bible a flip side of the story. Eugene Peterson also breaks down what God said about that good news like this,

"With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death" (Romans 5:1-2 The Message).

Jesus is the doctor for our sin-sickness and He cures those who trust Him as their doctor and follow His prescription. This doesn’t make life a walk in the park but one can know, like I do, that when he or she stands before God at their judgment they will have an innocent verdict because their guiltiness was handed to Jesus when he nakedly was killed via Roman crucifixion and they received His innocence.

Chi Town Mission Trip 101

I will be going on a two week trip down to the inner city of Chicago, IL for service projects, training and Gospel sharing emersion opportunities over Spring Break! That means money must be raised and it doesn't have to come outta your pocket either!

We've put up 10 locations around the Cornerstone University campus where people can drop off old cell phones they don't use anymore and also used ink cartridges. The cells dont need to work either...just drop em off in the labled box, "Chicago Ink," and we take care of the rest.This is good b/c you get rid of junk you don't use anymore or need creating less clutter for you and we get financial help for our trip by dropping them off to companies who do use them for parts n other things like that. Here's the locations...

Spiritual formation

Front desk

Coffee shop bar

Library front desk

Business department front desk (in Bolthouse)

PGS front deskBusiness office front desk

Seminary front desk (in the new wing)

Athletic department front desk

Music building main lobby/entrance

Main entrance of Quincer

Thanks in advance for your support and may you find joy in knowing you're helping us do more than just something for the cause of humanity but for the greatest cause that the Gospel will spread and Jesus Christ will be on the spotlight and get the glory :)

A Evangelistic Vent: Thank God for Grace When We Drop the Ball!

Comming home tonight from small group with the guys I was chewing on a lot of heavy stuff as we prayed a ton tonight getting on our faces where we belong before God asking Him to gear us up in His grace with courage and conviction as this semester gets under way n the Lord begins serving His people on campus through the Evensong ministry. It was just a really heavy day even before then.

My heart has been gaining a lot of weight lately to wanna share the Gospel about God's love bailout for those who believe Jesus as their Blame-taking, punishment reciever and Master of their life. I just began a class on evangelism and so as you can imagine my pistons are pumping and the engine is revving to say the least. Yet, with that is where I believe Christians can really have some interesting things happen... maybe we'll call it socially-illiterate moments in trying to share the Gospel. Desperate just to cling on to a non-believer and sick 'em like prey! lol I'm totally joking kinda! But you know b/c you've probably been there OR if you're not a believer in Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life then you might have been on the other end of this well-intended social illiteracy from a Christian.

Sharing the Gospel in an age where everything is as good as water in a bowl of fingers is sure interesting! Our culture is so far removed from the one in the day of our fore-fathers in the faith. And we're in a culture where I've learned and still am learning I think from MASSIVE mistakes that Christian one-liners don't cut it any more here's a couple I've tried or read before as suggestions but wouldn't suggest you use....

"So uhh.... if you died today do you think you'd go to Hell or Heaven?" (To that you just might get a nice request for you to go to the former)

"I'm trying to find my way back to heaven would you like to join me?" (Guys, try that on a woman in a mall or at Meijer and you just might get pepper-sprayed like a grizzly attacking Ted Nuggent in Alaska....and NO thank God I didn't find this one out on my own. I read it in a book I wouldn't suggest you read lol)

"So when you grew up were you ever preached down your throat?" (Notta great conversation starter...better off using that as an ignition for you to burn your house down....literally)

The point in what I'm learning is that you and me, as Christians, are God's ambassadors to a world massively gone wrong and hurting and searching for something more than a 9-5, dinner, plop on the TV n sleep and press replay with a different day slabbed on it. We are being watched and the world is looking @ Christians to see what God looks like and when we aren't careful how we are representing our King to this world we can give a meat-grounded piece of junk for the world to see. May we be a light, persevere and suffer for Christ's sake with joy and continue growing....In God's grace and keep sharing the love God had by seeing the need for a Savior and looking no further than Himself to provide it. Remember ultimately when you will have moments of learning from failing that "we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28 ESV)

For the joy set before you...Endure!

I recently sent an email to a friend of mine who, for the last 6 years or so, has a 22 year old son, Pat, that was seriously injured in a car accident...the kind that leaves your mind in tact but your physical, verbal and social skills are, unless by extensive physical therapy and the miracle of Christ's healing power, photographs of the crash site. He lives in a group home with several assistants and other residents with serious needs physically or mentally. Due to various issues in the family Siiri has been allowed to visit Pat only a few days a week and yet she continues to do so faithfully in being the mother God has made her to be....it's really beautiful! I shared with her what God has been teaching me the last 6 months or so about Hebrews 12:1-3 and I pray that this will serve as an encouragement to you and to myself when weights of this world and sin try to hinder our race towards the finish line!

Hey Siiri!

It's been a LONG time! Mainly on my part, I'll admit but rarely is there a day still where you and Pat are not on my mind and prayers in one way or another. As I was driving home from my shoveling job I heard God's Spirit bring to mind a passage that I have been meditating on for a while now and that's Hebrews 12:1-3...

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted." (Heb. 12:1-3 ESV)

Couple things that are heavily laid on my heart to share in light of this passage...

1. In the context here, the writer gave a whole lineup of faith all-stars including Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and his wife, Sarah. These people were described as this: "These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city." (11:13-16 ESV)

Other people mentioned in this lineup are Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab the prostitute, and "For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets" (11:32) :-) These people, Siiri, are our great cloud of witnesses.

2. What in your life can you answer to yourself serve as a weight or are a "sin which clings so closely" to you that it hinders you to not "run with endurance the race that is set before" you? Your race as a follower of Christ? Your race as Pat's mom in faithfully, in God's grace alone, serving and loving and encouraging him and just simply being there for him?

3. Follow Christ's example as you "lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely," and keep "the joy set before" you and endure your hardships, doubts and (in eyes of the world) shameful acts of faithfulness to your calling as a disciple of Christ, wife, and mother. Why is it that Christ "endured from sinners such hostility against himself?" He kept the joy set before Him of being "seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

For the "joy set before" you, Siiri, endure being a mother to Pat! Endure praying for Ed and Michelle! (her ex-husband and his wife) Endure the pain of not seeing Pat healed despite your boiling hot and consistent prayers b/c you may just be like your "great cloud of witnesses" who "died in faith, not having received the things promised but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth." Let that be up God though. As for you, be encouraged by this and keep the joy set before you as you endure loving your son and being the mother you were called to! I love you and will continue to pray for you as God brings you joyfully to my mind! :)

A Christian Hedonist's Binge

Living for a Name that's not our own
Giving center stage for the Real Star of the show
Living in a way that says "It's not all about me!"
For servants of the King we are Whose kingdom is unseen

Letting go of what you thought you owned
Seeing you're a steward while the Owner's away from home
Giving all you have for the One Great Pearl
Seeing feet and running there with water and a bowl

Recognizing there's no hope in the things our eyes can see
But that what's unseen stands eternal and is where we shall store our treasure

For it is more blessed to give than to recieve
Join the Master and not be so easily pleased
Happiness is what you want? You're dollar's gonna come up short
Finding joy is not in the Creation
Finding joy is in the Creator

A Reminder to Humility...you weren't always all that!

Remind them to…show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. (Titus 3:1-8 ESV)

Reading the words the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to say to his apprentice, Titus, this afternoon I was painfully surprised! As I read the words Paul reminded Titus to show perfect courtesy toward all people. At face value this doesn’t mean much to me honestly….for all I know this could be on a fortune cookie! But I’d be ignorant to leave you hanging just with this though.

We are reminded to show perfect courtesy toward all people for a very hidden and unsearchable reason….*whispering* because there was a time where we were once sinners. AAHHHH!!! I know I know! I’m sorry to break the news to you! But really! What a basic… elementary… simple truth! Yet, for some reason there have been times where you and me walk with our Master and Savior, Jesus, that we are just too doggone sophisticated, spiditual and tick-tack-toe with our spidituality (ya I said ‘spiditual’) that we just don’t seem to agree with this. Lemme paint you a picture of what this could look like…

Exhibit A: Judging a non-Christian for their non-Christian actions. We sit in line eaves dropping in on two dudes talking about a woman like a woman’s only purpose is to be his next nightly pleasure-toy and we’re shocked that non-Christian men are talking about non-Christian things! Oh good heavens you spiritual all star! Love the Hell outta the men if you’re so “righteously angry” and make a name for Christ in their life…maybe the Holy Spirit is at work in those hearts regenerating something that will one day receive a “Welcome home son!” from the Father!

Exhibit B: Condescending on a Christian for not knowing something that by the Lord’s grace you or me may happen to know. Even God Himself won’t judge us for not knowing all the answers! We are told, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” (James 1:5 ESV)

So we’re reminded “to show perfect courtesy toward all people” because here’s the list why…it’s like a very real reminder of that one time when we were once…

A. foolish
B. disobedient
C. led astray
D. slaves to various passions and pleasures
E. passing our days in malice and envy
F. hated by others and hating one another.

Good news though! Great news actually! This is what once were and it’s “not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (vv. 6-7) Because of this justification we've received, because we were once sinners condemned as children of wrath and not of salvation (Eph. 2:3-6) and were saved from that wrath not by our own all-thatness but by the ever all-that mercy of God and His washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit let us not "think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned" (Romans 12:3) and show perfect courtesy like our Master and Savior Jesus did toward all people!