We, on our own, can't make everything right. However, our hope is not in vain. Our recognition that we are not in control needs to lead us to the Gospel. Jesus embodied everything that we hope to be and see in the world. His life, death, and resurrection showed us that all things can be made new. He showed us that he alone can make much of us despite how uneducated, weak, impassionate, and stubborn we are. He showed us there is hope for us all. Let us place our hope in Jesus. This world may be broken, but with Jesus healing is not far off.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
We are not good enough (on our own)
We, on our own, can't make everything right. However, our hope is not in vain. Our recognition that we are not in control needs to lead us to the Gospel. Jesus embodied everything that we hope to be and see in the world. His life, death, and resurrection showed us that all things can be made new. He showed us that he alone can make much of us despite how uneducated, weak, impassionate, and stubborn we are. He showed us there is hope for us all. Let us place our hope in Jesus. This world may be broken, but with Jesus healing is not far off.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Commitment and faithfulness
So often we question God on why he doesn't respond to our prayers the way we want him to. "I've held up my end God, where are you now?". There is a problem with this mentality. It is much more than a simple misunderstanding of God's timing. Deep down, when we think this way, we are questioning his commitment and faithfulness to us. There is no one more faithful than him.
Throughout the scriptures, in almost every single book, we see that we as people turn away from God. But we also see that when we cry out and turn back to God, he is still there and embraces us with open arms.
Jesus's commitment to the apostles despite their numerous shortcomings is second to none. Before facing his eventual brutal humiliation, flogging, and crucifixion, we see him under tremendous stress, sweating blood and asking if there is "any other way". He walked directly to the cross, meeting death with a kiss. Yes, he overcame death, something only he could accomplish, but we cannot disregard the amount of commitment he has for us. In the Great Commission at the end of Matthew, Jesus says that he is with his disciples until the end of the age.
Our mentality of "I've held up my end God, where are you now" can lead to, and even attempt to justify, things like divorce. Things aren't going the way you want so you give up. Divorce is a break in commitment, a grasp for control, and a desire for self. Divorce says that God won't come through.
In Hosea, we see that Hosea is told to marry Gomer, a prostitute. Over and over Hosea pursues Gomer, grabbing her from lovers' arms. As hard as it is to swallow Hosea's story, it tells us of God's unfailing commitment to us.
The beautiful thing is that, despite our unfaithfulness to him, he remains faithful (2 Timothy 2:13). Unlike all other relationships in our lives, God doesn't dip out when things get tough. God always accepts us with overflowing forgiveness. God is jealous for us because he wants us. We cheat on him constantly. He pursues us when we run. He loves us even after all the unfaithfulness. Take heart! He will come through. He will incline his ear to us when we cry out. Our loved ones may pass, and surely we will suffer, but he is with us and is fully committed to us.
"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:15-16
Saturday, June 8, 2013
The Gravity of God
Friday, April 26, 2013
My praises unto Thee
I can't do this on my own.
O, I can't do this on my own!
Hope seems faint.
Please bring reality.
I'm just a broken saint
struggling with a dichotomy
between troubled concern and apathy.
O, comfort seems so distant
and I want peace this instant,
but I remember what you've done.
You fought these same battles
and you won.
I can't forget what you said
because I can't disregard a man that once was dead.
You said you'd always be there,
but sometimes life seems too hard to bare
and I forget that you care.
Please be gentle
for I am weak.
I know you're merciful
even when things look bleak.
So I pray
that this pain and sorrow
that's here today
can be used tomorrow
for me to say,
"that's my Christ whom you should follow".
Because when my hope began to decay,
and I would weep and wallow
in my sorrow and my misery,
my God was there to swallow death with victory.
I'm no longer hollow for Jesus saved me.
I was chained to my pain,
but my cries were not in vain.
Jesus came and broke my chains.
I will sing to my King
for I am free.
My praises unto Thee,
God almighty, for eternity!
Monday, April 1, 2013
Isolation Kingdom
After pushing everyone and everything away, he found himself alone. I think that he desired to be alone. Once he finally arrived at nearly the epitome of solitude, he felt lonesome and took note of it. He may have been searching for happiness, but when he got to the place that he thought he would find it he was severely disappointed. He died alone in the cold of the Alaskan wilderness alone and unhappy. He starved to death out there. But food was not the only thing in which he found himself starved. He had ripped out community. He had ripped out family. He had ripped out friendship. He had ripped out communication. He had ripped out love. Oh the emptiness he must have felt! He had no source of replenishment. When he found himself completely drained, he had no support, nothing to give him hope. A note was found at his base camp. It was an urgent plea for any passerby to stay put until he returned again. That note wasn't found until it was too late.
The beauty of the kingdom of God is that all that reside within it have the utmost veneration for it's ruler and they love each other as themselves. When you fall down, the entire kingdom is there in support. But who ever heard of a king that is there himself? This is the only powerful kingdom where the ruler is truly humble in that way.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Welcome light
Cerebral whirlwind.
Banyan thoughts intertwine with disconsolate weight.
That's fine. I'll wait.
I've collapsed to the harsh unyielding ground.
It's welcomed now.
Aspirations relinquished.
It's easier this way.
Dismay.
Face down, the weight should subside soon.
Time elapse. Midnight to noon.
Where was the appeal?
Was it ever there?
The feel:
Constrained.
Confined.
From the cold soil,
The roots have coiled.
The familiar warmth beckons.
Light.
What does it look like?
It's now or never.
Eradication:
A worthwhile endeavour.
Roots decay and crumble.
Where has the weight gone?
Lifted. But can I carry on?
Rise.
Welcome light.
An old friend embraced, a weight erased.
From content contempt to bliss abound.
Life has sprung from this lifeless ground.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
What "Ishmael" could have been
The fall of man. The fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil provides God with the knowledge of who shall live and who shall die--knowledge which He needs to rule the world (so says Quinn). The fruit only nourishes God though (another Quinn idea). If man were to eat from this tree, he might think that he gains God's wisdom (without actually doing so) and consequently destroy the world himself through his arrogance. Thus, we are familiar with the warning that man must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or he will certainly die. Despite prior warning, we, man, rendered ourselves above the laws governing life. Having ate the fruit, we decided that we should be God, that we know better than Him.
We produce enormous food surpluses, which allows us to thwart God. We decide when we should go hungry and when we should eat! "When you have more food than you need, then God has no power over you"-- this is what man thinks. So we declare that we are "those who know good and evil". Meaning, we think that we rule the world. We try to take the place of God, never realizing that it is better to live in His hand than to die. Man thinks "the world belongs to man" but really man should declare "man belongs to God".
Man thought the world was made for them and that man is here to conquer and rule the world. Man thought that they could bring about paradise this way (and remember: direction, not intention, determines destination). But we forget: paradise was already given. By attempting to create our own paradise, we have not accomplished it. Man, actually sent himself out of paradise in attempt to make his own better paradise. Man, no matter how hard he labors to save the world, is just going to go on defiling and spoiling it.
Reconciliation is the only answer. Jesus bridged that gap. God went from paradise to our rotting land in order to bring us back to paradise. Our searching will never amount to anything without Jesus, our Guide. Our purpose, thus our joy and fulfillment, will never be found when we are out of place. This is why we are never satisfied. We must live once again in God's hand, a place in which we don't often see as appealing because we humans love to be in control. We must realize that all other destinations are imperfect and fleeting. Our only hope and true, lasting pleasure is found simply where God is. When we embrace Jesus and what He has done, only then can we stand in undeserved privilege, confidently rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
“You’ll be disappointed when you uncover that candle and realize there was never a flame there” or “Only the Son can’t be put out, so let’s get rid of all these psuedo-lights”
You're not alone. I'm sure of it.
There is hope in Christ Jesus
God, please hear their cries! I hear their need for love. I hear their need for acceptance. They have unveiled their brokenness for all to see. They have given up on all this world has to offer. Their desperation is clear in their words. They don’t know to what or whom to look. Continually, I see them try to fill themselves with temporary pleasures. They’ve noticed these things’ brevity and have found it unnerving, knowing well that these fillers were all for naught. Please, God, meet them in their despair! Shock the afflicted with your love. Make your presence a reality in their lives. Show them that all hope is not lost. Reveal to them that there is One who can make them whole, namely Jesus, through whom all sin was borne and through whom there is life. Amen.
Churches opposing Jesus
Transformed
Meeting people at the beginning of a new college year or semester is nothing out of the ordinary. It’s expected. Everyone tends to ask the same icebreaker questions: what’s your name, what year are you, what are you studying, where are you from etc. Then the conversations go on from there. Typical polite chit-chat. I have always been one to engage in this thing often, especially at the beginning of the school year. Someone recently cut from the typical surface-level crap and said something along the lines of “what is something about yourself that would shock me?”. After a bit, I had proceeded to tell this individual some crazy things God has done in my life as of late. I realized that these things I shared with this person were the same things I have shared with many of the people I have met this year even if they didn’t prod for it. The question simply allowed me to share these things a tad quicker. You see, I have found that I CAN’T HELP but share a handful of these crazy accounts, in which God has so graciously blessed me, with everyone I meet. They are things I can’t keep inside, things that I find to be so powerful and so permeating that they seep out of me at any given opportunity. It reminds me of an event in Luke chapter 5