On Martyrdom

"Even though there may be no occasion for persecution, peace has its own martyrdom. For even if we do not actually place our necks beneath the steel, we inwardly slay our carnal desires with the sword of the Spirit."

-Gregory the Great

Martyrdom is both a daily act of all believers, and a final act that many of us will commit as a witness to the power of the Gospel for the glory of God. Martyrdom, which comes from the Greek word for "witness," requires that we daily pick up our cross in order to follow Christ (Luke 9:23, Mark 8:34, Matthew 10:38-39). It requires daily laying our life down before the Lord, choosing to love and serve Him more than we love and serve our own interests. 

Martyrdom is an act of witness. In the book of Acts, Stephen, the first disciple killed for the Gospel, is called a witness to Jesus. Martyrdom is a witness to the world that the love of Christ is greater than the love of one's own life. Maybe many of us will not get the chance to be a witness in death, but how can we be a witness to God's love through our daily lives? If, for you, the love of Christ is greater than the love of your own life, than this will be reflected in how you spend your time, how you interact with other people, and how you put the priorities of Jesus above your own. We are actually laying our own lives down for the sake of Him who is our life (Colossians 3:4). 

Martyrdom is an act of warfare. In Revelation 12:11, it is said that the martyrs have conquered Satan "by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death." And it was Jesus who was the initial conquer, winning the victory by the shedding of His blood. Martyrdom in our daily lives includes the resisting of temptation, putting aside sinful or distracting pleasures, and facing our fears. This is why 1 Peter 4:1 says, "Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin." In this daily fight against sin and Satan, the laying down of our lives before the Lord is our main weapon to fight the powers of evil. It can be pretty counterintuitive, but in this great war against our enemy the Devil, we find victory by surrendering ourselves to the One who has already claimed victory. 

Martyrdom is an act of love. John 15:13 says "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." Not much more needs to be said than that. 

In Luke's account of the teaching, Jesus says that we must daily pick up our cross and follow after Him. Daily we must be willing to lay down our lives, allowing the Spirit to crucify the sinful nature within us, in order that we may be daily raised to new life in Christ. But please don't attempt to rely fully on the Spirit to do all this for you. It's going to require work on your part. And it's not going to be easy, or pleasant, much like physical martyrdom. But this is the life that Jesus has called us to--daily. What areas of your life do you need to lay down and bring to the cross to be crucified? 

Magnanimity and Pride

Yesterday’s meditation at the Servants of the Word Christmas retreat was on magnanimity. While that’s an interesting word to say, it’s even more of an interesting concept to ponder. The idea is summed up in the phrase “Expecting great things from God; Attempting great things for God.” Magnanimity is defined in the meditation as such: “The virtue that aspires to do great things that bring great glory. It is the virtue that aims at things that are great in and of themselves.”

Magnanimity is not about vain glory seeking, but about seeking glory for the Lord and for His people. “Magnanimity makes a man deem himself worthy of great things in consideration of the gifts he holds from God.” It involves recognition of our high calling, which is a gift from God (1 Cor. 2:12). Inherent in a spirit of magnanimity is an eschewing of mediocrity, as well as an opposition to presumption, ambition, vainglory, and faint-heartedness.

It is the tension between magnanimity for God’s glory and for my own glory that I struggle with. Oftentimes I find myself wrestling with my motives prior to an action, whether I’m doing it for the sake of the glory of the Lord, or if I’m doing it for my own glory, my own recognition and honor and respect from other people. And oftentimes my struggles and back-and-forth in my mind only leads me to inaction—I’ll end up doing nothing.

If I am to truly attempt great things for the Lord, I cannot let these struggles keep me from action. There are things that I want to do, that I’m pretty sure will bring glory to God and benefit His people, but there is a sneaking suspicion that I’m only doing it for my own selfish glory, so I don’t end up doing it. It’s as if a fear of my own pride is paralyzing me. Although I think my intention in guarding against my pride is good, there comes a point where I need to just do something, and let the Lord sort out my motives in my heart later. After all, the glory of the Lord lasts forever, while my pride is passing away as the grass of the field, and my heart is being redeemed day by day, and one Day will be completely made new and holy, praise be to God.

“The glory of God is a human fully alive,” said Iranaeus, the 2^nd century Church father. Truly living, living magnanimously, doing great things for the Lord, requires getting up off our behinds and moving forward without fear. For if Jesus Christ has truly redeemed us, and is redeeming us day by day, then sin, and the fear of sin, is far outweighed by the great things we can do for the Lord.

Are you expecting great things from the Lord? Are you attempting great things for the Lord? What is keeping you from this? 

Living Incarnationally

As we take this season to reflect on this holy day of Christmas, the Incarnation, the inbreaking of deity into reality, I am continually astounded at this miracle. Just the fact that the Lord of the universe, holy and exalted as He is, would choose to limit Himself so much and come into this world, born into humble circumstances, living a life of homelessness, and finally subjected to a shameful, torturous death--it blows my mind. 


And how this miracle impacts our daily living is something that I'm still working on trying to grasp. Because an incarnational worldview is what sets Christianity apart from other religions. For while most religions seek to escape the reality of this world, Christianity is all about a God who dives headlong into the world in order to redeem it. And so do we. We who are redeemed do not seek to escape this world, but rather to invest in it, to live incarnationally, confident that Jesus is bringing about redemption for all of the fallenness of the world. We get to play a role in that. 


For Jesus tells us: "As the Father sent me, so now I send you" (John 20:21). As Jesus was sent into this world to redeem it, so are we. We are to live in such a way that reveals the incarnated Lord to this world. Not escaping reality, but embracing it as our mission field. 


The way you look at life changes dramatically when you start to see everything not as fallen beyond all hope, but fallen and in the process of being redeemed. And there is nothing that is beyond Christ's redemption. The pedophiles, the murderers, the rapists, the tax collectors, the Buckeye fans, no one is too far fallen that Christ cannot redeem him. "There is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still" (Corrie Ten Boom). 


So let us live incarnationally, diving into the (often terrible and messy and fallen) realities of this world, knowing that there is a reality greater still that is working to redeem all of this around us. Let us love with hearts of faith that know the truth of God's love working through us. And let us celebrate this Christmas in knowing the power of redemption through Christ's coming into this world. 


A light has burst into the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. And we who are called the light of the world are called to seek out the darkness in order to bring God's illumination. 

Colbert on Christmas Charity

"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we've got to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that he commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition. And then admit that we just don't wanna do it." 

- Stephen Colbert

Watch the very interesting (and entertaining) video clip here.

Exulting in Monotony

In reading Ephesians chapter 1, I was struck this time by the style of Paul, the author, who writes with such passion and excitement that he often goes off on tangents while proving his points. In the midst of making a point to the people of Ephesus, he starts trailing off, exulting in what the Lord has done through Jesus Christ who has risen from the dead and is now exalted above all. A friend of mine once called this kind of rambling "praise vomit."

In reading this and trying to get a feel for Paul's heart (which is not too difficult, given his writings), I am struck by how excited he gets every single time he begins to talk about the Gospel and our salvation. It doesn't matter how many times he mentions the same thing over and over again. Usually, when we hear or talk about something again and again, it leads to the invention of phrases like ad nauseum. But the Gospel, it doesn't get old to Paul. It doesn't get boring. Because this salvation we have received is the greatest thing that has ever happened in the history of the universe! And blessed are we among all creation, for the Lord has seen us in our helpless state and called us to life, to redemption, to be His own forever and ever! And the love and the grace which He lavishes upon us is beyond our comprehension, but we who have experienced this salvation and have been sealed with the Holy Spirit can do nothing but praise and exult in it, because there is nothing greater that has ever happened to us, or to all the world.

When we are filled with this life and joy, we are free to exult in this beautiful monotony of the Gospel. In his book Orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton (whom I've been quoting a lot recently, but never enough) says:

"A child kicks its legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough... It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again," to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again," to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike: it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we."

This may be what it means to have a child-like faith. To be filled with such life that the gift we have been given in Jesus Christ never gets old. We continually are amazed and excited about the power of the Gospel, so that once we are done hearing of it, we eagerly shout "Tell me again!"

Be awakened to and rejoice in the salvation you have received in Christ. Exult in the greatness of the story in which you are a main participant. Praise the God who has redeemed us and is making all things new. Refuse the temptation to get tired of hearing about the Gospel and its power in your life and in the life of those around you. Share it with others. Rejoice! I say it again, rejoice! For God has been merciful to you.

Transformed eyes

"...the whole philosophy of St. Francis revolved 'round the idea of a new supernatural light on natural things, which meant the ultimate recovery not the ultimate refusal of natural things."

- G.K. Chesterton, in St. Francis of Assisi

This is the grace of the Holy Spirit, that transforms the very way we perceive the world around us. To live with eyes that are transformed by grace--that will really be something incredible. To see all things as sacred, simply because they are God's creation, will transform the very meaning of pleasure and joy in how we experience them. It would let us see the good creation of God that is waiting to be redeemed.

Having now finished Chesterton's biography of St. Francis, I am inspired by the life of this great saint. Chesterton described him as a Jongleur de Dieu, a Tumbler of God, a court jester of the King who sees life upside down while he's standing on his head. Francis saw the world differently than most people, and that allowed him to have a love and joy for the natural things in life that most people don't. He truly lived his life in the light of Jesus, looking first to God, and then seeing all else around him from that perspective, and then acting out of that love and joy that naturally (supernaturally) came as a result.

If I, if we, lived our lives like this...how different things could be. How much more like Christ we could be. How much more of a powerful witness to the world of radical transformation by the  Holy Spirit we could be.

Lord, transform and sanctify my eyes, so that I might see all around me in light of Your love and grace, to be filled with joy and the pleasure that only comes from You, and in doing so, find greater joy and pleasure in Your creation, taking part in the redemption of the whole world that You are working. Amen.

The Courage and Love of St. Francis

From G.K. Chesterton's biography of St. Francis of Assisi, this excerpt records an event early on in Francis' life:

      An incident occurred which is perhaps the shortest and sharpest summary that could be given of a certain curious things which were a part of his character, long before it was transfigured by transcendental faith. While he was selling velvet and fine embroideries to some solid merchant of the town, a beggar came imploring alms; evidently in a somewhat tactless manner. It was a rude and simple society and there were no laws to punish a starving man for expressing his need for food, such as have been established in a more humanitarian age; and the lack of any organised police permitted such persons to pester the wealthy without any great danger. But there was, I believe, in many places a local custom of the guild forbidding outsiders to interrupt a fair bargain; and it is possible that some such thing put the mendicant more than normally in the wrong. Francis had all his life a great liking for people who had been put hopelessly in the wrong. On this occasion he seems to have dealt with the double interview with rather a divided mind; certainly with distraction, possibly with irritation. Perhaps he was all the more uneasy because of the almost fastidious standard of manners that came to him quite naturally....Anyhow Francis was evidently torn two ways with the botheration of two talkers, but finished his business with the merchant somehow; and when he had finished it, found the beggar was gone. Francis leapt from his booth, left all the bales of velvet and embroidery behind him apparently unprotected, and went racing across the market place like an arrow from the bow. Still running, he threaded the labyrinth of the narrow and crooked streets of the little town, looking for his beggar, whom he eventually discovered; and loaded that astonished mendicant with money. Then he straightened himself, so to speak, and swore before God that he would never all his life refuse to help a poor man. The sweeping simplicity of this undertaking is extremely characteristic. Never was any man so little afraid of his own promises. His life was one riot of rash vows; or rash vows that turned out right. 

Chesterton goes on to talk about the courage of St. Francis, not only in battle (he was a soldier for a while), but in love and service, not being afraid to give to the needy or hug the leper.

I want to be like that.

The Beauty of Unity

This morning I joined the Karagoulis family in Lansing for the service at a Greek Orthodox church. I was able to follow along pretty well for the most part, and I enjoyed testing out how much I remembered Greek. There was a lot of the service that I didn't understand or participate in, but the parts that I did, I really appreciated. Not just for the personal value I received from them or the worship I gave to the Lord, but for the fact that I can go to a church service that is completely foreign to me and acknowledge the same Lord and Father of us all. I was able to recite the Nicene Creed and the Lord's Prayer with my brothers and sisters, and drink in the richness of the Christian tradition that spans thousands of years, hundreds of nations, and a multitude of denominations.

This is something that I always enjoy learning again and again: that I love the Body of Christ. I love the Church which comprises every person who has ever called on the name of Jesus for salvation and sought to live a life of discipleship. I marvel in the Grace of the Lord which is as broad as it is deep. I rejoice in the Lord who accepts and cherishes people of all nations, races, and backgrounds.

And I celebrate the incredible opportunity I have this year of being part of a community that celebrates and practices and works really hard at Christian ecumenism, in order to unite the Body of Christ as one. There is no Protestant, Orthodox, or Catholic. There is no Jew or Greek, no slave or free, no male or female, but we are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). There is one body and one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all (Ephesians 4:4-6). And it is truly a beautiful thing. It's not perfect, and won't be until Jesus returns. But I feel so blessed to be a part of this, where we get to actually practice Christian unity on a regular basis.

With all that divides us, may the bond of unity that binds us be stronger still. May it be the blood of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins that reconciles us not only to the Lord, but to each other. And this Advent season, as we await the Lord's return, may we pray and look forward (while also working toward!) that day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father, and we will be as one in our eternal worship of the King of kings.

Blessing the World - Bonhoeffer

The world lives by the blessing of God

and of the righteous and thus has a future.

Blessing means laying one's hand on something and

     saying: Despite everything, you belong to God.

This is what we do with the world

that inflicts such suffering on us.

We do not abandon it;

we do not repudiate, desire, or condemn it;

instead we call it back to God,

we give it hope,

we lay our hand on it and say:

may God's blessing come upon you,

may God renew you;

be blessed, world created by God,

you belong to your Creator and Redeemer.

- Deitrich Bonhoeffer, Meditation and Prayer, ed. by Peter Frick

Never give up on that which the Lord has redeemed. Instead, do everything you can to remind him/her/it of this glorious redemption.

Cynicism

I think cynicism is one of the most destructive attitudes that a person can have--not only to those around them, but to themselves. I've noticed this in myself a lot in the past year, and I believe that becoming aware of it in yourself is the first step to recovery from it. Because it does actually take a process of recovery to counteract all the damage that is done by cynicism. How much truth have you overlooked because, in your mind, being wrapped up in a cliché makes something invalid?  How much joy have you missed out on because of your intellectual arrogance? How much beauty have you missed out on because you approached a situation with a cynical attitude?

That's what cynicism is when it's really boiled down: intellectual arrogance, and a defense mechanism against the fear of naiveté. It's comes from a sense of superiority for whatever reason, causing the cynical to look down on those who are not as intelligent or aware or right as they are. It's a result of pride, but really it's only a way to deal with our own insecurities.

I found this blog by Donald Miller to be very interesting. I think he's right, that this attitude seems to exists mainly among American white males in their 20s. Cynicism seems to be part of the effort to find an identity. If you are a Christian who suffers from cynicism, know that your identity is found only in Jesus Christ. And learn to appreciate things. Be aware of all the different sources that you can learn from. Practice some humility. You might find yourself a little more joyful, a little more able to love, and growing a lot more in wisdom.

The Wonders of Human Achievement

Watch this:



And then watch this:




Even the little victories count for something, I suppose.

Quick Thought #5

If you claim the name "Christian" for yourself, remember that you are representing Jesus Christ at all times and in all places. Don't try to compartmentalize your spiritual life as something separate from everything else.

Haiku crazy

I just had to post this because I wasted way too much time on it yesterday, and it was one of the highlights of the day for me. Included in the thread are my former Bible professor (who owes me a seminary reference) and HU campus pastor. Sorry for the poor formatting, I don't really know how to put these together well. 

Kenosis Love

With committing Himself to successive covenants with Israel, we see an unlimited God limiting Himself. With Abraham, with Moses, with David, the Lord makes these covenants to which He is bound to this people. The idea that a God who cannot be bound by anything in the entire universe (since He created it) would purposefully and humbly choose to be bound in such a way is pretty incredible.

With this new covenant we find ourselves in, this same Lord chooses to limit Himself even more, completely emptying Himself of all power, subjecting Himself to weakness and shame, even unto dying on the cross. The Greek word that is used here for the concept of "emptying" is kenosis. The place in Scripture that is most famous for this term is Philippians chapter 2:6-11, which is often called the Kenosis Hymn:

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied (kenao) himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death--even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 The love of God compelled Him to empty Himself of all things. This is agape love--self-sacrificial, unconditional love that puts the needs of others before oneself. Jesus Christ became empty of all but love in order to save us. And it is through this emptying that He became exalted in glory.

Similarly, we are called to the same sacrificial, self-emptying love. Like Paul exhorts us: "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus." We are called to pour ourselves out in love in the name and example of Jesus Christ. And in this we might find glory. This is the foolish logic of love, that by giving everything away we can then gain everything, that by dying we can find life, that by losing our life we can find it.

It does seem foolish, doesn't it? Because this kind of love is going to force us into weakness. It is going to cause people to take advantage of us. It is going to strike a blow at our pride. But it is only through this emptying, the pouring out of ourselves for the sake of God and others, that we can truly come to know the heart of God. No amount of studying theology or the Bible will get us to this intimate knowledge of the Lord. But only by becoming like Him in His love will we truly come to know Him.

We must become empty in order for the love of God to fill us. Let us follow in the example of the Lord Jesus, in Spirit and in Truth, to let the power of love show forth in our weakness. And in this we will find unity with God.

"By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, 'I abide in Him,' ought to walk just as he walked."
- 1 John 2:5-6

Quick Thought #4

Serving the poor is not about your politics (AT ALL!). It's about living like Jesus did.

Living in Mercy

It can be so humbling to stand before the Lord and realize that you are nothing without Him. That there is nothing that you can do to earn your own salvation. That you are only the person that you are because that's how He made you. That even every single breath you take is a gift from the Creator. That your efforts will usually end in failure without His help.

But at the same time, we have been given victory in Jesus Christ. (Given being the key term here, rather than being won ourselves). We have been given a spirit of power and love and self-discipline, not one of timidity. We have been called and charged as God's ambassadors in this world, to preach the Good News to all the world. We have been given the Holy Spirit to go with us and empower us. 

It is this balance that we find we have to walk in living the Christian life. One the one hand, knowing that we are worthless pieces of $*!#, and on the other, knowing that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. And this is what it means to live in the mercy of Jesus Christ. To live in humility, but to walk forward in confidence. To live in mercy means that you live knowing that your life is not about you, and knowing that the Source of your life is steadfast and mighty, giving you strength for each new day. 


Choose this day to live in the mercy of the Lord, choosing to be merely a clay jar through which the power of the Holy Spirit will be made known. 

Quick Thought #3

If you are convinced that you have a purpose for living, but aren't using every moment of every day to fulfill that purpose...what are you really doing with your life?

Quick Thought #2

Pacifism does not have the same root as "passive."

Quick Thought #1

Theology is great and has it's place, but if we really want to know God, we need to live like Jesus. It's time for us to stop living in the abstract and live out the Gospel in the here and now.*


*Spoken to myself, as well as anyone else who needs to hear it.

On Being Taken Advantage Of

I shared this thought last night at the community prayer meeting, and I figured I would flesh it out here, because this is something that the Lord has really been teaching me recently.

As I've wrote about earlier, the Lord has really been urging me on to serve the homeless and the outcast. To truly try to love like Jesus loved, in loving the unlovely, reaching out to the social outcast, and seeing the image of God in all people, no matter how skewed that image may have become. This is something that I have come to believe is essential for Christians to do, if we are to truly follow Jesus and continue His ministry to this world.

Anyways, this begins with a small story. A few weeks ago, after the Lord has laid this conviction on my heart, I encountered a homeless man on campus who asked me for money. I offered to buy him a meal instead, so we went to Jimmy John's. When we got there, I told him to order whatever he wanted, and in his slightly drunken speech he asked for the biggest thing on the menu. It was an $8 sandwich. Part of me was like, really? Can't you order the basic $4 sandwich to tie you over? But by the grace of God I kept my mouth shut and gladly paid for his meal.

The Lord taught me a lesson in that instance about serving: when you serve, when you give of yourself in order to love others as Christ loves them, then there will undoubtedly be many instances where you will be taken advantage of. And that's okay, for that's part of what love is.

For in that moment, I felt the Lord saying to me, How many times have you taken advantage of My love? How many times have you rejected my gracious offering to you, instead choosing to spit it back in my face? I came and I suffered, I was rejected, I was murdered, and my love was reduced to shame. And still you take advantage of me. But it's okay, for that's what love is. 


If we are to truly love as Jesus loved, then we have to be willing to put ourselves on the line, to put the needs of others before our own, to lay down our lives. And that can be terrifying, but that's what love is. It can make us feel weak and abused (and may I kindly point you to this), but somehow it is still the greatest thing in the world.


Let us love as Christ loves. Or rather, let us be the channel through which Christ loves. And as His love continues to transform our hearts and minds, may we love others with reckless abandon, as He has called us to.

Lay your weapons down

What does it look like to fight in a battle that’s already won? This thought has been bustling around in my mind recently, and I'd like to try to unpack it in a specific way, if you don't mind. Feel free to join me. 

In this battle, we do have a real Enemy, but I think we as Christians have the tendency to confuse the Enemy with those that we are trying to love and see reconciled to God. We have the tendency to direct our fighting against people or groups or ideologies, creating this culture of separation between us and other people who are made in the image of God. Maybe instead of fighting, instead of creating the dichotomy of “us vs. them”, maybe we can come to nonbelievers with a white flag of humility, understanding that we are all fighting on the same field. Maybe we can beat our swords into plowshares, our spears into pruning hooks and turn the battle field into a garden, working to create something beautiful on this journey we are on together. Maybe instead of creating more and more separation with nonbelievers, we can work to identify with them, coming alongside them where they are in love and grace—the same love and grace that we have been shown where we do not deserve it.

As the Church, we need to emulate our Lord, with His outstretched hands on the cross, inviting in the enemy (you and me!—see Romans 5:8) to share in His Kingdom, His love, and yes, even His sufferings. We also need to obey His command for us to “Go out.” We go with confidence, knowing that our Lord has already won the victory. We go with humility, knowing that we were nothing before He saved us, knowing but not knowing this Mystery that dwells within us, working through our weakness. And so a new paradox of our ministry is created. We are ever going out while ever inviting in. We are to be ever inviting people into the heart of the Church while ever working to expand the heart of the Church to the fringes, the outer margins of society and faith.

It’s this concept of working to identify with people in order to bring them to reconciliation with God that fascinates me. Because that’s exactly what Jesus did. Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.” Even to ones who don’t believe in Him, Jesus identified with them when He cried out on the cross, “My God, why have you forsaken me?” G.K. Chesterton once wrote: “Let the atheists themselves choose a god. They will find only one divinity who ever uttered their isolation; only one religion in which God seemed for an instant to be an atheist.” In this in another lesson for us: in our moments of doubt and uncertainty, we need to cherish those painful times and use them to identify with nonbelievers.

Identification towards salvation—this is what Jesus is all about. This is what Christianity should be all about. We can’t be their savior, but in humility we point them to the only One who can save them. You can’t love someone like this while attacking them and considering them an “enemy.” We are called to be separated from this world, but we need to be careful not to become separated from people, which is exactly opposite of our mission here. 

How does this actually happen in real life? I have no idea, but I pray that we trust the Holy Spirit to work Jesus’ incarnational ministry through us for His glory. So lay your weapons down. Begin to see your “enemies” as brothers and sisters, and beautiful things can happen.

Love can only lead to poverty

At a time when spiritual leaders were teaching believers to collect, count, and carefully record their good deeds, [St. Therese de Lisieux] firmly rejected that sort of accounting: I count nothing. I simply do everything out of love--and if I then stand empty-handed and utterly poor in the ranks of those who collected, counted, and recorded their merits, isn't that, after all, the poverty that Christ speaks about in the Sermon on the Mount: Blessed are the poor?

-Tomas Halik, Patience with God: The Story of Zacchaeus Continuing in Us, pg. 33

A Conviction

In the Gospel of Luke the Greatest Commandments are given, not by Jesus, but by a teacher of the law who desired assurance of the way to eternal life. His answer,

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself."

is affirmed by Jesus as the way to eternal life. But even with this affirmation, the lawyer wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" Jesus then launched into the parable of the Good Samaritan:

"A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he out two denarii, gave them to the inkeeper, and said, 'Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.' Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." 

Although these two sections of the same passages (the Greatest Commandments and the Good Samaritan story) are well known, we tend to read them separately. But here we have Jesus, giving us a definition of what it means to be a neighbor to someone, right after affirming that loving our neighbor is one of the greatest commandments that will lead us into eternal life. The two parts of the passage should not be separated.

But I think it's pretty incredible that here, Jesus explains in detail how to really live out what He is teaching. I can't think of any other place where He really does that. So, in other words, pay attention. Greatest commandment --> specific application. Got it?

The reason that this has been on my heart recently is because of this application to my life. In the past year or two, the Lord has really given me a heart to love those who are loveless, those that are on the fringes of society, those that the rest of the world tends to pass by on the other side of the road. Not that I'm super good at it now (I'm not), but it's just been weighing on my heart more and more how crucial it is for the life of a Christian to live like this, to "Go and do likewise." Not only for the sake of just doing good things, but for the sake of seeing the image of God in the Undesireables of this world. For knowing God's heart for those who no one else cares about. For allowing God to use us to be His hands and feet, which can be as much of a benefit to us as to those we are helping. For knowing that every human being needs to know the love of Jesus Christ, in whatever form it may take.

Last week I made a vow with the Lord, one which I'm not quite sure how to keep yet, but that won't keep me from trying. I told the Lord that I will never intentionally avoid eye contact with a homeless person or someone whose presence makes me uncomfortable. I will try to never miss an opportunity to buy a hungry person a meal and have a conversation with them and try to befriend them. I will do whatever I can, no matter how small of a gesture, to help someone and show them the love of Jesus Christ.

It's been difficult at times, especially when all someone wants from you is cash, which you should never give to a homeless person. But still, I think just making the effort to see them as a real person with real needs, regardless of whether they are telling you the truth or not, has to count for something. I have faith in the love of Jesus Christ to have power in people's lives, whether I see the effects or not. 

In God's Kingdom, there are no social boundaries. God has called us to love all people, regardless of race, class, gender, or hygiene. And people need to know that love. They need to know that they are accepted in the eyes of the Lord, and thus in ours as well. And we need to know that they are real people with real stories and real hurts that need healing. 

Refuse to let social boundaries contain the love of God. Refuse to allow your discomfort to contain the love of God. Allow God's love to work through you to love the unlovable, comfort the uncomfortable, bring hope to the hopeless, and bring the light of God's Kingdom to this world.

Amen. 

Psalm 27:1

"The LORD is my light and my salvation;
     whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life;
     of whom shall I be afraid?"
Psalm 27:1

This verse has been my anthem the past week or so. It began when a brother told me that during a time of prayer over me, this was the psalm that came to his mind for me. I've been meditating and praying on it since then, and the impact of what it means still hasn't fully been revealed to me yet, I don't think. But I pray you are  blessed by this meditation, as I have been.

The LORD is my light.
What is light? It is a wave and a particle (somehow), and it is a force, not opposite of darkness, but one that chases away all darkness. Because darkness is not a separate force opposite of light, but rather it is the absence of light. Where a light shines, no darkness can remain within the reach of that light (see John 1:5). For the LORD to be our light, it means that He is the one who illumines our lives and chases away the darkness. There can be no darkness where the light of the LORD is shining. There can be no falsehood where Truth is king. There can be no depression where Joy is master. There can be no hate where Love reigns.
      LORD, be my light. Be the One that illumines my path and my life. Be the light that chases away the darkness in me. Let Your light shine through me, to bring the light of Your truth to a dark world. 


The LORD is my salvation.
How easy it is for us to say this and take it for granted, or to not even grasp the fullness of what it means. The LORD is salvation to the lost, wholeness to the broken, healing for the sick, joy for the downtrodden. The LORD has paid the debt owed on us, brought us out of our exile into His freedom, cleansed us from all our sins and brought us into the glory of His Kingdom. Nothing can compare to the greatness of the salvation that we have through Jesus Christ. Hallelujah! What a Savior! My words cannot even begin to do it justice. All the books in the world could not hold enough praise, and the extent of our language is frustratingly limited to express the greatness of our salvation.
LORD, be my salvation, now and forever. Daily your mercy restores me to Your will and keeps me dwelling in Your presence. You are my rescue, my salvation, the hope of my glory. Use me to bring the news of your great Salvation to the world. 


The LORD is the stronghold of my life.
A stronghold is a place you can go to be safe. The alternate word used in the Scripture is "refuge." A haven. A sanctuary. A place of rest and security. A place like home. A place that is a solid rock upon which to stand amidst a sea of chaos. A fortress of peace in the midst of a war surrounding you. When all around is bearing down on you with demands, persecutions, criticisms, stress, conflict, hatred--the LORD is a refuge. He is a stronghold whose walls of protection nothing can penetrate. Run to Him and let Him receive you in love. The stronghold of the LORD is a place where you know you can trust Him to protect. It is a place where you know you are safe. It is a place where you know you are loved.
LORD, be the stronghold of my life, the refuge of protection that I run to when I am troubled. In the good time and bad, You are constant, and You never change as a source of love and goodness and protection from all evil. Let the peace of Your refuge be shown in my life, that others may know the power of Your love. 


With the LORD, there is no fear. His perfect love casts out all fear. With the knowledge of His great salvation, living in His all-pervading Light, secure in the comfort of His refuge, there is nothing that can come against us. If our God is for us, who can be against us? Know the goodness of the LORD, His goodness that is for you. Meditate on His light, His salvation, and His stronghold and what these can really mean for you in your day to day life. And be blessed by the Lord of all the universe, Who loves you more than you can imagine, and desires to be known and loved by you.

Amen, and glory be to our God forever and ever!

Side-Effects of a New Creation

"From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view (according to the flesh); even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way.  So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!"

                                                     2 Corinthians 5:16-17

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Galatians 2:20

These two oft-quoted Scriptures in our modern Christianese are also two of the most ignored. It's really easy to quote Scripture that can inspire us and make us feel good, but when it comes down to looking at what these really mean for our lives, it's easy to look only as far as we're comfortable. 

The Lord has been hitting me over the head with this the past couple weeks. I came into this year fully expecting that it would change my life. Recently I realized that my prayer for God to change me was really more like "Lord, change me, but only in the ways I want to change." I want to grow spiritually and in my maturity, but only in ways that conform to my plan for my life. Really, I don't want to be single anymore, I don't want to give up my things, I don't want God to mess up my plans. "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21

Do we really realize that we are, in fact, a new creation? Do we really know that the old "us" has passed away, and we are being made new in the name of Jesus Christ? Have we really crucified our old lives to be in conformity with Jesus?

That's the unfortunate side-effect of being a new creation: that newness requires change, discipleship requires a cost, and crucifixion requires dying to self. 

But it's this radical change that Christ calls us to, and it is for this purpose that He came. This is the purpose of God for you--to make you a new creation. But first you must die. 

"Very truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life." 

John 12:24-25

We need to stop getting in the way of allowing God to bear fruit with our lives. What are you holding back? What part of your old life are you holding onto? In this life, with this faith, it is not about you. It is about a God Who is bigger than you can possibly imagine, Whose love goes farther than you can comprehend, Whose greatness we can never even put into words, Whose glory lights up the whole universe! This God is your salvation, and you owe him everything. 

If you're reading this, please don't just read and nod your head and say "Amen, brother." Please take time to examine your own life and ask the Lord what He wants from you. What are you holding onto that is keeping you from the Lord? If your automatic answer is "Nothing," then search deeper. And then search again. This is the most important thing you can do with you life--do you really understand that, at your core? 

This is stuff I'm just re-learning and trying to apply to my own life again, and I feel the Lord calling me to share it. This is the Gospel that He wants us to preach. This is Good News. 

How Sweet It Is

"How sweet it is when brothers and sisters dwell together in unity." (Psalm 133:1)


This was the verse on my mind all throughout the week that I was able to attend to COA (Campus Outreach Academy). When we arrived last Sunday, I knew a total of about 5 people beforehand (and those I had just met the week before), out of about 90 people altogether at this retreat. But after just a few days, it was easy (and necessary!) for me to call all these people my brothers and sisters. It was awesome how a group of people from all different backgrounds could come together to worship and fellowship with such passion. 


The focus of the COA this year was on ecumenism. If you don't know what that is, by definition it's


/ɪˈkjuːmənɪz(ə)m/ (noun) the principle or aim of promoting unity among the world's Christian Churches.


Ecumenism and Christian unity have long been strong parts of the calling that the Lord has put on my life, so I loved every minute of it. And what was even cooler than all the talks was seeing ecumenism lived out in a very real way at the retreat. There were Catholics, Orthodox, Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists (I think I was the only one of those, actually), and others--all worshiping and fellowshipping together. It was a beautiful thing. I love corporate worship, and witnessing a huge crowd all lift up their hands and voices to the King of kings. But to see that happening among traditionally disparate groups who have been unable to worship together because of their differences--that was incredible. 


And we ask, how can we make this happen in a larger context, out in the world? The answer, I've found, is with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit longs to bring believers together and to unite us under one purpose and one Name. UCO and its supporting communities were borne out of the charismatic renewal movement that started in the 1960s, right here in Ann Arbor. This movement believes strongly in the work of the Holy Spirit and working for ecumenism. And the latter can only be possible by the former. It's really cool to see the results of this being worked out in real life. I've never really had any Catholic friends, and I didn't really know that there were any Orthodox believers in America. But now I can say I have friends (more so, brothers and sisters) in both denominations, and many others. 


The COA has made me very excited for what this year is going to bring, and the work that the Lord is going to do through us. Unfortunately, I had to leave COA early (it's actually still going on now), to come home and be with my family as we wait for my grandpa to pass away. So if you all wouldn't mind sending a prayer for my family in this time, we'd appreciate it. 

Update

The Catherine Street houses in Ann Arbor

After four days of living on Catherine Street, things are going very well. The brothers here are great, and I've felt very welcomed. When I first got here on Monday evening, I joined several of the guys who met up with a large group to play soccer. I didn't have cleats, so I didn't play well, but it was a lot of fun. Then we came back and ate some dinner, and a few of us went out onto the porch and smoked a pipe and drank beer. Not exactly what I was expecting for my first night of living with the monks, but it was awesome. Since my job hasn't started yet, there hasn't been much to do during the day. Usually I try to do some reading (and often fall asleep), or take a walk, etc. But every night there's been something going on, whether it be soccer, going for ice cream, watching a movie, or going to a prayer meeting and then to the pub afterward. 

The brothers join together for prayer three times a day: in the morning, evening, and right before bed. Eating meals together is very important for their community life, and everyone helps out with the cooking and cleaning. I'm actually looking forward to learning how to cook well. I don't think the brothers would enjoy my grilled cheese as much as I do. 

On Sunday I leave for the Campus Outreach Academy (COA), a nine retreat for training people in UCO. It's weird, because since I'm on UCO staff this year, I'm expected to lead parts of this, even though I have no idea what I'm doing, and the people I'm leading will know a lot more than I do. But from what I've been hearing about it, COA is always an awesome time, so I am looking forward to it. 

Spiritually, it has been a very interesting week. I struggled a lot spiritually this past summer, so to jump right into an environment where seeking God is built into the structure of the day has been good for me, but I'm hesitant to jump right into this place where it's so easy. I don't want the strength of my faith to be entirely reliant on my context, because what will happen then when I leave this place? Faith is something that needs to come from my own convictions and relationship with God, which still is not where it needs to be. So this week has included a lot of quiet repentance and prayer for renewal and obedience. 

The other things I'm struggling with is the worship of the brothers here. The Servants of the Word was born out of the charismatic movement a few decades ago, so there is a lot of focus on speaking in tongues and prophecy and the other spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit. These are things that I am by no means opposed to, but given my background and my personal experiences in worship, it's not what I'm accustomed to. I know that the Holy Spirit has power to work in our lives, especially in worship, but I just don't know. This year will be a good one for learning more about the Spirit and how He can work in my life. I'm excited to learn and grow as much as I can this year, and my prayer is that God will prepare my heart and mind for what is to come. 

A New Adventure

Hello.

If you're new here, welcome to my blog. You're just in time to join me on this new journey I'm about to begin.  For the next year I'll be living with the Servants of the Word, a neo-monastic community, in Ann Arbor, MI. I'm going to be working on staff with their University Christian Outreach (UCO), a evangelistic and discipleship-oriented college ministry directed at the students of the University of Michigan. I'm doing all of this under the umbrella of what's called the GAP program, which is where young adults like myself take a year to do service of some type. So the cool thing with that is that I'll be doing this alongside peers who are doing similar things. 


Some ask why I choose to do this with my year after college. In short, there are 4 main reasons:


1. Celibacy - For the past two years I've felt called by the Lord to commit myself to not dating. This I have done, but as for the long term, I have no idea where God is leading me. So one of my biggest intentions for this year is to explore the call to celibacy and whether or not that might be where God is calling me. I don't expect to have it nailed down by the end of one year (for many it takes several years to make a decision like that, as it should!), but this will be a good start for me. 


2. Spiritual growth - Spiritual disciplines are things that I have never been very good at, and this year will no doubt be very good for developing those more fully in my everyday life. Also, I realize that I just have a lot more growing to do spiritually in order to become the leader that God has called me to be. I fully expect this year to impact my life in an awesome way in this category. 


3. Not academic - I'm planning on going to grad school after this, and toward the end of my college career I just felt burnt out on academics, so this is a welcome break from the stresses of school work. 


4. Awesomeness - who gets to say that they've lived with monks? I mean, seriously, it's going to be a pretty awesome experience, and I'm excited for it. 


This year is something I'm very excited for, and I expect to learn and be challenged and grow a lot. So, hopefully I will use this medium of my blog to keep all you folks out there updated on what's going on, and I'm sure I'll jot down things I learn and all that stuff too. I greatly appreciate all your prayers, and I hope you will join me in praising God for the great work that He does through this!

Desensitized

When I was in 8th grade, a kid in my class was killed. His name was Butch Harris, and he died when he was hit by an out of control car while he was riding his bike along the road. I didn't really know Butch. We didn't really run in the same circles, and I can't even remember if I ever talked to him. His death didn't have much of an emotional impact on me at the time. I don't know if it was too much for my 14 year old mind to register, or if I just didn't care that much. But I remember my mom talking to me about it, and expressing concern at my lack of concern. She said that she was worried that I'd been "desensitized" too much by TV, video games, and such.

And I remember being really offended by that comment. I mean, here she is, attacking the TV I choose to watch and the games I choose to play, claiming that they are somehow poisoning my mind. All because I didn't have an emotional reaction to the death of a kid I barely knew? I was really annoyed with her for that. I mean, they talked about the kids that shot up Columbine as being influenced by their violent video games and music, but everyone knew that that was just crap. We can't be controlled by the media we consume.  We are individuals with free will to choose how we behave. We are our own creatures to control.

Now that I'm older and slightly smarter, I see things a bit differently. As I've grown, I've found myself less and less entertained by violence in movies and video games. Instead of cheering when the bad guy gets killed, I often find myself wondering if he had a family that loved him and how he got on the wrong track. That's stupid, some might think. It's a fictional character--no one really died here. It was an actor who was paid to look like he died. But, on the other hand, if our movies are supposed to be a reflection of life and reality, I have to ask myself--am I really cheering for a human life that just ended? A human, made-in-the-image-of-God life?

The main reason that I became a pacifist is that I value the sacredness of life. I believe that each and every person has incomparable value simply because they are human, and they have worth and feelings and thoughts and hopes and dreams and people that love them for the complexities of their personalities and yes, even their flaws. And every time a person is killed, whether in real life or on TV, it represents the cheapening of that sacred life, in that situation and in our society.

I'm currently finishing up a book called On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, by military psychologist Dave Grossman. It's a fascinating book, but toward the end, he discusses how the conditioning of America and her children through media is eerily similar to the conditioning of soldiers in preparation for war. Using classical and operant conditioning methods, the military has to break down the soldier's resistance to killing the enemy. Through our media, we are conditioned to be entertained by violence instead of disturbed by it, making it easy to emotionally distance ourselves from the enemy, and from other people. One fact that Grossman cites is that, at the time of his writing (1995), there had already been over 200 studies demonstrating the correlation between television and violence. And, even though correlation does not equal causation, there has to come a point, maybe after 200 studies, where you know causation is present.

So my question is this: does there come a point when we realize how much the media influences our behavior, and if so, do we do anything about it? Is it possible for us to become re-sensitized to the horrors of violence and death? Can we as people learn to value people again?

I would love to hear others' thoughts on this issue, since it can be a sensitive (no pun intended) issue. What do you think? Does violent media cause us to be more violent? Have we been desensitized to violence and war and death? Have you noticed this in your own life at all?

Confidence

It is often thought that success will build confidence. But I think that real confidence is in being okay with your failures, content with not being the best at something. Real confidence comes from being secure in your identity, which, while being shaped by your experiences, is not defined by them. 

When confidence turns into arrogance, I don't want to say that that is borne out of an insecurity of identity, because I can't make that judgment. But it seems to me that real confidence leads to humility. If you're confident in who you are, you don't need to be the best, you don't need to make yourself feel superior. Maybe, when we really have confidence in who we are, we can actually stop focusing on ourselves and begin to love others.

Hauerwas - America's god is Dying

"Dietrich Bonhoeffer thus got it right when he characterized American Protestantism as 'Protestantism without Reformation.'

That is why it has been possible for Americans to synthesize three seemingly antithetical traditions: evangelical Protestantism, republican political ideology and commonsense moral reasoning. For Americans, faith in God is indistinguishable from loyalty to their country.

American Protestants do not have to believe in God because they believe in belief. That is why we have never been able to produce an interesting atheist in America. The god most Americans say they believe in is just not interesting enough to deny. Thus the only kind of atheism that counts in America is to call into question the proposition that everyone has a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

--Stanley Hauerwas, excerpted from "America's god is Dying," on ABC's Religion and Ethics Portal, July 20, 2010.

Read the whole article here. 

The Costs of War

War is an environment that will psychologically debilitate 98 percent of all who participate in it for any length of time. And the 2 percent who are not driven insane by war appear to have already been insane--aggressive psychopaths--before coming to the battlefield.

-Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, On Killing, p. 50 


I've just started reading this book, and so far it's pretty chilling, as exhibited by the quote above. According to Grossman, there is something innate in humans (and all animals, for that matter) that resists the killing of its own species. War, killing, and violence have a much greater impact on us than I think we've realized before. And governments have to compensate for that by conditioning soldiers to conquer that resistance. And cultures condition their children with violent video games and movies that glorify the act of killing, making it seem easy.


When we have to be conditioned to not resist killing our own brothers and sisters, something has gone wrong. We were not made for violence.

You are God's Child

You,
human being,
no matter who you are,

you are God's child,

you are included in God's love,
out of the pure, incomprehensible grace of God;
accept this word, believe in it,
trust in his rule
rather than in yourself or in your own party,
rather than in your own work or your own religion.
God does as he wills.

Turn your misery into God's blessed presence,
and from within your guilt and distress
hear the voice
of the eternal, living God.

--Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Meditation and Prayer, ed. by Peter Frick


This is why I am a pacifist. I know this wasn't Bonhoeffer's point in this meditation, but these are the thoughts that have led me to my commitment. How can I cause harm to something/someone God loves so much? How can I support the killing of a human being, made in the image of God? There is so much hope for each person in the love of God through Jesus Christ. How can I take that away?

I feel that this principle is slowly and surely changing me. Changing how I view the world, how I view people. May God's "blessed presence" be with me as I live it out.

Truth and Love

Insight, knowledge, truth
without love is nothing--
it is not even truth,
for truth is God, and God is truth.

So truth without love is a lie; it is nothing.
Truth just for oneself
truth spoken in enmity and hate
is not truth but a lie,
for truth brings us into God's presence,
and God is love.

Truth
is either the clarity of love,
or it is nothing.

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer, from Meditation and Prayer, ed. Peter Frick

Justice

In yesterday's paper, there was an article written by a reporter who got to witness the execution of a man in Utah who was convicted of two murders. Apparently, it was the first execution by firing squad in Utah (the only state that still permits such a method) since 1996, which was made it a news-worthy event. The reporter chronicled the final moments of this man, who had no final words, and how the bullets ripped through the target on the left side of his chest without much flair or excitement. There was no visible blood pouring out, and there was no dramatic reaction from the condemned man save a clenched fist. By all standards, justice was carried out swiftly and cleanly in this execution, despite the seemingly archaic method.

Yes, justice was served here. This man killed a man in a robbery, then years later killed again and severely wounded another man. He was a violent offender, a ruthless criminal, the scum of humanity. He got what he deserved. People may argue about the ethics of the death penalty, but the issue at hand here is justice. This man killed, so he was killed. This speaks to how we as a society define justice--evening things out, keeping things fair. Justice, karma, fairness, equity--these are the things that keep society in order, and for which our justice system works for. These are good things.

And yet, as I read this article chronicling this man's death, I hated almost every word of it. Not just because I'm a pacifist and don't support the death penalty. But because in the world's eyes, this was so right. A man's life ended, probably without him knowing any form of redemption, and Lady Justice smiled on (although I don't know how she sees through that blindfold).

It was then that I realized that at the root of my discomfort with this was in the inconsistencies between definitions of justice. I believe God defines justice much differently than any government does. Or rather, maybe at the root they're the same definition, but the end and means of justice are different. We can still define justice as "making things right." But to what end? What is "right"?

To the world, it's almost as if the end is to even the playing field, as if killing the bad guys will create more good in the world. But to God, the end goal is to bring people back to Him, to the way He intended us to live within His purposes. That which is right, or righteous, is that which is within God's purposes and intentions for mankind. God's justice is about us, being reconciled with Him. For God, the means of that justice are the forgiveness and redemption offered to us through Jesus Christ.

God's justice is rooted in His love for His fallen children. God's justice is in the open arms of the father embracing the prodigal son. God's justice is in the anxious heart of the shepherd searching for that one lost sheep. God's justice is in the blood of a Savior who was crucified unjustly on a Roman cross.

God's justice isn't about getting what you deserve; it's about Grace.

Praise God that we do not get what we deserve. If so, we would all deserve eternal punishment. We are sinners who live in a fallen world. We have fallen away from God and from our purpose as created beings. Real justice is getting us back to that purpose, back to God.

Real justice is grace.

Silence

We are silent
early in the morning
because God should have the first word,
and we are silent before going to bed
because the last word also belongs to God.

In the end,
silence means nothing other than waiting
for God's Word
and coming from God's Word
with a blessing.

Real silence,
real stillness,
really holding one's tongue,
comes only as the sober consequence of
spiritual silence.

There is a wonderful
power in being silent
--the power of clarification, purification,
and the focus on what is essential.

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer, from Meditation and Prayer, ed. Peter Frick

Knowing the Unknowable

In a discussion with a few friends this past weekend, we were talking about how our theological attempts necessarily limits God. Whenever we try to define God through our limited language, this is an attempt to contain the Uncontainable. We talked about the purpose of apophatic (or negative) theology in trying to avoid this, where we attempt to define God by saying what He is not. But even that puts limitations on God, just in a more roundabout way.

We ended that discussion on a note of helplessness--what can we even do? How can we even know this God who cannot be contained in our knowledge?

I believe that the purpose of theology is to know God. Not to contain Him, but to explore who He is. And, praise the Lord, we have a God who desires to be known! Everything God has done in Scripture and today for His people is to reconcile the separation between God and man, and to reveal Himself to us. God reveals Himself to us not in clear, definable terms, but relationally and mysteriously. Not that He desires to remain cryptic and unknown, but to show us that He is a mystery, far beyond what we know and experience. He desires to show us Himself in how He relates to us and what He's done for us.

He reveals Himself most of all through the Incarnation in becoming one of us. For in Jesus, "God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him" (Colossians 1:19). In Jesus we find God's greatest act of revelation. In Jesus, God makes Himself known to us. In Jesus, the truth of who God is is shown by the love and justice of the Gospel.

Though our language will always necessarily limit our experience, whether of God or anything else, we are stuck with it, and must be content to know that which has been given us to know. We have a God that wants to be known. Do all you can to know Him as He is.

Another Decision

I just decided this weekend that I'm pretty sure I am a pacifist.

It took a terrible Memorial Day sermon in church for me to finally come to this conclusion, which I've been wrestling with for a while now. When it really came down to it, I see no way to justify killing a human being that is made in God's image. No matter how just you think your cause is, God's purpose for life and redemption is a greater cause. Of course, there are still going to be gray areas, and I'm not foolish enough to assume that this is enough to satisfy all of life's questions on these issues. But I've decided that I need to start living my life and organizing my principles around this cause--fighting for life, rather than to end or harm it. From what Jesus has taught me, I see no other way for me in my life right now. I'd love to discuss it more if you're interested, because that will help me flesh out my thoughts even more.

Ironically, I just realized that I struggled with the same kind of thoughts last Memorial Day. You can read my discussion with Steve about all that here.

Return, O Wanderer

"Return, O wanderer, now return,
     And seek thy Father's face;
Those new desires which in thee burn
     Were kindled by His grace.

Return, O wanderer, now return,
     And wipe the falling tear:
The Father calls,--no longer mourn;
     'Tis love invites thee near."

-William Bence Collyer


I just rediscovered this written down in my notebook yesterday, and I can't remember where it's from or when I wrote it down, but it managed to speak to me just as much this time as it did the first time.

The Church and Postmodernism

I finally finished up the paper for my independent study, called The Church and Postmodernism. It was a tough semester, with all the research and time put into it, and I think I learned just about as much from the process of doing it as I did from the research itself. My hope is that this will be a stepping off point for more research in the future (since, even with all the work I put into this, it barely scratches the surface), and that it will help serve me (and others!) in ministry to a culture that might consider itself 'postmodern.'

It is now available online for the world to see, and I would love it if you would check it out and maybe leave your thoughts. You can see it here, or just click on the box linking to my Scribd account on the right side of the page and find it there.

All Things New

As I was driving today, I was just pondering my own sin, and it sucked. I was just in one of those moods that really gets you down for no particular reason, and it occurred to me that it’s those times that show you who you really are.

Sometimes when I get a glimpse of who I really am, I don’t like it.

I screw up all the time, and I am not who I appear to be on the outside. I am a hypocrite, a liar, a cheat, an incorrigible sinner who pursues his own desires far too often. It sucks to realize this. It does not feel good. It does not put one in a better mood.

I began to just pray about it and confess, and started listening to a song on my iPod by a friend of mine. As I prayed, I just felt God urging me to come back to Him, and I heard His gentle reminder:

“Behold, I am making all things new.”

The King is coming, and He is coming in power, and He is coming in glory. He is coming to make all things new. He is coming to dwell wholly with His people. His coming will change everything.

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4).

Sin will be no more.

There will be no more struggle.

There will be no more hurt.

no more pain.

no more sorrow.

no more brokenness.

no more poverty.

no more disease.

no more hatred.

no more war.

no more death.

All things, all people, will come before the One who sits on the Throne of Heaven and declare that He is King of kings and Lord of lords.

Usually it’s so tough to think about the impact of this—the coming that is so far away and so far removed from the physical, tangible present that overwhelms us. But today, when I heard this whisper,

“Behold, I am making all things new,”

it hit me on a new level. God was speaking this into my life—right here, right now. It was for me. I felt the reality that not only is God making everything in His creation new, He is making me new as well. And this addendum changes everything.

“Behold, I am making all things new—even you.”

There is hope for a future. A glorious future in which we will be one with the Father and He will dwell with us. But it is not here yet.

There is hope for now. In Christ, we have been made new creations—the old is gone, and the new has come. It is here now, and it is salvation for all that believe in the name of Jesus.

Behold what the Lord is doing. Behold Him making all things new. Behold Him, our coming King and present Salvation, in whose Name is hope for all nations and all creation.

I pray that we all can know the reality of a new creation in our lives. I pray we can all hear the voice of the Lord speaking to us, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

Amen.