We are loving the feedback, and continued discussion on the "Why Christ" post last week. So much so that I thought it would be cool to highlight a really good question someone asked. There are other questions and comments which were amazing on the "Why Christ" post, and while we can't address all of them in new posts, I encourage all of you to check them out and chime in. CLICK HERE if you would like to check out more comments on "Why Christ".
Great Question:
"If love is universal couldn't people of all religions be experiencing the same love 'Christians' do, but just have mis-interpreted the origin?"
My Lowly Response:
Good question, I guess it depends on the premises of your question. What exactly does “universal love” mean or look like? I think that you would get different answers depending on your perspective and religion.
Now, from a “Christian” perspective, I can tell you that I believe God’s love is real, holds no boundaries, transcends culture and race, and, among many other things, is not conditional on works. This love that “Christians” speak of, is the love in which Jesus Christ gave his life up sacrificially for all people.
I am certain that many people have seen acts of Christ’s love through many different kinds of amazing acts, done for many ordinary and different people. But I believe these are acts of love, and not the actual source of love which “Christians” hold onto. (The source of love being a relationship with God)
So to answer your question: sure, many people have experienced acts of love. But I believe that to fully experience God’s love, one must have a relationship with God.
And if you want to know what a relationship with God is all about, or a “Christian” perspective on a relationship with God, I would love to share that with you. Perhaps those of us at R.O.A.R. could even write a post about it?
thoughts, comments, responses, views? please share!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
E*Rock's Playlist
So, I was messing around with this music website called imeem (or something like that) and I found out that you can make a music playlist and embed it in a blog or something. Which got me thinking, "why don't I post a playlist of the music that I am listening to right now?" Not that any of you care what's bangin' in my stereo, car, or headphones; but if for some odd reason you did care, now you can know what I'm listening too. And perhaps I can enlighten you on some new songs and artists you haven't heard of; and then maybe you could holla at me some songs you like and I can check out.... ANYWAYZ.... Here is my playlist for now, enjoy! (Yes, I do like more than just rap music, thats just what I'm listening to right now)
E*Rocks Playlist
E*Rocks Playlist
Sunday, March 29, 2009
A Message from God, through Grandpa
I want to share with you a dream I had. It is a dream I had on the morning that my Grandpa Garrison died, February 4, 2008. The night before was a great night. I stayed up with fifty or so other guys on my floor at Taylor University to watch the New York Giants pluck what seemed to be fate, right out of the arms of the New England Patriots. It was a fantastic evening, after celebrating, and taunting some Patriots fans of the Brotherhood (my floor), I went to bed. Early the next morning I had a pretty intense dream. First, a little background.
Late in 2007, around Thanksgiving I think, my Grandpa was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Over the next few months we watched, as he slowly got worse. We visited him as often as we could, although being in college it wasn't as often as it should have been I guess. He always had lots of advice on how to life your life and things he'd learned in his life. He was also very happy when we visited him over the last few months. He seemed at peace with going to be with Jesus.
Anyway, after the Super Bowl that night I went back to my dorm room and to bed for the night. Early that next morning I had a dream. In the dream I went over to my Grandparent's house to visit Grandpa. In real life the last couple times I'd visited him he was bed ridden and couldn't talk very well, obviously nearing the end. In the dream I walked in the garage door and up the stairs to find the hospital bed gone and Grandpa sitting on the couch in the living room reading his Bible.
I walked in and went over to Grandpa, sat down next to him and asked how he was feeling. His only response to me was, "Jesus Christ lives Joe!" with a huge smile on his face. I looked at him and said, I know Grandpa." At that very moment my cell phone rang and woke me up. I looked at the caller ID and it said, "Dad." I think it was sometime between 6am and 7am, I knew what the call was about. I answered the phone and Dad told me that Grandpa had just passed away.
It took me a second but then I realized the weight of the dream I had just had. Now I don't know whether you believe in God giving you messages through dreams or not. I typically don't, as I had never had anything like this happen to me, but I couldn't help but think that this was a message from God. I mean, what are the chances that at the VERY MOMENT my Grandpa died, that I would have a dream that he was completely healed and professing that Christ lives?
Coincidence...maybe...maybe not. You decide. I know that this is something I will never forget.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Why Christ?
A series of random events and conversation in my life has led me to unorthodoxly address why one should believe in Christ, or for that matter Christianity. Now obviously this is not an easy task, nor a short one, but I hope to address a few of the questions which people might have about Christ or Christianity. Feel free to chime in, argue with, or enlighten us on your views on the subject.
Before we start, I must note that this may be an extensive post. It will be VERY long, and I encourage you to read the entire post, or simply skip over it. I say this because of the continuity of the logic in this post. In basic terms, you wont understand what is being said unless you read the post in its entirity... aka: dont skip around, cause you might get lost... and you may become lost anyways. Sound like fun?! Lets go...
In my life I have experienced many people who take religion to separate, unhealthy extremes. I have met Chritians throughout my life who I would define as "legalistic" in philosophy. When I say legalistic I mean they are too focused on the specific rules of Christianity without regard to the grace and freedom with have in Christ. Many of us have been hurt by Christians who seem to be so consumed with rules that they may forget to see their own downfalls until its too late. Thus many times people label Christians as hypocritical individuals. It is sad, but many times we think of "legalistic" Christians when we hear of christians being cast as hypocrits in the national news. Our perspective on Christianity becomes dark and gloomy, because we have this thought that Christians must be perfect.
The other side of this unhealthy extreme which I would like to talk about, is the growing amount of individuals who believe that all religions point to our true creator, and therefor we need to open our minds to accepting all religions on holding absolute truth. I try not to be stereotypical in my descriptions, but this is the persons who would argue that in many ways Christ was a great man, but nonetheless just a good moral teacher to help us see God; similar to that of Muhutma Ghandi, Muhummand, and others.
Which brings me to the question I intend to provide some sort of clearity to: Why believe in Christ only? If the Jews, Muslims, and Christians all serve the same God, why cant we find some moral ground to serve the same God? Let us focus on that question. We can come back to pantheistic world views later (i.e. Hindu, Buddhism, Greek philosophy), right now lets focus on Allah, God, Jehovah, Yahweh, the God that seems from the outside to be the same in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.
And I know of no better way to answer this question than to look at a few pages from C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity." I foundationally believe this excerpt is one of the most powerful passeges of apologetics ever written, and my thought is "why re-write something as powerful as this." Keep in mind that this man writting this passage, Lewis, was an athiest for much if not most of his life. I will spare you the exciting details of C.S. Lewis for another time, but here is response to "Why Christ":
"God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on gas, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.
Thoughts, comments, questions?
*Points of Interest in Scripture:
"Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division." Luke 12:51
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matthew 7:13-14
Before we start, I must note that this may be an extensive post. It will be VERY long, and I encourage you to read the entire post, or simply skip over it. I say this because of the continuity of the logic in this post. In basic terms, you wont understand what is being said unless you read the post in its entirity... aka: dont skip around, cause you might get lost... and you may become lost anyways. Sound like fun?! Lets go...
In my life I have experienced many people who take religion to separate, unhealthy extremes. I have met Chritians throughout my life who I would define as "legalistic" in philosophy. When I say legalistic I mean they are too focused on the specific rules of Christianity without regard to the grace and freedom with have in Christ. Many of us have been hurt by Christians who seem to be so consumed with rules that they may forget to see their own downfalls until its too late. Thus many times people label Christians as hypocritical individuals. It is sad, but many times we think of "legalistic" Christians when we hear of christians being cast as hypocrits in the national news. Our perspective on Christianity becomes dark and gloomy, because we have this thought that Christians must be perfect.
The other side of this unhealthy extreme which I would like to talk about, is the growing amount of individuals who believe that all religions point to our true creator, and therefor we need to open our minds to accepting all religions on holding absolute truth. I try not to be stereotypical in my descriptions, but this is the persons who would argue that in many ways Christ was a great man, but nonetheless just a good moral teacher to help us see God; similar to that of Muhutma Ghandi, Muhummand, and others.
Which brings me to the question I intend to provide some sort of clearity to: Why believe in Christ only? If the Jews, Muslims, and Christians all serve the same God, why cant we find some moral ground to serve the same God? Let us focus on that question. We can come back to pantheistic world views later (i.e. Hindu, Buddhism, Greek philosophy), right now lets focus on Allah, God, Jehovah, Yahweh, the God that seems from the outside to be the same in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.
And I know of no better way to answer this question than to look at a few pages from C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity." I foundationally believe this excerpt is one of the most powerful passeges of apologetics ever written, and my thought is "why re-write something as powerful as this." Keep in mind that this man writting this passage, Lewis, was an athiest for much if not most of his life. I will spare you the exciting details of C.S. Lewis for another time, but here is response to "Why Christ":
"God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on gas, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.
That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended-civilisations are built up--excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes wrong. Some fatal flaw always brings the selfish and cruel people to the top and it all slides back into misery and ruin. In fact, the machine conks. It seems to start up all right and runs a few yards, and then it breaks down. They are trying to run it on the wrong juice. That is what Satan has done to us humans.
And what did God do? First of all He left us conscience, the sense of right and wrong: and all through history there have been people trying (some of them very hard) to obey it. None of them ever quite succeeded. Secondly, He sent the human race what I call good dreams: I mean those queer stories scattered all through the heathen religions about a god who dies and comes to life again and by his death, has somehow given new life to men. Thirdly, He selected one particular people and spent several centuries hammering into their heads the sort of God He was--that there was only one of Him and that He cared about right conduct. Those people were the Jews, and the Old Testament gives an account of the hammering process.
Then come the real shock. Among these Jews there suddenly turns up a man who goes about talking as if He was God. He claims to forgive sins. He says He has always existed. He says He is coming to judge the world at the end of time. Now let us get this clear. Among Pantheists, like the Hindus, anyone might say that he was a part of God, or one with God: there would be nothing very odd about it. But this man, since He was a Jew, could not mean that kind of God. God, in their language, meant the Being outside the world, who had made it and was infinitely different from anything else. And when you have grasped that, you will see that what this man said was, quite simply, the most shocking thing that has ever been uttered by human lips.
One part of the claim tends to slip past us unnoticed because we have heard it so often that we no longer see what it amounts to. I mean the claim to forgive sins: any sins. Now unless the speaker is God, this is really so preposterous as to be comic. We can all understand how a man forgives offences against himself. You tread on my toe and I forgive you, you steal my money and I forgive you. But what should we make of a man, himself unrobbed and untrodden on, who announced that he forgave you for treading on other men's toes and stealing other men's money? Asinine fatuity is the kindest description we should give of his conduct. Yet this is what Jesus did. He told people that their sins were forgiven, and never waited to consult all the other people whom their sins had undoubtedly injured. He unhesitatingly behaved as if He was the party chiefly concerned, the person chiefly offended in all offences. This makes sense only if He really was the God whose laws are broken and whose love is wounded in every sin. In the mouth of any speaker who is not God, these words would imply what I can only regard as a silliness and conceit unrivalled by any other character in history.
Yet (and this is the strange, significant thing) even His enemies, when they read the Gospels, do not usually get the impression of silliness and conceit. Still less so unprejudiced readers. Christ says that He is 'humble and meek' and we believe Him; not noticing that, if He were merely a man, humility and meekness are the very last characteristics we could attribute to some of His sayings.
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic-on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."
Thoughts, comments, questions?
*Points of Interest in Scripture:
"Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division." Luke 12:51
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matthew 7:13-14
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Get Over Ourselves!!!
Myself...Me...someone I struggle with all of the time...the biggest obstacle between me and Jesus Christ. When I sit down and take stock of my faith, and what is holding me back from being a better follower of Christ, I must say that my biggest hold up is myself.
Much like the rest of you I'm sure, I get in the way of my faith in Christ more than anything or anyone else. Most of us tend to think about ourselves before we think about others and before we think about Christ. The things in our lives that hold us back from fully and whole heartedly following Christ are usually situations that we have put into life and not something that Jesus has thrown in there.
My biggest hold up is the "head trash" (as John Dinwiddie used to always talk about in Sunday school) that I am not worthy to even look at my Bible and too disgusting to even think about speaking to Jesus.
This type of thinking is the complete opposite of what Jesus Christ tells us through His Word. We read that Jesus came for the broken people, the sinners, the meek, the poor; the ones who were too down and out and too caught up in sin to believe that they were worthy of even the table scraps of the "religious" people of their day, let alone the one and only Son of God.
This is the same way of thinking that a lot of us, myself included, get caught up in. We believe that we aren't worthy, or not good enough, to go to church, to read the Bible, to speak to Jesus. So we avoid Him at all costs, hoping that He doesn't see the mess that we have created for ourselves. This is when Satan steps in and uses that little voice in our head to whisper in our ear, "You aren't worthy, Jesus could never love you." But He does!
Jesus does love us!! ESPECIALLY at that very moment, when we are caught up overwhelmingly in sin, believing that he can't possibly love us or have any use for us. Jesus takes us by the hand and rips us out of that life.
What we need to realize is that it is not about us. It is about Jesus. We need to stop thinking about ourselves, get our egos out of our way, and turn to Christ. I am my own biggest obstacle to a life lived for Jesus Christ, and I am willing to bet that you are your own biggest obstacle as well.
"You see, just at the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. While we were STILL sinners, Christ died for US." ---Romans 5:6,8---
"Jesus is not repelled by us, no matter how messy we are, regardless of how incomplete we are. When we recognize that Jesus is not discouraged by our humanity, is not turned off by our messiness, and simply doggedly pursues us in the face of it all, what else can we do but give in to his outrageous, indiscriminate love?" ---Mike Yaconelli - Messy Spirituality---
Monday, March 16, 2009
Kings
"I hope he doesn't talk about God again; God's not too popular these days."
"He will talk about God, the king doesn't care if he is popular or not."
Those were the first two lines from NBC's new show, "Kings," a drama based on the story of David, Saul, and Samuel in the bible (1 Samuel). The major twist of the show is that the show is set in present day.
After watching the pilot episode last Sunday, I'm honestly pretty hooked on this show. My expectations were that Kings was going to be a show which very loosely (if not barely) followed scripture. I thought, "well, maybe they'll mention God or something." I was wrong.
The main plot of the story really does follow closely to scripture. Samuel, David, and Saul are all represented in this show by the characters The Reverend, David, and Silas (respectively). There seems to be a battle for the Kingdom, a struggle to follow God, a desire for love, and many deceitful subplots.
While the main plot of the story strongly resembles 1 Samuel, there are many minor aspects of the show which stray far from scripture. For some reason butterflies hold some sort of spiritual symbolism for "God's Anointing." Also, I believe the son of the King is gay and hates David (neither one happened in the bible, in fact him and David were best friends). The King appears to only have one daughter (that we know of), but she is falling in love with David (which does happen with one of the king's daughters and David).
There are also some cool/interesting interpretations to make this story "modern." David slays Goliath, which happens to be an unbeatable tank instead of a giant. David plays the piano instead of the harp. And of course there are the different names of people and countries.
All in all, I am very interested to see where this series takes us. Whether it continues to somewhat follow scripture, or if it will stray completely off. If nothing else I am impressed that a show on primetime tv even allows the talk of God or faith. And more than anything, I am interested to use the tv show as a way to talk about the bible, and where it differs from the show. Who knows, perhaps this show can open up ways of sharing Christ with others.
Let me know what you think about the show, the story of David, or what you think about the article.
"He will talk about God, the king doesn't care if he is popular or not."
Those were the first two lines from NBC's new show, "Kings," a drama based on the story of David, Saul, and Samuel in the bible (1 Samuel). The major twist of the show is that the show is set in present day.
After watching the pilot episode last Sunday, I'm honestly pretty hooked on this show. My expectations were that Kings was going to be a show which very loosely (if not barely) followed scripture. I thought, "well, maybe they'll mention God or something." I was wrong.
The main plot of the story really does follow closely to scripture. Samuel, David, and Saul are all represented in this show by the characters The Reverend, David, and Silas (respectively). There seems to be a battle for the Kingdom, a struggle to follow God, a desire for love, and many deceitful subplots.
While the main plot of the story strongly resembles 1 Samuel, there are many minor aspects of the show which stray far from scripture. For some reason butterflies hold some sort of spiritual symbolism for "God's Anointing." Also, I believe the son of the King is gay and hates David (neither one happened in the bible, in fact him and David were best friends). The King appears to only have one daughter (that we know of), but she is falling in love with David (which does happen with one of the king's daughters and David).
There are also some cool/interesting interpretations to make this story "modern." David slays Goliath, which happens to be an unbeatable tank instead of a giant. David plays the piano instead of the harp. And of course there are the different names of people and countries.
All in all, I am very interested to see where this series takes us. Whether it continues to somewhat follow scripture, or if it will stray completely off. If nothing else I am impressed that a show on primetime tv even allows the talk of God or faith. And more than anything, I am interested to use the tv show as a way to talk about the bible, and where it differs from the show. Who knows, perhaps this show can open up ways of sharing Christ with others.
Let me know what you think about the show, the story of David, or what you think about the article.
Usama Bin Laden Reconciled to the United States
Yesterday I attended a service at Oxford Bible Fellowship here in Oxford, OH. We had a guest speaker yesterday on account of the senior pastor having gone back home to Indiana for the weekend and the University being on spring break.
Overall the guest speaker was alright. One thing he said definitely made me think. He came up with an interesting analogy that I wanted to share with all of you. He said (paraphrased)...
Imagine that, after the events of 9/11, and the War on Terror that followed that the U.S. found Usama Bin Laden. After being captured he met with President Barack Obama and reconciled himself with the President and was forgiven of all his crimes. After being reconciled with Obama, he is appointed Ambassador to Afghanistan to try and reconcile other known terrorists with the United States.
Now, depending on your point of view, this may seem ridiculous to some of you. If you are like me, you are thinking, "Yeah Right, UBL should die a horrible and painful long and drawn out death for what he did to this country, its citizens and others around the world!!" I mean come on!! He killed over 2000 U.S. citizens on 9/11 and his people have been responsible for thousands of citizen and military deaths around the world since!!
After the speaker gave us that scenario he then applied it to God and us as Christians. At one point we were UBL in that story. We were the ones sinning uncontrollably and doing anything we could to damage God's purpose on this earth (whether that's how we viewed our sin or not). Then, God captured our hearts, forgave us, reconciling us to Him and then appointed us as his ambassador to the world, to our country, and our communities. Even though we deserve to "die a horrible and painful, long and drawn out death," God saved us and wants to use us as His ambassador to His people. We were just as bad as Usama Bin Laden was to America until we were saved and reconciled to God.
Anyway, that just made me think for a minute and I thought I would pass it along.
***With all of our posts, feel free to respond in the comment blocks below each post with comments or disagreements or anything that comes to your mind. Thanks***
Friday, March 13, 2009
Exodus Complex
I lead a Bible Study for a group of college freshmen at IU with my friend Timbo (no, he isn't foreign, His real name is Timothy). God has blessed us with some of the most absurd, rambunctious and loving group of men I’ve ever met in my life. They love Jesus and their love for Him and each other is addicting. I feel like half of the things God has been teaching me lately have come from these men.
The specific lesson that I want to share today started a few months ago. Tim and I were trying to figure out how we could challenge our study to active ministry on the campus. We had talked a big talk in study about going out and "making disciples" but up to this point we had been relatively inactive. To be honest, we really hadn't done anything but talk.
One night after study I received a text from one of the guys in the study. All it said was “What are you doing now that requires faith?” With this simple sentence, my world was rocked. What had I been doing that showed absolute trust in God? Had I taken any chance that I couldn’t get accomplished by my own talents and abilities? Had I gotten so comfortable in my own way that I failed to see how and where God wanted to move?
The truth is I have seen God work in some amazing ways in my life. I have seen myself turned from a teenager who would stop at nothing to be loved and accepted by others to a man who desires to be loved by and love God and his people. I have seen countless lives changed and I experience God’s greatness and the truth of His promise every day, yet I continually limit God with how far he can take me. He has shown Himself faithful, yet I lack faith that He can take me any farther than my own ability will allow.
I call this little dilemma of mine the Exodus Complex. This problem is not my own, in fact the Bible is full of situations where God proves Himself faithful to His people but they continue to doubt that He can take them the rest of the way. In Exodus and Deuteronomy we see God bring the Israelites out of Egypt, but when He showed them the land He had promised them they decided that it was just too impossible, even for God.
In Deuteronomy chapter 1 Moses addresses his people about their unbelief in a way that hits very close to home for me:
“ 29 Then I said to you, "Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. 30 The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, 31 and in the desert. There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place." 32 In spite of this, you did not trust in the LORD your God, 33 who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.” Deuteronomy 1:26-33 (New International Version).
Like the Israelites I can hear God calling me to something huge, but I am often paralyzed by my lack of faith. Not only does He want to take us to places beyond our wildest dreams, but He goes before us and fights for us. It doesn't mean that the journey wont be hard, but it does mean that we have a God who is on our side. If He has called us to something that will bring Him glory, He is faithful and will not leave us to fight on our own. God will carry us "as a father carries his son".
The question is this:
Are we willing to trust God and allow Him to take us father than our abilities and short-sightedness ever could?
This will require us to actually start doing things that involve taking steps of faith instead of just doing enough to be called 'Christian'.
“What are you doing now that requires faith?”
The specific lesson that I want to share today started a few months ago. Tim and I were trying to figure out how we could challenge our study to active ministry on the campus. We had talked a big talk in study about going out and "making disciples" but up to this point we had been relatively inactive. To be honest, we really hadn't done anything but talk.
One night after study I received a text from one of the guys in the study. All it said was “What are you doing now that requires faith?” With this simple sentence, my world was rocked. What had I been doing that showed absolute trust in God? Had I taken any chance that I couldn’t get accomplished by my own talents and abilities? Had I gotten so comfortable in my own way that I failed to see how and where God wanted to move?
The truth is I have seen God work in some amazing ways in my life. I have seen myself turned from a teenager who would stop at nothing to be loved and accepted by others to a man who desires to be loved by and love God and his people. I have seen countless lives changed and I experience God’s greatness and the truth of His promise every day, yet I continually limit God with how far he can take me. He has shown Himself faithful, yet I lack faith that He can take me any farther than my own ability will allow.
I call this little dilemma of mine the Exodus Complex. This problem is not my own, in fact the Bible is full of situations where God proves Himself faithful to His people but they continue to doubt that He can take them the rest of the way. In Exodus and Deuteronomy we see God bring the Israelites out of Egypt, but when He showed them the land He had promised them they decided that it was just too impossible, even for God.
In Deuteronomy chapter 1 Moses addresses his people about their unbelief in a way that hits very close to home for me:
“ 29 Then I said to you, "Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. 30 The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, 31 and in the desert. There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place." 32 In spite of this, you did not trust in the LORD your God, 33 who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.” Deuteronomy 1:26-33 (New International Version).
Like the Israelites I can hear God calling me to something huge, but I am often paralyzed by my lack of faith. Not only does He want to take us to places beyond our wildest dreams, but He goes before us and fights for us. It doesn't mean that the journey wont be hard, but it does mean that we have a God who is on our side. If He has called us to something that will bring Him glory, He is faithful and will not leave us to fight on our own. God will carry us "as a father carries his son".
The question is this:
Are we willing to trust God and allow Him to take us father than our abilities and short-sightedness ever could?
This will require us to actually start doing things that involve taking steps of faith instead of just doing enough to be called 'Christian'.
“What are you doing now that requires faith?”
An Assault on Christianity
A couple of days ago I was reading an article in USA Today. It was on the front page of Monday's edition in full color. The article was a report on a study done in 2008 that found that the amount of people in the United States that claim, "no religion" has grown to 15% of the population, while the amount of people that consider themselves Christian (of various denominations including "non-denominational) has dropped from roughly 85% in 1990 to roughly 70% in 2008.
So the question that comes to mind is, "Why is our faith slowly fading away in America?" It seems that there is something that is working, fairly effectively, against the Christian faith.
I believe that over the last few decades there has been a growing assault on Christianity. This can be seen in the ever-loosening restrictions as to what we can see on T.V. and movies and hear on the radio. As well as the ever-growing restrictions as to what we can say or do in school, at work, and in public in relation to faith. Religion has become taboo in our society. It is now politically incorrect to talk about religion outside of your home or church. The government is constantly telling us that we are not allowed to pray or gather in public outside of our churches. Public schools and secular colleges do the same thing. We are considered "right-wing nut jobs" when we stand up for our faith and the standards we are called to live by. It is always widely reported when a prominent Christian screws up or sins in a terrible way (as seen in all of those Catholic priest scandals a while back). Everyone sins, as hard as we try not to daily, we still sin, it is the nature of the beast, we are fallen creatures.
All of this culminates in this very "uncool" and "hypocritical" view of Christianity to non-Christians or those unsure of their faith. I feel like this gets worse every year. So what do we do?
Stand up in the face of persecution. Jesus was constantly trashed for his "hypocrisy" (which was really just his not following the Pharisaic laws and rules). He got slammed for dining with sinners and tax collectors, healing on the Sabbath, and eventually crucified for who he was.
As awful as that sounds, that is what we have to do, stand up for who we are in Christ and face the persecution. 1 Peter 3:15 says, "...In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." Of course, we will screw up, we will sin, and we will get caught doing it. It happens. When that happens we just fess up to it, take responsibility, repent, and take another step forward. If we live our lives as close to the model of Christ as we can, daily, and be prepared to explain and defend our faith to others, we can take this country back. It starts with each of us working up the courage to do so.
Romans 1:16, "I am not ashamed o the Gospel, because it is the power of God for the Salvation of everyone who believes..."
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Links in response: Poor or Less Rich?
In response to my latest post, I thought I would hook you up with some nice resources for learning more about poverty, hunger, and how you can get involved. Check it:
worldvision.org World Vision is an amazing outreach ministry looking to further the needs of those struggling all over the world.
30hourfamine.org 30 Hour Famine has a VERY COOL site. It is a part of World Vision, and the focus is on saving those starving all over the world. Good stats there as well.
compassion.com Compassion is where you can sponsor a child somewhere in the world who needs help to survive. You can even write letters to the child that you sponsor
globalrichlist.com Global rich list is friggin (can I say that?) awesome. You can type in your yearly income, and see how it compares to the rest of the world... Let's just say Heidi (my wife) and I put our combined income in (keep in mind we are youth pastors), and we were still richer than 98.3% of the world. WOW!
chipindy.org Chip Indy is in charge of Indy Homeless Connect, which is held at the Indianapolis Convention Center. For one day downtown homeless persons can go to the Convention Center for free medical exams, law advice, job search, care packages, spiritual guidance, counseling, and much more.
Also, there is so much out there as far as getting involved with the poor wherever you are. On a music front, Heidi sent me a youtube video of casting crowns, "the american dream." Look it up on youtube, it has a very interesting message which relates to the post.
worldvision.org World Vision is an amazing outreach ministry looking to further the needs of those struggling all over the world.
30hourfamine.org 30 Hour Famine has a VERY COOL site. It is a part of World Vision, and the focus is on saving those starving all over the world. Good stats there as well.
compassion.com Compassion is where you can sponsor a child somewhere in the world who needs help to survive. You can even write letters to the child that you sponsor
globalrichlist.com Global rich list is friggin (can I say that?) awesome. You can type in your yearly income, and see how it compares to the rest of the world... Let's just say Heidi (my wife) and I put our combined income in (keep in mind we are youth pastors), and we were still richer than 98.3% of the world. WOW!
chipindy.org Chip Indy is in charge of Indy Homeless Connect, which is held at the Indianapolis Convention Center. For one day downtown homeless persons can go to the Convention Center for free medical exams, law advice, job search, care packages, spiritual guidance, counseling, and much more.
Also, there is so much out there as far as getting involved with the poor wherever you are. On a music front, Heidi sent me a youtube video of casting crowns, "the american dream." Look it up on youtube, it has a very interesting message which relates to the post.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Poor or Less Rich?
In the midst of writing my next intended post on "suffering," I have been interrupted by a strong urge to talk about the financial struggles of our nation. Now, if you are anything like me, you are sick and tired of hearing about the recession. I will never sit here and say that it isn't a problem, or that our nation and world doesn't need to address our financial "system." That is beside the point I want to make. I am sick and tired of hearing about how bad everybody has it. I am sick and tired of hearing about how hard of times these are. I am sick and tired of hearing about how poor we are. Even if the recession keeps digging deeper, America remains richer than 99% of the world.
Last year America spent 8 billion (with a B, not M), 8 BILLION dollars on elective cosmetic surgery.* America spent over 15 billion (again with a B) dollars on pet food in 2008.* You know all of that tasty ice cream we buy in the heat of the summer to quench our sweet tooth? Yeah, America spent about 20 billion dollars on ice cream last year.
So what's with all of these random facts about how we spend billions of dollars? World Vision estimates that 7 billion dollars a year could essentially answer all known issues of hunger, clean water, and shelter for the world. Think about that.
Just $1 a day can provide food, water, and basic needs for 1 hungry person. Clean water might not seem like a big issue, but do you know that clean water in Africa can help prevent some diseases exacerbated by AIDS?
If someone told you that we could CURE HUNGER and that we could PROVIDE CLEAN WATER to the WHOLE WORLD, what would you say?
----
"How?"
"Oh well, just give up about 1/4th of the amount you spend on ice cream, and we'll take that money and save the world of hunger every year."
----
Maybe that might not seem amazing too you when you first hear it. Maybe you think hunger is just the person on the side of the interstate with a sign that reads "hungry, anything helps." Maybe you think hunger is just a show, put on by the people scamming you downtown, as they play their instruments after sporting events. Or maybe you don't know that 20 people have died from hunger and unsanitary water since you have begun reading this blog. Or maybe no one told you that the average age of a person suffering from lack of food and water is 9. Or that most of the world's hungry are children, who will be beating the odds if they live past the age of 5.
Yes, stats are not everything. Yes, I am so, so very sorry if you or someone you know has lost their job in the last year during this recession. Please know I am not making fun or you, nor am I not sympathetic. I'm simply saying let us put some perspective on this "crisis." Are we really going to complain about being poor? Are we really going to focus so much on how hard we have it?
Collectively this is a big problem. I want to provide for my family, I need a job, I understand; but take of your blindfold and look at the world! Look at how poor the world is. Look at what we have ignored. Look at how rich you really are. Look at how our crisis is nothing, yes NOTHING compared to the real poor in this world.
Might you think I have gone overboard? Maybe I've been minimizing the problem, exaggerating the situation, and miss-interpreting the stats. Ok. Some of us might really be struggling to make ends meet, to pay for our house, to make the loan payments, to pay the bills, to get food on the table. But, if you are reading this blog, you probably could fall in that "richer than 99% of the world" category. Food, water, and shelter are the most basic of needs; and somehow we will find a way to sacrifice our internet, computer, tv, car, phone, ect. Somehow many of us will know somebody who can, and will help lend a hand to get out of trouble. Most people in the world don't have our luxury.
I believe this is an issues of being more comfortable. For lack of a better phrase, we need to check our lifestyle. Look at America, we are not poor, we are just less comfortable than what we used to be. We cant afford to get that 42-inch HDTV anymore. We can't afford to buy 2 houses. We can't afford the new Mustang. Our cities can't afford billion dollar sporting venues (that's a post for another time). The point is we aren't Poor, we are just less Rich.
I will be praying for our country, and I know America will make it through another recession. But I pray that maybe this recession can help open the eyes of America to see how rich we really are. Perhaps we can compare our "crisis" with the crisis that has plagued the rest of the world forever. Perhaps we can put just as much time and energy into fixing the world's bigger crisis (the poor, starving, and dying), as we do trying to fix our financial crisis (stimulate the economy and put more Flat Screen TV's back on our walls).
I will also be praying for the American Church (and when I say American Church, I mean all the believers in America). I pray that God may lead us through Christ Jesus to respond to this crisis in the world. I won't hesitate to say that most American Christians (including myself) forget that Christ was broke PLUS homeless. Most of us forget that he more than likely had no possessions to his name. We try to leave out the parts in the gospel where he calls us to give up our possessions and wealth for the sake of the poor, hungry, thirsty, and oppressed.
Am I saying give up all you have, be a poor, be a nomad, and share Christ with the world? Maybe. Maybe Not. There's no way to cover this topic in one post. Matthew 25:31-46 is a good start. Don't let me stop you from hearing how God leads you to respond.
Last year America spent 8 billion (with a B, not M), 8 BILLION dollars on elective cosmetic surgery.* America spent over 15 billion (again with a B) dollars on pet food in 2008.* You know all of that tasty ice cream we buy in the heat of the summer to quench our sweet tooth? Yeah, America spent about 20 billion dollars on ice cream last year.
So what's with all of these random facts about how we spend billions of dollars? World Vision estimates that 7 billion dollars a year could essentially answer all known issues of hunger, clean water, and shelter for the world. Think about that.
Just $1 a day can provide food, water, and basic needs for 1 hungry person. Clean water might not seem like a big issue, but do you know that clean water in Africa can help prevent some diseases exacerbated by AIDS?
If someone told you that we could CURE HUNGER and that we could PROVIDE CLEAN WATER to the WHOLE WORLD, what would you say?
----
"How?"
"Oh well, just give up about 1/4th of the amount you spend on ice cream, and we'll take that money and save the world of hunger every year."
----
Maybe that might not seem amazing too you when you first hear it. Maybe you think hunger is just the person on the side of the interstate with a sign that reads "hungry, anything helps." Maybe you think hunger is just a show, put on by the people scamming you downtown, as they play their instruments after sporting events. Or maybe you don't know that 20 people have died from hunger and unsanitary water since you have begun reading this blog. Or maybe no one told you that the average age of a person suffering from lack of food and water is 9. Or that most of the world's hungry are children, who will be beating the odds if they live past the age of 5.
Yes, stats are not everything. Yes, I am so, so very sorry if you or someone you know has lost their job in the last year during this recession. Please know I am not making fun or you, nor am I not sympathetic. I'm simply saying let us put some perspective on this "crisis." Are we really going to complain about being poor? Are we really going to focus so much on how hard we have it?
Collectively this is a big problem. I want to provide for my family, I need a job, I understand; but take of your blindfold and look at the world! Look at how poor the world is. Look at what we have ignored. Look at how rich you really are. Look at how our crisis is nothing, yes NOTHING compared to the real poor in this world.
Might you think I have gone overboard? Maybe I've been minimizing the problem, exaggerating the situation, and miss-interpreting the stats. Ok. Some of us might really be struggling to make ends meet, to pay for our house, to make the loan payments, to pay the bills, to get food on the table. But, if you are reading this blog, you probably could fall in that "richer than 99% of the world" category. Food, water, and shelter are the most basic of needs; and somehow we will find a way to sacrifice our internet, computer, tv, car, phone, ect. Somehow many of us will know somebody who can, and will help lend a hand to get out of trouble. Most people in the world don't have our luxury.
I believe this is an issues of being more comfortable. For lack of a better phrase, we need to check our lifestyle. Look at America, we are not poor, we are just less comfortable than what we used to be. We cant afford to get that 42-inch HDTV anymore. We can't afford to buy 2 houses. We can't afford the new Mustang. Our cities can't afford billion dollar sporting venues (that's a post for another time). The point is we aren't Poor, we are just less Rich.
I will be praying for our country, and I know America will make it through another recession. But I pray that maybe this recession can help open the eyes of America to see how rich we really are. Perhaps we can compare our "crisis" with the crisis that has plagued the rest of the world forever. Perhaps we can put just as much time and energy into fixing the world's bigger crisis (the poor, starving, and dying), as we do trying to fix our financial crisis (stimulate the economy and put more Flat Screen TV's back on our walls).
I will also be praying for the American Church (and when I say American Church, I mean all the believers in America). I pray that God may lead us through Christ Jesus to respond to this crisis in the world. I won't hesitate to say that most American Christians (including myself) forget that Christ was broke PLUS homeless. Most of us forget that he more than likely had no possessions to his name. We try to leave out the parts in the gospel where he calls us to give up our possessions and wealth for the sake of the poor, hungry, thirsty, and oppressed.
Am I saying give up all you have, be a poor, be a nomad, and share Christ with the world? Maybe. Maybe Not. There's no way to cover this topic in one post. Matthew 25:31-46 is a good start. Don't let me stop you from hearing how God leads you to respond.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Spiritual Gifts
**Disclaimer** I tend to be long winded so my posts will tend to be long...sorry.
As many of us do around this time in our lives, I have been struggling to figure out what God wants me to do, or if there is JUST ONE thing God wants me to do. I went through middle school and high school thinking I was going to be a rock star. I felt called to youth ministry my senior year so I aborted my rock star mission to go to Taylor University and get a degree in Biblical Literature. Half way through college I lost that call to youth ministry specifically and am just now feeling called in another direction.
There is one thing that is constant throughout our young adult lives, that is pressure from the outside world. Whether that be society, our friends, our family or that little voice in our heads that questions everything we do (namely, satin). Growing up I felt a lot of pressure to abandon my passions and go to business school (or some other respectable degree) so I could be a hard working and well paid member of society. I felt pressure to stay away from ministry and music because the pay is bad. I decided to go against that pressure and go to school for ministry.
Now that I am out of college and married and feel strong pressure to provide and support my family, I have heard that little voice in my head say, "You idiot! You should have gone to business school so you can be a good husband and support your wife." The pressure now to provide is strong, but it is important to understand what God has in store for me.
This is where spiritual gifts come in. In my daily devotions (or what I wish were more consistently daily) I have come across 1 Corinthians 12:4-11. This passage teaches us that God has endowed each of us with certain gifts and passions. Each of us is better at something, or does something in a unique way compared to any one else. No matter what our gift is, they are all of the same Spirit.
My gift (as noted in middle school through high school) is music. God has blessed me with an ear to hear and a mind to create. For years now I have been ignoring this gift because of the pressure of the outside world to conform to its standards. It is only recently that I have decided to rebel against this conformity and embrace the gifts God has given me and pursue a career in music. Right now, that call has led me towards directing worship bands in a church (with a slight leaning also towards recording). Teaching and showing bands that they can take the musical talent given to them by God to worship God and empower His people. Almost everyone is moved by music, and it is my gift, or job, to use that music to move them towards God.
The only way we can be truly successful in ministering to God's people is to do it using that special gift God has given us. Whether that is music, speaking, teaching, leading, or in fact, getting that business degree and leading the business world toward Christ.
The moral of the story....Rebel against this world and its temptations and standards. Embrace the gift God has given you!
The Rebellion Begins
If you are rebelling then you are doing something that no one is doing. You are going against what is popular, what is in style, or what is the latest trend. In a world where everyone is sinning, it is no longer rebellious to sin. It is no longer rebellious to do drugs, get drunk, sleep with many people, and plot against others. Everyone does that. Do something no one is doing, follow Christ. But don't just "go to church" or be a "nice" person or be a "christian." Actually live out the gospel, courageously rebel against the world, against culture, and attempt to follow Christ.
Join the Rebellion.
"Ramblings of a Rebellion" is comprised of a number of different Rebels. Young men and women from different backgrounds, different areas, different tastes, and different views, with one thing in common: Christ. No matter what our job is, where we are, who we are with, we are striving daily to rebel against sin and follow Christ.
Like many blogs, everything is game to talk about. Music, movies, daily story, a devo, viewpoint, opinions, and pretty much anything we want to talk about. With a few people behind the scenes posting on this blog, expect multiple view points. And like iron sharpens iron, we hope to build upon each other in order to grow closer to Christ.
Enjoy the blog. Please share it with your friends, no matter what their viewpoints are. And look forward to meeting the rest of the R.O.A.R. Staff...
Join the Rebellion.
"Ramblings of a Rebellion" is comprised of a number of different Rebels. Young men and women from different backgrounds, different areas, different tastes, and different views, with one thing in common: Christ. No matter what our job is, where we are, who we are with, we are striving daily to rebel against sin and follow Christ.
Like many blogs, everything is game to talk about. Music, movies, daily story, a devo, viewpoint, opinions, and pretty much anything we want to talk about. With a few people behind the scenes posting on this blog, expect multiple view points. And like iron sharpens iron, we hope to build upon each other in order to grow closer to Christ.
Enjoy the blog. Please share it with your friends, no matter what their viewpoints are. And look forward to meeting the rest of the R.O.A.R. Staff...
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