Why is it so hard to Blog!?!

Well, it's been six hundred fifty three thousand five hundred and thirty eight years since we've had a post on here....ok, not that long, but close. What is it about blogging that is so hard? Better question...Why is it so hard to come up with something to write about God? I have pulled up this page, clicked "New Post" like fifty times in the last few months and come up dry. Apparently there was nothing worth saying about Christ or my relationship with Him.

I'm going to step out here today and attempt to change that and put pen to paper...err finger to little plastic button with letters on it.

After a nudging from E*rock (or what really amounts to a nice kick in the pants!) I have been reading and listening to Francis Chan. I have been reading his book "Crazy Love" and listening to some of his podcasts from his church. I love the way this guy thinks about God. I think it is similar to how I have thought about God in recent years, or at least how I've tried to think about God. Chan really seems to have a "high view" of God, as he puts it. Meaning, God is much bigger, greater, holier, stronger, more powerful and amazing than one little tiny human brain can fathom.

He takes the typical human reaction to God...being, "God do this, grant this, bless this, protect that," and turns it into, "God, who am I to demand anything of you? Do your will with me and let me be your servant." Regardless of however that may turn out (Chan points out that many times this could have a less than desirable outcome).

I think this is something that I, and many others I'm sure, need to hear more often. We get into these "relationships" with God where we just demand everything from Him and give nothing in return. When in reality we should be offering everything to him and asking for nothing but the love He has already granted us.

It's Been a While

Well, it has been a while since we had a real post on here. Life has been crazy for all of us between trips and moving and everything else. We'll get back at it here soon for anyone who is still paying attention. Thanks.

Happy Anniversary Eric and Heidi Muller!

E*Rock and his wife have been married 1 year today. Congrats guys!

At Just That Point in History

We believe that the death of Christ is just that point in history at which something absolutely unimaginable from outside shows through into our own world. And if we cannot picture even the atoms of which our own world is built, of course we are not going to be able to picture this. Indeed if we found that we could fully understand it, that very fact would show it was not what it professes to be - the inconceivable, the uncreated, the thing from beyond nature, striking down into nature like lightning. You may ask what good it will be to us if we do not understand it. But that is easily answered. A man can eat his dinner without understanding exactly how food nourishes him. A man can accept what Christ has done without knowing how it works: indeed, he certainly would not know how it works until he has accepted it.

We are told that Christ was killed for us, that His death has washed out our sins, and that by dying He disabled death itself. That is the formula. That is Christianity. That is what has to be believed.

- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Life in Control

Last Tuesday, I experienced perhaps the worst, craziest, eye opening day of my life. I was in a car accident which not only totaled my car, but also sent me over a median and across 3 lanes of oncoming traffic. For awhile it seemed like life was in slow motion on the point of impact, then miraculously I remember sitting in my crunch car, across 3 lanes of traffic, facing the wrong direction. I was stunned.

It took me a couple days to get over the initial thoughts that go through your head, feelings of disappointment, and I still can't say I've gotten over the feeling of costing our young family financially. However, there is one pressing thought that has impacted me through this experience: how little control I had over that situation.

I keep revisiting the crash, and how I ended up in one piece across traffic. That is nothing short of God's grace and control. And I keep thinking, what could I do differently? How can I avoid a situation like this again? And you know what, I can't. I'm not in control. I consider myself a good driver, but I could be way safer. But even if I'm a good driver, that doesn't prevent car accidents. And who knows what other things could take my life even today. If nothing else, I personally encountered how helpless and not in control I am of my life.

We have no idea when or how we will leave this life. As much as we try to falsely convince ourselves through everything in this world that we are in control of our lives, we aren't, God is. You could have all the money and power in the world, and that still is not going to make you in more control than God. You could be the smartest, wisest, biblical scholar, and that's not going to make you more in control.

And yet, how many of us on a daily basis, actually live our lives with an eternal purpose. I now realize, even more than I ever did before, how short this life is. How quickly it can be snatched up. I can not waste another day to live for Christ. I pray that I never forget this experience, because I don't wanna be in cruise control. I don't want to even pretend to be in control, and most importantly, I want to give ALL I have for the sake of the Kingdom.

Urgency of Faith

What happened to having an urgency in our faith? A sense of "if I don't turn to God now, I may not get another chance." I have been thinking about this after noticing in different churches I've been to throughout my life, as well as people I know showing no urgency in their faith. Churches aren't preaching in a way that shows people that faith is not something that can wait until your deathbed as a "just in case" kind of action. People aren't thinking about what happens if they die tomorrow.

In life we are taught a little about what to think about in case we die tomorrow. We are told to have a good Will written up so that our children and family can be taken care of in the event of our untimely death. We are told to keep our finances in order so that our death doesn't leave a mess for our family and friends that might have to take care of our debt when we are gone. What we never really hear or talk about is what happens to US if we die tomorrow.

Now, I'm not a big fan of scare tactics in ministry. We've all seen that guy on the side of the street that has the big sign and is screaming at the top of his lungs, "Repent or burn in Hell!!" That's not what I intend to do here. I am not so much talking to unbelievers here as I am, "quasi-believers". Quasi-Believers being those that believe in God and Christ, but don't let it change their daily lives. They are those people that would say they are a Christian when asked, but don't show any obvious signs of it by the way they live their life.

A way that I have been thinking about this lately is the idea that we should be hoping and praying for the speedy return of Christ in this world. We should be praying daily that Christ do what needs to be done so that he can return and take his people as soon as possible because of what Paul said, "...to die is gain." This is a terrifying thought to me. I am a believer in Christ and I try to live for him daily, but I am not at all sure I am ready for him to come back and take me. As hard as I try to live for him, I fail every day. I'm not sure I value him above my life, and above my time on this earth with my wife and friends and family. It is terrifying to think about giving up all of that for Christ, but it is how we should be living and thinking.

This thought of what would happen to me if Christ came back today and took his people has got me thinking. I can't honestly say that I sit here every day and pray for Christ's return. I hope and pray that I get to that point where I can value an eternity with Christ over anything that I have in this life. I hope and pray that you get to that point as well. I would just challenge myself and all of you to think about that sometime. "What would happen if Christ came back today to take his people?" Would we ready and excited to go with him or would we be caught sleeping? Could we say that we had been doing everything we could to prepare God's people for Christ's return?

"But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works done on it will be exposed." 2 Peter 3:10

"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." Matthew 24:42-44

"For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21

Fireproof (Possible Spoiler!!)

Last year a movie called "Fireproof," with Kirk Cameron came out. It is a movie about a firefighter whose marriage is falling apart with a quickness because neither him or his wife believes that the other loves or respects them. To be honest, when I saw Kirk Cameron in this movie I said, "Haha, yeah right!" I mean, lets face it, he's no Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp. It was obviously a poorly acted movie.

Courtney ordered it on Netflix a few weeks ago and it has been sitting around our apartment so we decided last night to watch it. The first twenty minutes I'll admit I was regretting watching it. The acting was awful and the plot seemed so cliche. After it got into the story I was drawn in a little more.

It is the story of a man who realizes that he cannot truly love his wife until he learns what REAL love is and where it comes from. His father puts him up to a "Love Dare" in which he is to, each day for forty days, do a new act for his wife that puts her before himself, even if she never shows any appreciation. Over the course of the forty days he finds Christ, learns what love is, and wins his wife back.

Although it is a pretty low budget, poorly acted movie, it can really be motivating to any of us that are married or thinking about marriage. It shows what different "parasites" can do to a marriage. A parasite being anything that takes away from and eats at the true love in a marriage. In the movie this was pornography, pride, money and a few other things.

Now you don't have to be a porn addict to take something from this. I'd recommend anyone that is married or thinking about marriage to check out this movie. Make yourself watch it, even if some of the serious acting makes you want to laugh a little. It will at least get you thinking about your marriage and what may be a distraction or "parasite" for you as well as what you can do to show your spouse that you love him or her.