What are Christians doing to progress the gospel of love in the world?
A film was recently produced by Christians called "The Innocence of Muslims" in which Muslims are portrayed in a vulgar and hateful manner. It is protest against the Islamic people and the Muslim faith.
Hmm... So how many Muslim people do you think will fall in love with Jesus because of this film? I mean, it was produced to show the TRUTH? No? that their faith was no the right one?
What are we doing? Do Christians even read their bibles anymore? Do we even know what the gospel preaches?
Question marks riddle this blog, because I am left baffled. How are we so blind, when the gospel offers such simple clarity and light?
Put your theology and exegesis aside. Read your bible, submit to the authority of scripture and you will find that it is really quite simple...Simple, but not easy.
It is easy to produce a film...it is easy to produce hate.
But Love, Love is hard...and we are called to nothing less.
Dr. Martin Luther King said, "The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists will we be? Extremists for Hate or for Love?
I grow weary as I begin to realize that many people who call themselves Christians, are no longer the oppressed...We are the oppressors. We sing of freedom and redemption, but we offer condemnation.
"We live in an age in which people, when they hear the word Christian, are much more likely to think of people who hate gays than people who love outcasts" - Shane Claiborne.
In our nation, who are the outcasts, and are we really loving them? Do we value the lives of the people in Iraq as much as we value the lives of the people in our nation? In our families?
This is what Jesus means when he says we must hate our families to be his disciples. Our kinship changes when we become heirs. We should be just as pained at the afflictions of our family in Iraq as we are by the people who share our biology.
Our main concern seems no longer to be loving the dirty, but purifying the world of them. Sounds a lot like the Pharisees to me. It is high time we placed ourselves among the poor and the rejected... It is high time we got stoned and crucified for our love. It is high time we had the opportunity to cry out to our Lord, "Hold not their sins against them." We need to believe in redemption and seek to deliver it.
Everyday real Christians globally are persecuted for the name of Christ, meanwhile we are protesting at abortion clinics and producing hate films. This scares the hell out of me for in this image linger the words of our Lord, "depart from me, I never knew you."
All hope is not lost if only we believe. "No one is beyond redemption. We are free to imagine a revolution that sets both the oppressed and the oppressors free." - Claiborne
The winds of leave are calling me,
to walk away from here,
To enter in, a blowing leaf,
to enter in with fear,
And fear is not a frightful word,
when we give it to the wind,
For the wind it speaks a perfect word,
to bring us home again.
So haste the day to heed the call,
for it comes from deep within
And swirls its voice around us all,
as a shrill, unyielding wind.
Remember last, the storms that passed,
as you step into the flow,
For soon the bell tolls for us all,
when there is no choice to go.
And so then fear becomes our cloak,
and the wind becomes our guide,
And tarry not from fear's great yolk,
nor from the howling cry.
The storm it treads just overhead,
shedding darkness like a wall,
Still, shut your eyes, seek not the light,
but hear the winds great call.
Although the dark will leave its mark,
stay tuned to hallowed sound,
and hold to fear, for in the dark,
in fear, can trust be found.
Your spirit is a road for my pen,
Each jet of ink is placed by you
Along the pallid lines of this
Soft white page
Like pavement upon your creation.
And like the pavement upon the deeply rooted soil,
I lay waste it's greater purpose
I lay waste the beauty
I lay waste the total perfection,
And in doing so,
Become perfected.
For just as you guide this humble pen,
Your hand clasped atop mine
Guiding each fallible line,
So you guide my sollied life,
Yours clasped tight to mine,
Eclipsing my mind
With thoughts of the divine.
With each error of my pen,
You trace An you correct,
Each feeble attempt,
To create greater purpose
To create greater beauty,
To become totally perfect,
And in doing so,
I am perfected.
"The Holy Spirit has been called, 'the Lord, the giver of life,' and drawing their power from that source, saints are essentially life-givers. To be with them is to become more alive"
- Fredrick Buechner
If what Buechner has to say about saints is true, then I am a blessed man, for the past few days have brought me face to face with a real life saint. Her name is Adrianna. She is a life giver.
For those who don't know her, she is a 15 year old girl. She is full of joy, she is beautiful, and she has a sense of humor to boot. She is also terminally ill, and only has what looks like, less than a day left here on earth. This tragedy is joy in her eyes, for nothing would bring her greater peace then to escape her ill stricken body and go live in the arms of her Heavenly Father forever. It still hurts to see her go. It is one of the strangest and most holy circumstances I have ever witnessed in my life.
Although I have only gotten to know her personally over the past few days, I feel like I have known her for several years. Partly, because 2 years ago she took the spotlight at our church for her display of resilient faith in God and desire for Him throughout her illness. Since then, she has gone through two years of extreme treatments and medication, and through it all, even in the times of doubt, I have been told that her greatest desire has remained to draw close to God. Watching her journey from the outside has inspired me, but it wasn't until I came into her presence, that she changed me.
Last Sunday I was asked by my sister to go and visit Adriana in the hospital and sing a few songs for her.
After much deliberation Adrianna, her family, and the doctors finally came to an agreement. They were going to give Adriana her wish; they were going to let her go home and live with her family; they were going to take her off her medication; they were going to let her die.
This would be one of the last "Sunday worship services" she was ever going to experience here on this earth.
I felt so small. I felt so weak. I felt so unworthy. I felt so humbled. I didn't even know her very well. I had only talked to her once over face time. Who am I to be there with her at all?
The Lord gave me rest. By his grace I put aside my own worries and guilt for a day, and dwelt fully on what I would be doing that evening. I was so humbled, and I still am. The situation was not a big deal for many who had been around her for some time, but to me, it was time-shattering. How was I going to sing songs to a dying girl and her mother? Suddenly every song seemed so meek and pitiful.
I didn't have much peace until I got into the presence of that beautiful saint. She was asleep when we got there. She had a long day. There were 12 people in the room, 10 more than the doctors normally allow, but they looked the other way. We talked for a while. Everything was uncomfortably lighthearted, little did I realize that it was all a charade. Behind the sarcastic, joking faces lied a depth of pain I have yet to comprehend. For when I finally agreed to start singing, Adrianna's mother, Scarlett, broke down in tears. As she wept I sang. My face was numb as I sang to the mother of a dying child, "There is no place I would rather be, then here in your love." How could I. It was so hard to feel like the bearer of pain.
But then I opened my eyes, and there, under her oxygen mask, Adrianna was awake, and she was singing.
I had to shut them again to avert the tears. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. After Scarlett realized she was awake, she calmed and we helped Adrianna into a chair so she could better enjoy the music she desperately adored.
We took requests from Adrianna. Lead me to the Cross. We sang, it was breathtaking. Adriana had a hard time remembering the titles of most songs, but her next request she pressed with deep enthusiasm. "The Tree Song!!" I knew what she meant right away. "Oh how he loves." I smiled and we sang.
As the night went on we sang several songs, but it was during that song that it hit me. Adriana knows His love. She truly knows it. She is so sick. She has suffered so much. She is so young, and she understands more about God's Love than I ever have. And what hit me even harder was the fact that soon, she was going to experience the fullness of that love, and she knew it...and she craved it. I could see it in the way she sang to Him. He is the love of her life.
She knows what it means to be a Tree, crumbling under the downpour of God's hurricane-like love. But what Adrianna has taught me, is although we are merely Trees, we have the ability to breath life, we just have to choose how we deal with the storms.
Adrianna knows pain, and in that, she knows God's love like a hurricane. Those who suffer most, need Him most, and so their storms of pain, become hurricane's of love. Adrianna is a tree, and the Hurricane of Grace she has been hit by has given her the ability to spread her branches wide, and her roots deep; and just as trees breath life into the air, so Adrianna breaths life into the spirit.
I saw it happen before my eyes.
She has already saved so many lives, or Christ has, through her faithfulness. Adriana's family did not know Christ before she fell ill. When she got sick, she asked to go to church. Her heart for Him has shaken the pillars of their families foundation and reformed them onto the love of Christ. They are all his heirs now. They are all partaking in His love daily. They are what we call "believers" now. Which really means, they are all now truly alive, and they will be forever.
What I saw, was a little more fresh.
On Sunday night, Adrianna's uncle was there to visit her and support his sister through her pain. He seemed like a great guy with a great heart. To my knowledge, he was not a follower of Christ. On Sunday night as we sang, he remained more or less, silent. He didn't seem repelled by the worship, but he didn't seem to connect much.
Last night, (Tuesday night) I was asked by Adrianna's mother to come over to their home and sing with her again. I am truly blessed. I went at the drop of a hat. We started with The Tree Song, then sang a few more. It was another highly emotional experience. Adrianna worshiped with fervor. She swayed, she clapped, she even found the strength to shake a raise her hands to God. It was heart-breakingly beautiful. but something even deeper happened. I was singing the song, "Second Chance" by Hillsong, and I looked over at Adriana's uncle, and he was crying. Moreover, he appeared to be praying. Now, again, I don't know him very well, so I don't know where his heart is at in all this, but in that moment, it felt like a miracle. After that he moved over by Adrianna and rubbed her leg and sang every song the rest of the night. He praised God in his fear and in his pain. Something that some who have been following for years still don't know how to do.
Adrianna's faith made this possible, for all of us.
I said that I felt like I have known her for years. That is because she has breathed life into me. I can barely think about her without feeling that deep warmth of tears begin to well up in my eyes. She has changed something in me, she has offered me a new perspective on life, on people who suffer. She reminded me that these stories of sickness are about actual people. She reminded me what it means to love God and to trust Him. She gave me new hope. She gave me new life. She is a saint.
There He sat, once again staring languidly out of the foggy boxcar window. Outside, trees of orange and yellow rapidly rushed past, as if fleeing some formidable danger or evil. His throat clenched bringing the bulge of his adam's apple high into pillar of his neck. He held it there, closing his eyes and subduing the urge to cry out. His jaw clenched, creating tense bulges on either side of his face. This brought a hard intensity to his already weathered appearance. As his face relaxed, he brought his eyes skyward, sinking a little in his luxurious orange-plastic seat, and let out a long afflicted sigh. His attention was then brought to his throne, who designed these seats? Who would ever have thought this looked good… or felt comfortable...There...his eyes clenched like a vice...it happened again... He sighed heavily; once again he had let his mind wander from the issue at hand onto a subject of such trivial and meaningless value. As the train came to a common, screeching halt, he slowly raised himself from his pallid throne and edged his way through the crowded car, toward the blinking red, "EXIT," sign. He accidentally bumped the shoulder of a small, yet seemingly Napoleonic Indian Man. The man was clad in a fresh, but cheap pinstripe shirt, accented with a gold chain and the smell of cheap tequila. The stranger took his attention from the cell phone he was talking on and shot his "bumping perpetrator," a harsh look of aggressive superiority, and held it until his offender had completely exited the car, and his sight. The train devoured its new load of people, and trailed off in a new direction. He looked down at the cracked cement outside the train station, then to his work appointed black faux leather shoes, then averting his gaze, he looked off to the left, the opposite direction from which he came. There was a field there, and in it grew tall, green grass, and large awkwardly overgrown bushes filled with vibrant blooming flowers. He let out another long breath of air from his bulging cheeks and headed to the nearest bench in sight. He had been here before; about ten to twelve times if his memory served him right, but he never made the connecting train, he always ended up back where he came from. It was like there was some wall, too high for him to scale, keeping him from that ticket booth; the wall bricked with fear and sealed with ambivalence. He saw, in this new direction, a new life… just out of reach. Something held him back, a melting pot of pride and distrust. The thought of the unknown scared the hell out of him, is ignorance really bliss, or are we all damned to a life of wondering what could be? So there he sat once again, unsure, torn, without advice. This was all up to him, it was HIS LIFE, and he refused to ask anyone for help, especially, his father. Part of him knew, ultimately, he would once again board the returning train, "home,” but he remained there, on his bench of indecisiveness, clinging to the hope that he had the guts to get the hell out this time. He realized that he was still wearing his tattered old pack, so he took it off, and went to set it on the vacant half of the bench he was perched on, and that is when he saw him. A man, sitting about ten inches from him, reading a newspaper, completely comfortable as if he had been sitting there for hours and found the perfect niche of comfort. How had he not noticed the man before? Has he been sitting here the whole time? In his baffled state, he didn't realize that his glance had grown to a full-fledged stare that was all too conspicuous. The stranger turned and looked at him, "Can I help you?" he asked, his demeanor was warm, and surprisingly un-annoyed. "What?" he replied, "Can I help you, Jon?" The stranger asked again, more directly. Jon was, at first, startled that the man had called him by name, but quickly realized that he was still wearing his name-tag from work. "OH, uh, no...Sorry, I d-didn't mean to stare, you just startled me that's all. I didn't hear you sit down, I'm just in my own little world I guess," replied Jon with a false chuckle. "It's quite alright," said the stranger, reassuringly, "I tend to have that sort of effect on people." He had a nice countenance about him; Jon liked it. Jon smiled back, a half smile; still a bit startled at this mans instant presence. He looked away and tried to again focus on the task at hand. He tried, but he couldn't compose his thoughts, something about this stranger had all of his attention. As the stranger returned to his paper, Jon shot quick glances in his direction, sizing him up, trying to read him. Jon always thought he had this sixth sense for figuring situations and people out just by looking at them, but this guy, he created some kind of blockade within his mind. Before he knew it Jon was blatantly staring at the stranger again, his eyes idiotically wide. The stranger had a face that was hard, but at the same time, comforting, like your father looks to you when you are a boy. He wasn't necessarily an attractive man, he was somewhat average, but something about him kept your gaze a moment longer then you might give to most people. The stranger smiled and without looking up he asked Jon, "So, where are you headed?" This took Jon by surprise, seeing as he was still staring at the man, almost in a trance. John tried to reply, but stammered over his words, "I, oh, um, well you see..." He stopped, stretched out his eyelids real wide, and then relaxing them replied, "I am not really sure where I am heading. I guess you can say I am on an escape mission, er… that I'm fighting my way out of my current prison…or, life..." John looked to the wall on the opposite side of the station; his face was dumb and perplexed. He was astounded that he was able to reply with such assuredness, that he was able to voice the complexity of the truth, and that, moreover, he had told the truth to begin with. Normally when he was faced with questions that had personal or complex answers he just lied, putting on the same facade that so many others do, after all, Jon wasn't anyone special, and he was aware of this; Why should he waste anyone else's time and energy with his issues, just to have someone disregard him or to add to their Sunday gossip. Lord knows he didn't want to deal with any false sympathy anyways. "Intriguing,” replied the stranger, without looking up from his paper. "Seems you have a story behind those wide eyes, Jon, I like stories," he ruffled his eyes as if in contemplative thought, sat down his paper and turned to look at Jon, "Talk to me...." "Well, uh, I don't want to trouble you with..." "Nonsense," exclaimed the stranger jovially, cutting Jon off, "We have time to kill, my train doesn't leave for a few hours, and you don't even know where you are going as of now, so… talk to me." "Well, no offense man," Jon said, looking away, "But I don't really know you." "You haven't tried to know me Jon," said the stranger in a stern, yet strangely friendly tone of voice, "All you have done is look at me, but you haven't really tried to know me, and let's face it, what is the harm in simply talking? Either we sit here in silence, or we talk, either way, I'm still here and you are in the same amount of danger of me hurting you…which is none." Jon digested the thought, and looked up at the stranger who was smiling again. "I guess you're right," Jon said, straightening out his back, and sitting up. He wondered why the aversion to conversation came so naturally to people, why is there such distrust among us? I mean, I guess there are bad people out there, but chatting never killed anyone, the key was to just not follow the guy with the free candy, right? "So, Jon, Talk to me." "Well, Like I said, I don't really know where I am going, but I get this feeling that there is something more, somewhere better than where I am. I don't know where the feeling comes from, but I can't ignore it anymore, it's too strong." Jon, trailed off from the sentence, feeling a tingling in the back of his throat. "So, what is stopping you from seeking out this…better place?" the stranger asked. "Well, a number of things, I guess," Jon said, then reached into his pocket and took out a photo, he unfolded it and handed it to the man, "Here is one." "Oh, I see," said the stranger as he surveyed the photo, "She is a very pretty girl, do you love her?" Jon closed his mouth and straightened out his neck. This man, this stranger had just forced him to confront an issue he all to often diverted… and who was he to ask it? He barely knew him. Although this shocked him, what truly surprised Jon, is that he felt completely comfortable answering; as if the stranger were some old friend he had known and confided in for years. "Well, what is love? I mean, she is a very nice girl, one worth marrying I guess, and like you said, she is very pretty, and so...I should…want… to stay with her, but...well, ya, I guess I love her." Jon's heart sank a little in his chest, knowing he was playing tricks on himself again. The stranger listened with unwavering absorption, as if it were his own son who was opening up to him Jon continued, on his own this time, after a long pause of introspection, "and well, it's not just her... I mean, I have a job, arguably a good job…and I mean, my life is set up there...right? The stranger nodded without breaking his concentration, and said, " Well Jon, it seems you have everything you need, so the question is not what you are leaving, but why it is that you feel you must leave." Jon shook his head and looked away, a tear swelling in his right eye, he constrained it and answered, "That is where the problem really begins, I... I don't know." The stranger again respectfully nodded, "Well then let me ask you this Jon, what gives your life value?" "Well, from what is value contrived? I guess all the things I just told you, I live with a beautiful girl, I have a good job, where I make good money, and I have a lot of friends, and... god I must sound so disjointed... I am blessed, right?" The stranger just looked at him, without nodding. Jon felt his stomach begin to turn, recognizing that familiar urge to put on the same, all too natural facade, or to just end the conversation. Overwhelmed he was even tempted to just get up and run like hell, when, suddenly, "It's okay Jon, I know it's hard, but please stay, don't run, we are almost there.." John opened his eyes, and his jaw slightly dropped. Did he mention leaving?Did he even hear that voice, or was it in his mind? Then he looked up at his new friend, who was still there, just waiting to listen, his face ruffled with pain. Why does this guy care so much? His stomach untwisted, ending the war it was waging against itself. "Jon," the stranger spoke, his voice softer and more gentle than any he had ever heard, "In my experience, value is not measured by what you have, or by who you are in comparison to anyone else on this earth." Jon swallowed, hard. "So Jon, let me ask you again, do you love her?" Silence, Jon's lips quivered, his eyes shot around without focus. He closed his mouth and his eyes, breathed slowly but heavily through his nostrils and croaked out a small pathetic, "no." "Then what is it you lack? What are you seeking?" Jon searched desperately for an answer, his mouth agape. His eyes began to well with tears of desperate frustration; there was no escaping it this time, and nothing could mask what this man had drawn out of him. His face grew red and he began to speak, "I feel so alone," he muttered through what seemed to be a clenched throat, "I feel like a crazy person… like the guy who breaks down and kills himself, all his friends are amazed, 'I have no idea why he did it, he had everything a man needs, he seemed fine.' I don’t wanna die…it’s just…” Jon thrust his face into his calloused hands and began to sob, "I don't know where to go. I just know I am not supposed to be where I am." The stranger put his hand on Jon's back, and for some odd reason, it instantly came together. Jon understood what he needed, what his life was lacking, this man had brought him something that he had never truly known, he recognized the feeling, he had felt it before, but never so genuine. He stopped crying, but the tears remained. The stranger stood up, and reaching into his coat pocket, pulled out a train ticket, and extended his hand, offering it to Jon. "Run Jon, I promise this ticket will bring you what you so desperately desire.” Jon looked away, “Oh Jon, you have so much potential, remember what has happened today, do not let these feelings escape you, if you hold on to what you have learned, you can escape your past. There will be suffering, be sure of that, but if you simply take this ticket, you will have leaped over the fiercest hurdle you will ever face." Jon reached out towards the ticket, which the stranger still held, unflinching. Jon's hand slightly withdrew, but then grasped it. That is when he noticed the hands, and he felt a peace unlike any other he had ever felt. Jon wiped the fluid from his eyes and stood. He turned and to his surprise his new friend was gone. Jon sat and stared intently at the ticket for the next few hours. Night fell, and Jon sat there, still, until the train arrived. He stood, and began towards the train, then …hesitation. Something stopped him, a whisper, almost audible. "You don't stand a chance, you will end up right where you started anyways, so don't waste your time. But then Jon remembered the hands. A small, almost painful smile befell his face; he clenched the ticket firmly in his hand, and boarded the train.
A long time ago, in a country called Athens there lived a man named Plato. Plato was one of the smartest men of his time, he was a man of science, he was a man of reason, moreover, he was a man of philosophy. Throughout his studies Plato became very skeptical of the Greek faith system which payed reverence to the many Greek gods. So, Plato set out to discover the meaning of life using reason as his ally.
Plato came up with a theory he called, "The Analogy of the Divided Line." The theory divided our world up into different sections based off our ability to perceive and conceive of all things tangible and intangible. His theory was densely philosophical, but basically he proved (by reason) that there is, in fact, an aspect to this life and world that exists outside of the realm of our 5 senses, The intelligible world, or the world of Philosophical understanding. It is only by the existence and the standard of this world that we are able to understand and categorize things such as beauty and goodness (things that cannot be perceived or judged in the purely natural sense). The conclusive result of this philosophy was the birthing of the "transcendentals."
1. Goodness
2. Beauty
3. Truth
and lastly these three elements are bound together by a fourth element, Unity.
To Plato, life only made sense with reverence and reference to the transcendent qualities of life. The transcendentals are more "real" than "reality" because they give life meaning.
I found this curious as it related to my own faith. I believe life only makes sense with reverence and reference to the one God of all People. The Triune God of the Christian faith. God is more "real" than our "reality" because he lives outside of time and gives our life purpose. As I thought hard about it, I realized that Plato was not that far off, he recognized the truth (in a sense), but due to chronological and cultural barriers as well as the plague of his own ambitions, he didn't know how to name it yet.
The Holy Trinity is the description of God's character. God is a Single, United God of three Persons.
1. The Father
2. The Son
3 The Holy Spirit
Now, i do not think I have stumbled upon some deep and profound philosophical and theological discovery, rather I think I have stumbled upon a small, beautiful treasure... Maybe even a nice coincidence.
Today I aligned the transcendentals with the character of my God, just to see how it fits.
1. The Father = Beauty
Psalm 27:4
One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.
Psalm 90:17
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
God the Father is Beautiful and he has showered the earth with his beauty,
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
Their voicegoes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,
which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is hidden from its heat.
Psalm 19:1-6
2.The Holy Spirit= Truth
"When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you"
John 16:13-15
3. Jesus Christ, The Son= Goodness
You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
Matthew 5:43:45 - (Jesus Christ)
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”
Romans 8:1-2
Lastly, God, like the transcendentals are united, is One in Himself, perfectly complete. God is all of these, Truth, Beauty, and Goodness, in one. God is even more, for God is Love.
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”
John 14:6
I think the most beautiful part of all this to me, is that it is not coincidental. I have long abandoned the idea that coincidences exist at all. I personally believe that God takes the initiative to reveal Himself to mankind, and He does not just do this through the use of the Christian or the Jew, but he will declare his truth through the mind of the skeptic, or of any man who is willing to search out truth for the sake of Truth. God really does all the work for us, all we have to do is point to the signs.
So my Mom asked me why there is suffering in the world.
There is no answer for suffering, and that is precisely why there is suffering. We can blame world hunger, rape, and slavery, amongst other great evils, on men and/or mankind. We can say, “there is evil in the world because men abuse their free will,” but what about tsunami’s? What about children diagnosed with cancer? What about those evils? Who do we blame?
Thomas Merton writes that there are two kinds of evil in the world, Sin and Suffering. One is a single faucet that will lead only to dejection, pain, and more evil, Sin. The other, Suffering, leaves us with the opportunity to find healing and hope, or to turn to anger and bitterness, which will only breed more suffering and sin. Thus, suffering has the opportunity to be labeled either as an Evil or a Joy.
{C.S. Lewis defines Joy as a longing for, or momentary attachment to something deeper or greater than oneself. Joy is like a sign on the road that gives us direction to the true peace and substance that is found in God. Joy is not pleasure, Joy is not happiness, essentially Joy is a momentary escape from the drab falsities of this world into the unutterable truths of Heaven, and thus, Joy should be savored, even in suffering}
We, mankind, are a fallen and a dying race. We have a father who wants ALL of us to draw close to Him before this world ends. Why, Because He loves us, and he has our best interest in mind. He is the only source for true Joy and peace in this broken universe. Without suffering, we would never draw close to that lifeline of strength and peace. We would never TRUST in Him. Trust is the cornerstone to our relationship with God. Trust is bred by faith and hope. It is the greatest love we can give to God, and therefore the most adhesive substance in our becoming bound to His great Goodness.
So, again…Why Evil? Well, what else is God to do? What else could ever compel us to run in his direction and rely totally on Him? We are selfish, and inevitably we will seek out what is best for ourselves. (That is until our spirits our honed by Joy and Suffering). Therefore we must suffer. Sure, God could shower us with gifts in hope that we would turn to him with love and gratitude, but would we? Of course not. He already gave us two of the greatest gifts ever given, so flawless and selfless that I hesitate at calling them gifts at all out of fear of diminishing their value and glory. God gave us life, and God gave us salvation, under the penalty of His death.
(Some might be bitter that they were given life without permission, and therefore do not see it as a gift, but rather, a curse. To those of you who feel that way, I want to say two things. First, I am sorry. I really am. Life has been hard, and I by no means am attempting to diminish that with this post. I have known little of suffering compared to others. Second, I implore you, seek out the Joy I have described, Joy in Christ Jesus, it is the only solution to the life you hate, because it offers you a brand new one. That’s all I can say without going too far off into a tangent.)
We suffer, that we might trust. There is no answer or solution to the pain inflicted by natural disaster or illness. There is no one to blame. The world is a hostile and dying place. There is no answer. But there is hope. There is comfort. Suffering is best employed when it thrusts us into the arms of our Father. Unanswerable suffering has the greatest capacity to do this, because an answer can become a cheap alternative to trust in God.
This is why scripture is so full of passages that ask us not only to endure suffering, but to consider it pure Joy. God is the only hope for Goodness and Peace, and suffering is the surest road at attaining Him. Therefore, to suffer temporarily, and to trust wholeheartedly is to Love fully.To Love fully, is to be bound by Joy to our only hope at escaping the suffering.
Again, I know little of suffering. This is just my meek attempt at making sense of things that make no sense to me.
Trust in Him. Live for the next life, and you will find peace in this one.
“Aim at Heaven and you will get Earth 'thrown in': aim at Earth and you will get neither."
(Sorry for the terrible audio, gotta work with what you got! TURN UP YOUR VOLUME!!!)
Love, Can we just steal away?
Run from all these complications, hindrances and over thinking? When our hearts collide like shooting stars, fire reigns down igniting passion within our hearts…but romance is lost in this world of ours for it’s too much with us like obtrusive scars. So love is found in dimly lit bars, where lovers steal and strike in night only to awake to a broken vase a wretched sight, a strangers face. A monster dwells within this place and his lies like poison defeat our race. Our DNA encodes our fate as it weaves within us selfish hate, all love is lost and tainted black, like the darkest night where lovers take.
Love, Can we Just steal away?
To a place where romance lives? Where you’re not afraid to take my hand, for the lies of love are ground to sand and no one has taken you, shaken you or made command to send you to sadness…to be lonely again. My love, that wasn’t love that took your trust from you, it was the thief that stole this earth to rule and to remove the one true love that ever loved you and that love is with us here so take my hand and I’ll lead you to a brighter land…
To a land where love aboundeth much, so do not fear my gentle touch, for I am yours child and you are mine and though, till now, your love was blind, I’ll teach you of love, the most blessed kind. Love that gives, love that suffers, love that breaks and love that dies…but only to rise…yes only to rise…to a love that grows, to a love unreal, to a love that saves, to a love that steals…away.
Away to a land not far…but here, within us now, a love that knows NO FEAR, except the fear of God above, a reverent heart for the lion and the dove…YES…true love
Do not lose this love.
Brothers, Sisters,
Here I stand, not to reform you, but inform you. Not to condemn but to lead you to Him. He who died on the cross, Jesus Christ, to save the lost, was broken maimed and put to shame. Died, just to rise, to grow, to give life to all, to lift up a world, broken by the fall…that said. WE need to stand together, one for all.
How can we persecute in the name of the one who was maimed and put to shame? No, I don’t mean sinners, for we understand Gods grace, it rests and it saves the lost hearts of the broken and for that…we give Him praise….Praise and persecution
If to persecute is to divide, stand out against a people, then to persecute each other, the church…is a new kind of evil.
When we say the church just doesn’t get it, that Christ will not suffice to bring light to the self righteous, we take a knife to the body of Christ and begin to slice losing sight of his grace and the HOPE of his might.
We are the salt of the earth, but a plague to God’s Church.
With our orthodoxy, theologies and quarreling spirits, we lay shame to his name and at GODS BODY we rip…we tear and we break away, we say, Jesus Christ wouldn’t live this way! But Jesus Christ wouldn’t persecute the persecutors.
He was perfect, and with righteous, angry love he set them straight, but our Lord and Love he would not aim to break…or to run away…
If you think the devil has infiltrated, slain, maimed and obliterated the church in which we live then what hope do you have in God’s saving love?
Trust Him, seek to unite the lost within sin, pray for those who get under your skin, but to point fingers? NO, that is not what we’re called to do, for though its hard to hear, Christ came to save the self righteous too, and he loves them…just like me and you.
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. We all have sin, so let’s make the church our home. Clean up, help each other and endure with patient hearts, trusting that God will do His part, lets mend the wounds on Christ’s Body, lets make a fresh start. And stand together in patient love after Christ own heart. For you are a spirit and shall one day depart, so set your mind on that and live with agape at heart.
So I don't really have an outline for this blog, but I know I am just feeling so compelled to write and share what God has been doing on my heart, so forgive me in advance if my thoughts are at all scattered.
About 6 months ago I was blessed with the opportunity to visit Zimbabwe, Africa for the second time on a short term mission team. It was amazing to say the least, but also one of the hardest experiences of my life. Most people don't know this, including many of my team members and close friends. But while I was there I came under severe spiritual attack that sent me into a whirlwind of anxiety and depravity. To make matters worse the fact that my mind was so broken and far from what I was doing while I was there just made me feel even worse. That said, I was really able to slow down and sit back a bit on this trip.
The first time I went to Zimbabwe I was so excited just to be there that there that joy overflowed quite naturally. I was energetic and excited, jumping on every opportunity to serve or partake in a new experience. It was a great trip that really changed my life dramatically, drawing me out of my futile and meaningless anxieties at home, and stirring in me a new infatuation with missions. That said, I would trade in all of it if it meant securing my painful experience on the second trip.
Something remarkable happened to me after I got home from Zimbabwe 6 months ago, and I would say it is largely due to the fact that I was forced to slow down while in Africa. While there, I was blessed to form some relationships with some real, loving, serious, disciplined Christ followers. The conversations I had with some of the young men there, most of them my age or just a year or two older, shook me. These were Christians...these were young men of wisdom, of dignity, of Christ.
I got home, and I grew up, (or God grew me up). Not just in the aspect of becoming a more mature adult, but spiritually, God swept me up in a wind of personal conviction that has plagued and blessed my life ever since. Things that I would have thought trivial and hilarious 7 months ago, I now find burdensome. Everything began to convict me, and it all had to do with the way we relate to people as the new Christian generation. I was sickened by how comfortable I had become with my own worldliness. I lacked gravitas. Everything was permissible in my mind, as long as I made it clear I was joking. I realized the calamity of a flippant tongue. All of this began to weigh down on me and I didn't really know how to deal with it.
I wanted to begin to have a positive impact on my friends and on those around me, but I was haunted by my reputation. Every foul joke or flippant conversation I heard stirred with in me a resentment against myself and my inability to confront these people, and in turn formed a resentment towards the world around me. I sought wise counsel, and found guidance there, but still was plagued by a constant bitterness as I struggled not to condemn those around me even though they would not hear me out. This internal battle grew over the next few months, often becoming external, I would lash out in gossip to my girlfriend, or just feed the bitterness with my thoughts. I thank God for the patience he had with me, and furthermore, for blessing me with a girlfriend who wields understanding and patience like limbs. The battle ultimately sent me into a cave of loneliness, anger and despair. Often I found days of peace, but ironically amongst all these convictions I was so far from my father in heaven. The plague of bitterness fed every evil desire within my heart, and attacked the good within me. Most days, I was at my wits end. I really did not know how to rid myself of my bitterness without ridding myself of my convictions.
But here is where it gets good.
God is faithful.
Last Sunday, I did something that I should have humbled myself enough to do 6 months ago. I walked into church out of a sense of obligation. Worship began, and something happened. I actually, without doubt or selfishness, went before God and asked for help. All I wanted to do was worship Him. So I asked simply that he could please offer me direction on how I am to handle these convictions when I feel that they are only pushing me away from people. I asked Him to show me where to draw the line in the way I relate to those around me. i knew that I needed to be loving people, but I also struggled so much with fearing a return to my comfort with sinful behavior. I asked God with a pure and trusting heart, for help.
Not 30 mins later as I was deeply engaged within the pastors exhorting sermon and I looked over at my girlfriend Carissa who was reading ahead in Titus. At first I wanted to poke her and tell her to pay attention because the sermon was really good, but that was not Gods plan for her that night. minutes later she handed me her bible and pointed to a passage, it still brings me tears when i think about it.
9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. 10 As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned. -Titus 3:9-11
God gave me clear direction within an hour of my pure prayer to Him. Now I am not saying that God will work this way in every situation, sometimes he might want us to wrestle a bit more with an idea or conviction in order to learn something. But in this circumstance I saw it as a clear comment from God telling me this. "Trust me. Come to me with what plagues your mind, but come to me and ask without doubt, with a spirit of longing and righteousness. Make the subjects of your thoughts, the subjects of your prayers, and give me silence in your life and prayer that I may speak to you. I love you, and I want you to seek me, but to deal lovingly with others."
He didn't stop there. Just a two days later I went to my small group and had a conversation with my friend Tyler that lead me to write my blog entitled, "The Meaning of Membership." It is centered in the idea that we as Christians, need to seek unity in the body of Christ and deal with one another kindly, enduring evil and trusting in Gods providence. I encourage you to go read it, for God really spoke to me that night.
Another amazing thing that happened that night is that God showed me that I was not alone in a miraculous way. On the previous Sunday night, my friend Daniel walked into church struggling with much of the same anger and resentment towards others that I was struggling with. I had no Idea. That same night, his girlfriend Megan handed him her bible and pointed out a passage to him....Titus 3:9-11.
Miracles still happen. and God continued to speak...
The next day I felt compelled to read 2 Timothy. Why? I don't know!? But it was perfect and the message God preached to me through my reading finalized this internal transformation for me and prepared me for a reconciliation with the the people i had been bitter with in the past, for a reconciliation with the body of Christ.
Have you ever felt real change within you? Change that you KNEW would last, and it did. I have. I did when I returned from Zimbabwe and the convictions set in. That was a step on my staircase towards His likeness. it took me a long time but as soon as I asked God gave me a huge boost up the next step. I feel change. I realize now the great, very serious importance of out unity as the body of Christ. We MUST deal kindly with one another and always and only seek resolution. Division and denomination within the church break my heart, and I know it breaks the heart of God when we divide his ministry up into factions and begin to aggressively compete. I know it breaks his heart when we gossip and create crevasses in his body. We need to better learn what it means to love like God, take time to fall into the Agape love of Jesus Christ.
This is the passage that changed my life (this time), and I can't wait to see what God is going to teach me next.
So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
2 Timothy 2:22-26
Peace and Love my friends. In Christ we stand together.
