The Importance of Love

Isn't it funny (and awesome) when prayer is answered almost immediately? That happened to me today. Thank you brother Bill :)

Tonight I thought about having the right perspective about things, and finding out what's important in life and WHY it's important. Some background first...I've been in a little rut lately. Only halfheartedly seeking God, halfheartedly reading the Bible and praying, and still somehow expected that God would fill me up the rest of the way. That's not how it works, at least that's not what I've found. So I talked with my best friend Bill today and we both prayed over this, among other things. And after we hung up I felt a little better, but still wasn't really hopeful or feeling like things were different. So I went back home to Halifax to visit my parents and aunt, and I found the refresher I needed.

The drive to Halifax is always beautiful. It's just a totally different atmosphere...even from other countryside environments, it still feels different. The locals call it God's Country, for very good reason...it just seems that God's peace is all around. And every time I cross that beautiful mountain, 88.5 is immediately tuned on my radio, and K-LOVE is blaring its God-music through my car. So I finally got home, and it's somewhat chaotic. My aunt had her tonsils removed and is staying with my parents until she heals up, and her 2 dachshunds are staying there as well, so they have to keep Diesel separate from them. So while she rests upstairs, I got to lift downstairs while my parents were cleaning up the storage room. Yeah I know, not extremely chaotic...but it was just a little different, it seemed like everyone was moving around and being busy.

Well, just before I left we started looking through old pictures from when times were simpler, at least in my own little world. Past Christmas times, birthdays, family vacations with my cousins, oh what great times that seem to be left in repressed memories. Well, it got me thinking. At the time, these were pretty much the only people I knew, and I had fun with them. Even though my cousins were all girls and always wanted me to be the dad when they played house (and even though I always ran to my treehouse when they did, haha), I still had fun with them and I miss those times. Now the youngest of my cousins is in college, and my younger cousin and older cousin are both mothers of 2 and 3 kids respectively. Man, how things change! But these relationships are, still, very important to me.

In the past few years, as we all get older and attitudes change, perspectives change as well. I didn't really know how to deal with the change, so I kept trying to live in older times while everyone continued to grow up around me and I became slightly bitter toward my families. Holidays were more of a burden for me than a joy. But then I looked at these pictures. I remembered how ridiculously blond my hair was, how awesome my cousin Ashley was (and still is), how my cousin Carla was like a sister to me, and how much we laughed when my cousin Emily called my mom "Uncle Deb". :) I started to remember just how much my cousins were there for me and how much I was there for them too. Dare I say...perspective changed? I used to consider family a burden...I don't know how I let that change from being the joy it once was.

So that was a longer background than I anticipated, and I've said in the past that my posts are like mind vomit...I don't really know how it's gonna come out, it just comes out. So if anyone is still reading this far in, seriously, I'm touched! But I want to get more to my point. All of this combined to be the answer of my prayer today, and I got to drive back with a new perspective under the most beautiful nightly cloud cover I've ever seen. The new perspective I got tonight was on the importance of family, but also on the importance of my God. And this made me question what is important to me and how important is it to me. And as I said before, the reason I've been down is because I've only been halfheartedly serving God. I let stuff at work get to me and left a nice little path for Satan to mess with me. Well, all of this stuff combined led me to one conclusion. One word. It's a word that's been tossed around in every contemporary church like tomatoes in a food fight.

Love. Heck, we could all use a bit more love. See, my natural tendency is to see the bad in people before I see the good. And this leads down a road to destruction at breakneck speed. But when we put on glasses of love and care toward each other, we see the world at a different perspective...we begin to see the good in people, and attribute the bad to the influence of Satan. We're not defined by bad things that we do (That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts - Ephesians 4:22), and we're not even defined by good things that we do (But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away - Isaiah 64:6). We're defined as God's prize, His glory (For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them - Ephesians 2:10). And this isn't conditional...we were always this way (Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations - Jeremiah 1:5). EVERYONE is a creation of God's handiwork, and none of us have any right to degrade another. It's true we're all in a spiritual warzone, but a lesson for me is to be careful how to fight it. "I'm in a fight, not physical. I'm in a war, but not of this world." - Counting on God by Phillips, Craig & Dean. Our war is not against our fellow man, but with the evil one (For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. - Ephesians 6:12). And toward our fellow man, we show love.

But love's hard! Heck yes it is...especially when we don't receive it back. I mentioned before of how different the worlds are between Mechanicsburg and Halifax. Living in Mechanicsburg, I became a little more hard-hearted, to my regret. As I was driving in Halifax tonight, a car driving in the other lane kept flashing their high beams at me. I don't typically get road rage, but I was a little annoyed. Then a second person in a row did it, and I got stupidly defensive. "Seriously?! What the heck! Am I doing something wrong???" Then the realization came upon me, and sure enough, there was a deer standing alongside of the road ready to run out in front of somebody. Those people weren't upset at me, they were just lovingly trying to warn me of some danger (sounds like a gospel message, no? I'll save that for another post :) ). I can't say for sure if Mechanicsburg people would be so kind. But that's the beauty of it, and that's why I'm placed where I'm at right now. I'm God's man for the job! "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." - Matthew 5:14-16. Yeah it's harder to love people over here than it is in Halifax, but that's why I'm here. There's plenty more people here that need God's love, and I still need it just as much as everyone else. I can't claim that it's important to me and then not live it. So let me pose that same question. How important is love to you? How important is God to you? How important are people to you? Hopefully you can answer "very" to all of those questions. Life's too short to hate. Just love. It hurts, but it's worth it. One man about 2000 years ago took three nails and about 40 lashes because of love. It hurt, but he said we were worth it. And I believe him.

Armor Up

Alright...this is going to need a decent amount of preface. I'm not writing this to blast anyone or throw anyone under the bus. I'm not writing this to embarrass or humiliate. And I feel comfortable writing this because it's all over the news in my area and on public domain, just like my blog, so I won't mention names or anything...if you really care, look it up yourselves. But I'm writing this because something is seriously wrong. I'm writing this because livid is an understatement to describe my attitude right now, and not directed toward anyone in particular, but I'm enraged at the devil. And I've prayed long and hard before this. I don't want these words to offend, and I don't want them to simply be an emotional outburst. I want these words to be those which God gives to me, and I feel He would want me to put in here. I want these words to be hope, encouragement, and a charge to my Christian brothers and sisters. Thank you for understanding all of this before I dive in...

So, enough suspense. Today I found out that a teacher at my high school has been fired due to allegations that he's been involved in a sexual abuse scandal with a student. Again, if you want names then do your own research, I'm not here to humiliate. This is a tragic blow to many people in my community, and deeply affects many of my friends. There's no cushion for the blow, no sugar to make it any sweeter. Allegations that a male teacher messed around with a male student, consensual or not, who really cares. It's easy to say "die, pervert!" when it's someone you don't know. I know this man. Big family, all went and were involved in my high school. This shouldn't happen to a man in this situation...something is WRONG here.

Well, I'm only going to get sleep tonight by the Lord's grace, because this enrages me. And strangely, I'm not angry at the teacher. I'm not angry at the student. I'm not even angry about the act itself. There is one person that's behind all of this. We know him as Lucifer. Satan. The devil. And I'm absolutely furious at him, as we all should be. I know a lot of us are looking for answers in this, and frankly I'm surprised that I'm not being led to angrily seek answers to all of this. We can be angry with God, wondering why did this happen...why him...why this school...why??? Folks, God is not responsible for choices that we make. I believe that while God is the divine orchestrator, we are given free will to make choices, because I believe that God is pleased more when we freely choose to worship Him. We always throw "God's Will" around like a ragdoll so much that it's barely defined anymore. We can say that a person is "in God's Will" or "outside of God's Will"...this implies choice, does it not? Unless God deliberately creates a being to be outside of His Will, which isn't compatible with his omnibenevolent nature. We're big boys and girls, and we make decisions that either bring glory to God, or don't bring Him glory. This incident is just another such decision.

James 2:10 - "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." A little boy at AWANA read me this verse tonight as he was reciting his Scripture memorization. This verse caught my attention in the context of this situation, and it's perhaps the reason that "the act" itself doesn't enrage me like it used to. See, I used to be quite the homophobe. Homosexuality still disgusts me, but that's my deal. And don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not FOR the act that went on, God forbid! But listen to my point...we've all heard the term "hate the sin, love the sinner". This is essential right now. To my high school friends and faculty that may be reading, has your perception of this man changed now that this is out in the light? DON'T LET IT!!!!! The school made the right move by firing him from his position, but the school and church cannot turn their backs to him. Go back to my "about me" page, and read about how pornography had me trapped for 7 years...that's almost longer than I can even remember. We are not DEFINED by actions we take, we are defined by how God SAYS we're defined. I'm not defined by 1/3 of my life wasted to that demon, nor is a man defined by sexual actions taken improperly. Again, it's easier to cry "PERVERT!" when it's not someone you know...fact is, everyone has a situation and a story. Who are we to judge? "Yeah, well you don't know he's truly a Christian or not!!" Yeah, I guess I don't, only God knows the heart (The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? - Jeremiah 17:9). I just know what James 2:10 says, and I know how we are all desperately in need to be led daily to the cross, where Jesus poured himself out. Remove the plank in your own eye before trying to help out the speck in the other's eye. To quote Mark Lowry, "How about I hate my sin, you hate your sin, and let's just love each other!"

Well, I said I wasn't looking for answers, but that's only a half-truth. There's only one answer I want...I want to know what's going to be done about this. And I don't mean from a legal standpoint. As I said previously...something is WRONG. Satan has played a mean hand, and has infiltrated my old stomping grounds, which I still consider a home away from home...and I'm straight up pissed off about it. Devastatingly, this isn't the first instance that I've heard about suspicious activity at my school since I graduated. From the outside looking in, it almost seems like my school is falling apart. Enrollment down, probably will decrease further after this, approximately 8 new high school english teachers since when I graduated 6 years ago. WHAT is going on?!?! Is this all just a freak coincidence? We can't take the risk of just letting this blow over again...something must change. Satan played a heavy hand and dealt a big blow to the school. I'm infuriated that he would invade on a godly institution and negatively impact so many lives. Right now, everyone reading this needs to pray. If for no other reason, then because I'm requesting it (Pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. - James 5:16). But more than this, something needs to be done. Still quoting from my favorite book of the Bible: "If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." - James 2:15-17. What good is prayer if we don't let it affect our hearts? Sometimes action needs to be taken. Perhaps the school needs that. "Now Christopher (full first name, since I'm sure most of my family will read this and speak with a slight scolding tone in their voice), you're being too radical. You need to be careful that you're not taken ill-advised action." And of course, we all should make wise decisions. I think my friend Scott said it well tonight, that we can't wedge ourselves into situations where we don't belong. And that's absolutely right. But AM I being too radical? Perhaps it's time to get a little loud. There is a problem, and we desperately need God to restore us. So maybe my blog can be a platform for encouraging those who ARE in the position to act. Perhaps revival is needed. Only God really knows what is needed, but we need help. The world is watching every move that we make, and shaking their heads at all Christians every time this happens. And I'm not going to sit around and watch as the entire world turns against us. Yes, there will always be those who resist God's glory, but we still owe it to them to bring them before the cross and pray on their behalf. And when the going gets tough, "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength." - Isaiah 40:29. Right now, we're pretty faint, confused, frustrated, angry. Christians, ARMOR UP!!!! The war is real, and we're all in it. It IS life or death, and it DOES matter...we need to fight like it. Satan pushed us...I say we push back and refocus on our Christ.

As I said, I prayed long and hard before this note, hoping that it would be an encouragement and a challenge to us all. A lot of this I consider most of this post to be my opinion, and I could very well be wrong with my views. However, don't let that stop you from being convicted on the right path on which we should walk in this situation. God has seen everything that has gone on, and He is standing alongside of us through everything. And for those not tied in with my high school, this is for you too. Take this to mean something for your own life, and be convicted by it. Don't let my opinions influence you...but rather let the Holy Spirit convict you into action.

Psalm 31:7 - I will rejoice and be glad in Your lovingkindness, Because You have seen my affliction; You have known the troubles of my soul.

Winning life's battles

So here's something that popped into in head tonight: winning. As I've said and as almost everyone knows about me, I'm pretty hyper-competitive, and I like to win. Ok, gross understatement...I despise losing. I'm competitive with pretty much everything I do, whether it's sports or video games or board games. Even air hockey. Seriously, challenge me at air hockey, I DARE you...you'll lose (Nate Nichols, don't say a WORD, haha). But when I think about these, none of it really "matters" if I win or lose. Sure, you can play for a trophy or money, or even just glory. But in a sense, none of this really matters, per se. What are the battles that are actually worth winning? Well...

I'll be honest, I'm never really sure where to start with some of these notes. Most of them are pretty spontaneous, and this one's no different. But, I'll start with an excerpt from our Sunday School lesson today. We've been doing a series on Jesus' parables for the past, like...forever. And today we studied the parable of the lost sheep, found in Luke 15:1-7. The parable is that a shepherd has 100 sheep, and one of them goes astray. The shepherd leaves the 99 to go find the one that went missing. Upon finding it, he rejoices and slings the little guy over his shoulder and brings it back to the rest of the flock. Jesus used this parable in defense of his ministry, when being accused of dining with "undesirable folk" by the religious Pharisees of the day. Jesus responds in verse 7 by saying, "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance." In other words, God's already happy that there are 99 saved people, but MAN does he rejoice over just ONE new person that comes to know Him!!!

Now this is a battle worth fighting. And everything we do should tie into this in some way. Well, I have another battle to mention, and one that is almost always on the forefront of my mind. And granted, I'm writing this from strictly a male perspective, so ladies bear with me through it. But I'm talking about the battle for a woman's heart. I've never truly experienced it, but it must be the greatest feeling in the world to win that battle. One of my favorite quotes from my favorite book (Wild at Heart) is "Nothing worth having comes without some sort of fight" - Bruce Cockburn. I believe the heart of a woman is a treasure, and should be treated as one would treat the hope diamond, with gentleness and care. And it should be guarded with strength and a sense of security. Think about it...ask a lady what they value in a man or husband. I can pretty much guarantee most women would say that one of their values is safety. When they're with their husband/boyfriend, they feel safe. And I believe that's how it should me. Quoting Demi Moore in A Few Good Men when asked why she respected Marines, "Because they stand on a wall. And they say 'Nothin's gonna hurt you tonight. Not on my watch'". If only this could be the motto of all men...nothing's gonna hurt you tonight, not on my watch.

But what happens when the woman's heart is won? Is that...it? No more battling, no more struggle? Yep, slapped a ring on her finger, things should be easy now...now be a good girl and make me a sammich. Oh, to break the jaw of the man that says that. A woman's heart deserves to be won every day, there's no quitting! I see husbands all the time that just seem so passive and careless in regards to their lady...whatever happened to us? So when the "love" fades, then what? One thing that I really hate is divorce, and I know God hates it more. God hates it because *gasp* He's been through it! Israel is his bride...how many times did Israel leave His care to go worship a piece of wood shaped like a goat? And how many times do WE leave His care to go do the same thing? Oops. But divorce is forbidden. Think about it..."for this reason, a man will leave his mother and father, and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." One flesh. Not literal, obviously, but they are now one unit. It's ridiculous to think that one flesh can become two fleshes again, it just doesn't work. No, if you're married and things are bad, you work at it. Love isn't a feeling, it's a job, and some have it harder than others. But when a relationship is on the rocks, and the husband and wife battle together to work through it, ah what a beautiful sight it is.

And like I said before, I never know where to start with these posts and I never know where they're going to go. So bringing it back, there's the battle of the woman's heart, and the battle of bringing others to Christ...now how do we win? Well, this whole thing all came after I read a quote from Desire by John Eldredge. "The time has come for us to quite playing chess with God over our lives. We cannot win, but we can delay the victory, dragging on the pain of grasping and the poison of possessing. You see, there are two kinds of losses in life. The first is shared by all mankind - the losses that come to us. Call them what you will - accidents, fate, acts of God. The point is that we have no control over them. We do not determine when, where, what, or even how. There is no predictin these losses; they happen to us. We choose only how we respond. The second kind is known only to the pilgrim. The are losses that we choose. A chosen loss if different from repentance, when we give up something that was never ours to have. With a chosen loss, we place on the altar something very dear to us, something innocent, whose only danger is in its goodness, that we might come to love it too much. It is the act of consecration, where little by little or all at once, we give over our lives to the only One who can truly keep them." So wait...losing? Yep, surrender. That's how these battles are won. How are others won to Christ? Well, not in our power. We're not the ones who do the saving, since we need just as much to be saved. The Holy Spirit is the only thing that convicts others to come to God. I have plenty of people I'm thinking of right now that I would love to see in a better place in their lives. The best I can do is tell them what I believe and live a God-honoring life...I can't save them. So to Christians, keep planting seeds, let God do the harvesting.

And the battle for a woman's heart...I'd be lying if I said that there wasn't one I had my eyes on. And I am certainly taking a shot of my own advice through this note. But there's only one way to win a battle like that. Pastor Crews said it best this morning when talking about marriages, that God's blueprint of marriage isn't one party submitting to the other, but when the husband and wife go hand-in-hand together in submission to God. I know God knows the desires of my heart, but there's another encouraging section from Desire: "True surrender is not an easy out, calling it quits early in the game. This kind of surrender comes only after the night of wrestling. It comes only after we open our hearts to care deeply. Then we choose to surrender, or give over, our deepest desires to God. And with them we give over our hearts, our deepest selves. The freedom and beauty and rest that follow are among the greatest of all surprises." Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. - Matthew 11:29.

I didn't want this to turn into a story of my own battle, but this is the main point I'm trying to make. The main battle on my mind is that of the lady's heart, but everyone else has different of life's battles that they're trying to win. Surrendering to God is the only way to win. He's more capable of handling all of our problems. Read through pretty much any of the Psalms, they're chock full of praises of God's love and strength. "But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth." - Psalm 86:15. "For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone." - verse 10 of that same chapter. And I've heard it said that people don't want to pray because they feel some sense of guilt with coming to God with petty problems. Well, in Hebrews 4:15-16, the writer says "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." God wants us to surrender ALL, because He can handle it and WANTS to handle it! The rest that follows is pretty amazing. Tonight I'll be praying for those in all sorts of battles, as I'll be praying for my own. But we have to take our own action too. Friends, surrender to God. I've done it before, and it hurts. But the things I regret are the things I continue to try to hold on to, rather than surrendering. Pray to God, and from one desperate sinner to another, surrender that which is most valuable to you to God.

Reflections on turning 24

Wow...time is flying way too fast. I mean seriously, just yesterday I was a freshman in college. The day before that I was in high school. Now I'm working full-time, have my own place, and my "youth" has passed me. I'm now 24, and I'm a full-fledged adult. Wow.

I just want to take this time to reflect on the past year(s), and equip myself for the year ahead. At this time last year, I got my first experience of the corporate environment...and I couldn't wait to get out of it. What a horrible experience. But I know God led me there, and then God led me somewhere else. But at this point, I was in major transition. I just graduated from college and was trying to figure out what the heck I wanted to do with my life. I missed my college friends and environment, and I felt alone and trapped living in Halifax, far away from pretty much anything. But, I had the opportunity to read and relax, and was able to find God in cool ways through my bike rides through the countryside. And then in November, I began working for my current job, into which I'm now almost 9 months. Then in March, after much prayer God finally led me to my own place in Mechanicsburg and my new church family just outside my door. God led me here for 4 reasons I found: to learn about myself, develop my relationship with God, realize contentment with singleness, and improve my relationship with my mom. And to some degrees, I've achieved some of these. Distance between my mom and I has allowed us to talk more civilly, and I'm MOSTLY content with singleness but I have those days (tonight being one of them) where loneliness sets in and I just wish I had someone to be with.

So the two other things were to learn about myself and develop my relationship with God. Learn about myself...well, what do I mean by that? I mean, you'd think with me being an only child that I'd know by now, given all the time I spent with myself. But see, through growing up and even in college, I was often defined by my friends. Depending on what group of friends I was around I would act differently, say different things, and stuff like that. Because of this, I always felt kind of unnatural, always wondering who I REALLY am. And my identity was established by God through the calling of the White Knight, but I never had the opportunity to explore this in greater depth. Ever since I moved over here I've been busy with work and other activities that I never took a whole lot of time to myself. And that leads into my relationship with God, which hasn't improved like I envisioned. I still find myself on a lot of highs and lows, which gets frustrating after awhile. My busy schedule has led me to place events and activities with friends above time with God. I've been disobeying the command in Psalm 46, "Be still and know that I am God." And it's not even that I've been wasting too much time...I don't have a tv connection in my apartment and my Wii hasn't been hooked up since I moved in. So in this next year, it's vital that I keep growing naturally, but truly exercise my faith by learning as much about my Savior as I possibly can.

And to go along with that, this is what I envision for age 24. I want this to be a year marked by hard work. Not work that eventually kills me in the long run, but hard work that will improve my overall life quality and help me realize my goals. Physically speaking, there are a lot of things that I want to accomplish. I'm SO thankful for my buddy Kyle...he brought me along to Planet Fitness, and he's helping me live a physically healthy lifestyle. I've gotten SO much stronger in just 3 1/2 months, to the point where I'm seeing a definite change in my body structure than just a few months before. But I have a list of goals I want to accomplish physically, spiritually, and in other areas.

1) I want to finish a warrior dash (or multiple). They're the 5K runs through the mud. I would have looked into them this past summer, but I haven't been training for that kind of conditioning. I would love to hold those medals on me and say "Yes...I did that." And they look insanely fun too.
2) I want to excel beyond my past skill in baseball. Recently I've felt a calling to return to the ballfield, but in a different venue: baseball ministry. I still don't know how this will take form, but this is also something I have to figure out (see goal #3). But I want to return to my past form and continue excelling beyond that. I want to be content with the knowledge that I could hold my own in the minor leagues (and who knows, maybe try out someday) :)
3) Take a UPI missions trip. UPI is Unlimited Potential Inc., and they do short-term missions trips to different countries to do baseball clinics and stuff like that. This seems like a really neat opportunity, and I think I would get a great deal of insight from taking one of these trips. So if the Lord allows, I will take one of these trips next year and find out more about my dream of baseball ministry.
4) Schedule God-time. This may be the most important thing of all. In order to do anything with ministry, I need to have God by my side and I need to be seeking His counsel every day. And I can't do that if I don't spend time with Him. Today in Sunday School we learned about praying continually, which means being in constant contact with God. We don't have to spend an hour at a time on our knees talking out loud, but God needs to invade every part of our lives, to the point where serving isn't even a thought but a reaction. I just saw a friend's facebook status, saying he talked about theology with a homeless man for a half hour. Know what I did tonight? I saw a lady on my way home that needed a ride somewhere...not sure what her story was, but she needed a ride. And I blew right by her. I often relate my personality to that of Peter in the gospels...well, tonight I felt like him. I felt like Peter in that moment when Jesus' bloody face looked at him after the disowning when the rooster crowed. And just like Peter did, I sat in my car at my apartment and wept bitterly.

It's so easy to put on a Christian t-shirt (which I was wearing tonight) and listen to Christian music (which I was listening to on my right home), and try to live without God's heart. It's far too easy to do that. We don't get judged, we don't get hurt by others, and we're just another face in the crowd that goes about his/her business. THAT'S NOT WHAT THIS LIFE IS ABOUT! This life is about full service, full surrender, total praise to our King. And I've tried many times to serve God on my own will and power. It just doesn't work that way...we need GOD in order to serve God! So while I want to work hard at tasks I have in front of me, I want my directive to be set. I can't even look in the mirror at myself right now because of my shame from tonight. I prayed "God, I can't believe you could love me. I don't even deserve to breathe. I just don't get how you love me." And I don't know if I'll ever truly understand. But y'know what? It doesn't matter if I understand it or not...all I have to do is believe it. And it's easy to believe it, because it's sitting right in the most quoted verse in history: "FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT..." That's the proof...God loves us, end of story. I can't understand how I just disregarded His daughter along the side of the road, and yet He loves me and has already forgiven me. It's baffling. But, He still loves...the Bible said so. And so this is the most important part of this coming year and years after. I want to work hard at my relationship with God. It's pathetic to think that he was tortured for me, and I can't even give Him a few minutes a day. I know I often wait on God to say something to me, but I think we call the Bible "God's Word" and forget that He's talking to us whenever we read it. So I've got quite a year ahead of me. Plenty to learn, plenty of room to grow. And God be with me...here I go.


And as a bonus, listen to this song. Whether it has anything to do with this note or not, it doesn't matter...just listen to the song and let it convict you as much as it is me right now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ec7ofMOqVM

Ruts

I think this is a really good time for me to write...spontaneity is always the best thing when it comes to writing.

So...lately things haven't been great. Lately as in the past 2 or 3 weeks, but climaxing the past 3 days. My life has been insanely busy as usual, but I found myself making a dangerous mistake...I let my busyness get in the way of my spiritual life. Satan took full advantage...all of a sudden I noticed I wasn't praying fervently, I wasn't in the Word, I was getting increasingly frustrated with work, and things just kept stacking up. So I deliberately took a night away from everything just to reflect on what's been going on.

Yesterday I had an interesting thought pop in my head...I felt as though I was trying to serve God without being close to God. I guess I would "go through the motions" to an extent, but internally I was suffering. I just wasn't letting God have control of my life, and I tried to take over again. Well, I've had plenty of experience of what happens when I try to direct my own life. I mess up quite a bit. I let my temper take over and may God forgive what comes out of my mouth.

So this is me trying to figure out where to go when these ruts happen, because they happen more than I'd like. And granted, I'm blessed with many people who love and care about me, but being an only child and living alone, this is something between me and God alone (I'm just choosing to publish it on my blog :) ). Well allow me to share some thoughts I'm having.

1) Being blessed with athleticism and physicality, I like to relate my spiritual life to physical activity. There are 2 things I can relate to: baseball and weightlifting, so I'll start with baseball. A rut in baseball would be if a batter was slumping, meaning that he's not getting base hits in a long series of at-bats. And of course, I've gone through them, and anyone who's played baseball has gone through them. Sometimes slumps can happen just out of coincidence...nothing really changes, but the ball just isn't finding it's way to the ground. But more often than not, slumps can happen because of just an EXTREMELY small change in mechanics, basically undetectable. This is why I video myself every time I hit the batting cages, so that I can see exactly how I'm swinging and what I need to do to hit the ball better. But this nearly undetectable change can be the difference between a home run and a strikeout. See the parallel?

2) Same goes with weightlifting. I starting lifting with a buddy a little more than 3 months ago, and I've noticed a considerable change in my strength. However, there's a little thing known as "plateauing", when suddenly you aren't seeing considerable increases in strength and weightlifting amounts. This is easily grounds for discouragement. So what do you do? Well, step back and analyze what's going on. For me, I like to stay in a routine if I'm comfortable with it, and that's why plateauing happens. Muscles become accustomed to moving the same way, so you don't get considerable gains after awhile. It's necessary to edit your routine and do something new in order to shock your muscles so that they can continue to grow. So, small edits to a routine...hmmm....

Back to the rut I've been going through. Today is that day where I just have to take a small step back and analyze what's been going on, figure out how to make a change, and move forward. Well, it's like I mentioned before, I was trying to serve God without being close to God. In the Christian life, alone time with God should be the single most important thing that we can do. It's easy to talk about having a relationship with God, but we can't have that relationship if we're not doing anything about it. God's always waiting and always ready for us. "For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God" - Exodus 34:14. God loves us...He wants our attention and is always waiting for it. I've heard it said that God isn't going to try to compete with things of this world for our attention. God should expect our attention for no other reason than that He's GOD! Even time with good Christian brothers and sisters is nothing compared to being intimate with God. The thing I need to change in my life is to give my life to God once again, and the only way to do that is to pray and seek daily.

But the great thing I'm learning about going through ruts is that I find that I come out stronger. It makes sense with the parallels also. When you break out of a batting slump, you generally become a much more dangerous hitter than when you were before. When you start to climb out of a plateau in weightlifting, you become MUCH stronger than before. As I'm maturing, I realize that these ruts never last as long as they used to, and I come out of them a stronger man of God than I was previously. Friends, we're promised hard times on this earth. But through these hard times, we can find God in a whole new way and learn about Him and ourselves. My charge to myself and to anyone reading is to embrace the rut that you're in and ask, "What is God trying to teach me through this?" In this case, God is teaching me to come back to Him and to surrender myself to His following. Please pray for me as I'll pray for anyone reading this. And praise God for allowing to go through trials, because we can stand resolutely on the promise of James 1, that we WILL come out stronger.

God's Wildfire

FINALLY!!! I've been waiting for this...another late night with no commitments tomorrow, and God forbid I should go a full month without writing. It's been way too long since I finally sat down to do this. And what better time than the present...wide awake on this late night, and man do I have some things to write about.

It's really ironic that I'm so awake right now. I managed to show quite a bit of energy this week, but this week has been one of the most physically and mentally draining weeks in recent memory. I woke up at 6 AM three times this week to lift before work, then work a mentally-draining 8-5 shift. Give myself 15 minutes to power down a few slices of pizza, and then I helped out with the bus ministry for Vacation Bible School at church at 5:30, and typically didn't get home until about 10:00...at which time was time for bed and doing it all over again. It was so draining and tiring, but I passionately prayed and asked for prayer on Sunday for energy from God to do the work that was in front of me. Not only was I granted this, but I emerged from this week a few things I didn't expect: a renewed life perspective, and the awakening of a dormant wildfire.

I originally volunteered to help out with 2nd-3rd graders because my co-worker was sending her daughter to VBS, and wanted me to be a friendly face for her. So I signed up for this spot, but God steered me in a different direction. I was asked to help with the bus ministry with my friends Joel, Scott, and Jess. The bus goes to an apartment complex that is predominately a black community to pick up kids to bring them to VBS and church on Sundays. It's a rougher "inner-city" crowd in who-knows-what situations...I'm not judging, this is just the way it is. One of the main goals of my presence was to keep the kids in line because, as I learned, they can get extremely rowdy. I ended up taking a part I didn't want to play...the strict-teacher/security guard type person. There were plenty of times the kids just needed to shut their mouths for their own safety on the bus. I had never worked with that kind of crew before, and never even THOUGHT about it in the past. But, this is what I ended up doing.

But God didn't stop here. All of a sudden, I found myself on-stage doing goofy hand motions to the songs that were being sung. Joel and I just made them up because we were bored at the VBS meeting the day before...2 days later, we're on stage doing the same motions and keeping the kids entertained. That was actually more of my comfort zone...I'm used to being a moron :) But such is the nature of all VBSs...you sign up, and you volunteer wherever you can. So I helped (marginally) with snack time, and led one of the (less-popular) games on Friday. But despite all these minor nicks in the armor, God STILL wasn't done! Oh not at all...on Thursday, I felt the Spirit leading me to present a Gospel message to the kids on the bus. Let me recap a few things. First, I've never really worked with kids before. Second, I've actually never presented a Gospel message on my own. Third, these kids are ROWDY! How are they ever going to pay attention??? But sure enough, here I am on this bus, boldly presenting the story of Jesus and the Good News to these kids who may not have heard it before. And I can say boldly without hint of pride because it was all God working through me...He authored that day and my words. And as expected, I had a hard time keeping them quiet and making them stay attentive, but I looked around and saw 2 or 3 that were REALLY paying attention, so I focused my eyes a lot on them and I think the Lord hit them pretty hard when I was done.

But despite my booming voice, the bus was so loud that not everyone who wanted to hear me were able to hear. So the very next day, I was stretched again. Nehemiah, a little boy going into 2nd grade, sits beside me on the bus. And in his precious little voice, asks me, "Can you tell me the story of Jesus again, like you did yesterday?" I could've hugged him until he couldn't breathe anymore. The fact that he asked that showed me that he had been thinking about it ever since I spoke the previous day. He was trying to meditate on Jesus. Then something became evidently clear...something amazing and awe-inspiring...GOD USED ME!!!! I know my sins and my shortcomings (Psalm 51:3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.), but God chose me to speak to this little boy about Himself despite my shortcomings. I don't believe I ever spoke so boldly and clearly as I did to little Nehemiah. And he soaked in every word that came from the mouth of God through me.

Now getting to my main point, what came out of this week was unforgettable and life-altering. Right now I'm still a guy searching for myself, searching for God, and searching for my true calling and vocation on this earth. I work at a help desk right now in a corporate environment. Something I've learned about the corporate environment is that it's one of the most soul-deadening atmospheres on the planet. There are so many guys that come into work that just look dead when they come in and when they leave. Granted, I don't know their stories. But if I were to judge from how they talk and look, it just looks like they're working for a paycheck because they have to, while killing their souls in the process. It pains me to no end to see this. And all the time I work there, I'm at risk of the same thing. But working for the Lord this week, seeing the energy that flowed through me despite sheer exhaustion, seeing little children learn about God through His words spoken through me, I came out of this week with fire.

Now, fire is mentioned a few times in the Bible. One of my favorite verses to quote is Job 23:10, "But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." When gold is tested, it means that it has to become moldable to be strengthened. And how is gold tested? 1 Peter 1:7, "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." Proverbs 17:3, "The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but they Lord trieth the hearts." Trial by fire...it's a common saying for a reason. We are made strong through being stretched, James 1:2-3 "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience." And we need these fires to make us stronger.

But fire has this nasty tendency of fizzling out. Candles, campfires, even oil candles, they all burn out unless you refuel them somehow. But you know what doesn't always need more fuel? A wildfire! Wildfires are tragic happenings in the world, destroying property and taking lives. However, maybe we need a wildfire in our lives. Personally I know I'm a passionate guy and I can get very frustrated if I feel a fire dying. This week I got a rekindling, but I want it to turn into an all-out wildfire. Even at 4 AM (current time), it's easy to say that I'll go to bed now and finish this tomorrow. But such is the nature of the wildfire...I stay up until this is finished because the Spirit is still burning in me. This can really apply to all aspects of life though. Talking incessantly about my future lady as much as I do, she's going to want a man that is absolutely on fire for the Lord. And I can't be on fire for the Lord just so I can get my wife, but I must be on fire for the Lord ALWAYS, and let the wife come when God brings her in. But I've been so blessed in this past week. God started a wildfire in me and I want to keep fueling it. So it's time to put myself on the frontline. Time to embrace my spiritual gift of leadership in whatever venue I should find myself in. Time to BOLDLY proclaim the story of Jesus. I'm just following the warrior's path to wherever God leads, and right now I'm led to this church. I'm excited after talking with friends tonight because I KNOW something big is going to happen at this church, and I'm going to be a big part of it. I don't know what it's going to be or who it will affect, but God is going to continue to use me in gargantuan ways. So it's time to get out of my comfort zone and make a scene for the Lord, as my man Tedashii says. I struggle with many things...pride, lust, anger, to name a few. But this is God's wildfire, and it's not in me for no reason, and He's going to use me despite AND because of my shortcomings. "Can you tell me the story of Jesus again, like you did yesterday?"

THIS IS WHAT IT'S ABOUT!!!!!! Open up to Christ and dare yourself to be opened up to the wildfire buried in YOU :)

Honor

I somehow knew a blog post would happen after watching Gladiator (for the first time the whole way through? REALLY, past me??? Fail!). Thanks to all who read...please let God speak to you as I try to allow Him to speak through me.

I like to think that I'm a man of principles. A man of strong character and faith. Whether that's true yet or not...well, God's still at work. About 3-4 weeks ago, I bought a sword to hang in my apartment. I wanted something that I could display proudly in my living room, something that reminds me of my warrior spirit. It's now become my second-favorite decoration...my favorite is and will always be an old, decrepit Yankees shirt that my dad wore for an extremely long time...nothing replaces that. But anyway, what's really cool about the sword I bought is that there are three of my favorite words carved into the hilt: courage, honneur, justice. I've studied courage quite a bit and have a solid foundation on that. I am extremely passionate about justice and try to live by that as much as possible. But honor. Y'know, I've never studied it deeply and what I believe about it. What is even cooler is the spelling of the word, and the location on the hilt. Ye Olde English, honneur, located dead center on the hilt, as if it were the key word. So...what of it? (p.s. my writing is very ADD...you'll have to forgive that lol)

As I already said, I'm fresh off of watching Gladiator. As with any movie, I look for spiritual parallels that I can take away from it. The part that really caught my attention was the second time he came face-to-face with the emperor, Commodus. The first was his famous monologue, "My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, blablabla". But the second is after Maximus fights his way through the staged battle after mauling a tiger and a rather gigantic human being. Now you see, there's a difference between Commodus and Maximus...Commodus is a sniveling, spineless coward, Maximus is an honorable warrior. And at this point the gloves are off. Maximus knows that Commodus is trying to kill him. So here's the exchange that caught my eye:

Commodus: What am I going to do with you? You simply won't... die. Are we so different, you and I? You take life when you have to... as I do.
Maximus: I have only one more life to take. Then it is done.
Commodus: Then take it now.
[Maximus pauses, then turns around and walks away]
Commodus: They tell me your son...
[Maximus stops]
Commodus: ...squealed like a girl when they nailed him to the cross. And your wife... moaned like a whore when they ravaged her again and again... and again.
Maximus: The time for honoring yourself will soon be at an end.
[Bows head]
Maximus: Highness.

See that? Maximus doesn't trash talk. He doesn't threaten. He states his duty, then prepares to leave. But the loudmouth keeps running his mouth...tries to get him to react. But Maximus doesn't react in the way Commodus is prodding him. Instead he just quietly says a single line and walks off. To me, this move just screamed honor.

When I saw this, it made me think of Jesus's famous teaching of turning the other cheek, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also" Matthew 5:38-39. Maximus quite literally ran out of cheeks. First Commodus says, "Alright you poser, let's see how tough you are. Go on, strike me down. C'mon chicken...you know you want to." Maximus doesn't say a word and walks away. So the next line of attack is, "OK fine, Mr. Heroic and Humble, trying to play the honor card. Let's see how you like me talking about your wife and son...who, by the way, I humiliated and murdered in cold blood." Maximus turned one cheek and got struck on the other. Having run out, he doesn't retaliate. He just swiftly says one line and walks away...but not before getting in a little cheap shot of his own by mocking Commodus' royal position :)

It's easy to sing hymns such as "Standing On The Promises", but can we sing that and truly stand on them? Here's a difficult one: "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." - Romans 12:29, referencing Deuteronomy 32:35, "To me belongeth vengeance and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste." Let me make an example out of my own life. I have people in my life that absolutely love to take cheap shots at me. People who love to see me react because as I've been told, "Chris, you have the FUNNIEST reactions!" Yeah, lovely. And I'm fine with an occasional mock at me, especially if it makes a laugh for someone. But then it goes too far...it goes into cheap shots about my character and faith, and that's when I begin to feel rage swell up inside of me. "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." It's so hard to keep that! "Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven." - Matthew 18:21-22. It all goes hand-in-hand. To keep going on that, what does the Bible say about people like this? "It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling." - Proverbs 20:3. "A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards." - Proverbs 29:11. Fools. The Bible says that these jabs that are taken at me, they're not even worth my time to respond. So the correct response...well, go back to Matthew 5 and 18.

Now this isn't meant to belittle people or play the whole "sticks and stones" argument. My purpose in writing this is to develop a more honorable lifestyle, one that reflects Christ and the honorable way that HE lived. I just found that the word "honour" is mentioned approximately 178 times in the King James Bible. Something tells me that God thinks it's kinda important. So the question that I get from this is, "Well...what's stopping me?" I tend to think of honor in terms of my own manhood, in learning of how I'm to develop as a man of God. I've always said I want to "wow" my future wife with the way I live, and that comes with being an honorable man of strength. So a song that brought me back to this thought is called Authority by 116 (Christian hip-hop/rap group). The first part of the first verse goes like this: "On the reel, I'm a man / But I guess it's just my gender / When it comes to manhood / Man we leave it to our sisters / What a tragedy, travesty, passive in our actions, living absentee / Stand and wait while asking them to marry me". They're tough words to hear and can be tough to live out. But when focus on honoring God first by living the example of honor Christ set for us, it's not difficult at all. As I said, if I try to live honorably sometimes I get laughed at or put down. But I talked about this in a previous note (Post-Grey), what is our mode of thought and action if we are completely alone, if all of our friends abandon us? Jesus faced that on the cross. Judas betrayed him. Peter disowned him. The rest of them ran away. God the Almighty Father turned His face away from him. Jesus was completely and utterly ALONE. Yet, he died honorably. He knew what he had to do, and as a MAN should, he did it. What a testimony. Simply to be associated with the word "honor", it's worth living so I could have that put on my gravestone. It's worth dying for. If you don't believe me, I'll say it again: 178 times in the King James Bible. God said it, Jesus established it. I have a lot to learn...and a lot more to put into practice. So to answer my question, what's stopping me? There's nothing stopping me. "He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved." - Psalm 62:6. God is preparing me to living humbly and honorably. Praise God for the opportunity to live honorably for His eternal glory.