Sabbath

Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
-Psalm 107:4-9 (emphasis added)

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
-Exodus 20:8-11

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.” (He answered,) "I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
-Matthew 12:1-2,6-8,11-12 (emphasis added)

But for the sake of my name, I brought (the Israelites) out of Egypt. I did it to keep my name from being profaned in the eyes of the nations among whom they lived and in whose sight I had revealed myself to the Israelites. Therefore I led them out of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, by which the person who obeys them will live. Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the Lord made them holy.
- Ezekiel 20:9-12 (emphasis added)

You probably won't read this, I understand. You're probably too busy, I get it. I don't have a tl;dr (too long; didn't read) version of this, maybe I can figure out how to make one.

Or maybe that's the point. Maybe this shouldn't have a tl;dr version and you need to read the whole thing. Maybe this might change your life like it's changing mine.

The whole tl;dr thing fits our current culture perfectly. There is SO much information in our world today and in the online world that there's no way that we can possibly take it all in. So we try to come up with shortcuts to "get the point" of the text before moving on to the next thing. We praise efficiency as the greatest good in our lives so we can do more in the course of a day. Is this what God intended for us?

My wife Sarah and I have started a practice of taking a Sabbath rest. I'll admit, this was primarily her conviction. When she brought this up to me, my thoughts were somewhere in the realm of "Uhhh sure...sounds cool. I mean, it can't hurt. Sounds like a good idea. Why not?" But even when we took our first Sabbath rest together, a LOT of things happened. We prayed together for the first time in years. I actually finished reading a book that I haven't even touched in probably more than 6 months (Sarah commented that she's never seen me actually finish a book. We've been married for 3 years, dating for 5 1/2, and I think she's actually right). The weather was 80 degrees, clear and beautiful, with an awesome thunderstorm that rolled through as a cherry on top. After the storm was the brightest rainbow I'd seen in a long time, probably because I actually took the time to notice it. This was our FIRST Sabbath together.

We were excited to talk to our friends about this day and this practice we've started because of the impact it has already had in our lives. Christian friends and followers of Christ, mind you. What we were met with honestly surprised me. Some folks were joyful for us, but for some we were met with confusion, envy, and to a small extent, derision. "Well, hope you guys enjoy your Sabbath or, whatever, I guess." Wow. Another comment I received was "Gosh, I wish I had time for that." Something that bugs me about these reactions is that this is the fourth of the Ten Commandments! Doesn't it make it sin if we're not observing the Sabbath? Imagine if you were talking with one of your friends and they said "Y'know, I've been thinking a lot recently, and I've decided that I'm gonna stop murdering and cheating on my wife." Would your reaction be "Huh, interesting. Well, hope that works for you."?

So, I'm writing this for a twofold reason. First is for me...this is still very new to me, and I want to reflect on this to define what taking a Sabbath rest looks like for myself. What restores my soul after a weary week? One thing that does that is going the batting cages in the summer...but I wouldn't expect that to restore the soul of a non-athlete or someone who dislikes baseball (let's do lunch, I'll talk you out of that nonsense). But second is to respond to others that either 1) may not understand Sabbath or may hold it in a legalistic light, 2) are "too busy", or 3) would like to start this practice and don't know where to start.

I'll start with a definition of Sabbath. Source: www.sabbathtruth.com: The Hebrew word sabbath literally means “to cease.” Just as God rested from His creation work, we are to rest from our day-to-day occupations and refocus on what’s really important. It’s a day to push the reset button. Taking a Sabbath rest is an act of faith; it’s a reminder that no matter what we do, God is in control. When we cease from pursuing our material goals for one day each week, we’re saying, “God, I trust You to maintain control while I spend this day focusing on You. I trust You to provide for my needs seven days a week even if I only work for six of them. Regardless of how much money I could earn today, or how much remains on my to-do list from last week, today I’m going to rest my mind and body and bask in Your presence.”

One bit of advice that Sarah and I received is that our week should centralize around the Sabbath, not the other way around, where the Sabbath purely exists to prepare for the next exhausting week. We've reframed this in our minds and it truly does make a difference. We work as hard as we can to do our jobs, as well as clean the house, take out the trash, do the laundry and dishes, hit up the grocery store, all BEFORE the Sabbath so that we can rest our minds and bodies on this day. Otherwise we reach our Sabbath day and say "Crap. Guess it's time to do everything before Monday hits." This has even helped our marriage too because we work together to get stuff done. For example, cleaning the house. It is NOT Sarah's "job" to clean the house, however she has a higher standard of a clean house than what I have typically had (Dusting? What's that?), so she has typically done it. But now that we do Sabbath together, when it's house-cleaning time we're both running around and making sure things get done. We work together so we can rest together...I think that's how marriages should work, right?

So here's the thing when it comes to being too busy...EVERYONE is busy. No one's life is easy. Even as I sit here, I can think of a bunch of things I can do to stay busy and fill my time rather than forcing myself to take rest and connect with my Savior. But let me ask a few questions. When is that ever going to change for you? And IF it ever does, what are you going to do with all of your free time that magically became available for you? Are you going to actually consider taking a Sabbath, or are you going to "do all of those things you couldn't do because you were too busy before"?

Everyone's situation is different, I know. I'm only married, have a 9-5 job, and have no kids. Other people have 5 kids. Other people do schooling. Other people work 3 jobs. But God didn't make those exceptions when He issued His Commandment. No matter what situation we're in, we ALL need Sabbath rest. Go back to the definition from sabbathtruth.com. "Taking a Sabbath is an act of faith; it's a reminder that no matter what we do, God is in control." I emphasized parts of Psalm 107 for a reason...when we don't rest ourselves from toiling, our lives waste away. Only God can satisfy our souls. How can we possibly use our external circumstances to say "Hang on God, I just gotta get through this one thing. Stick around, I'll be right with you."? How wrong is that! Guys, Christ called Himself "Lord of the Sabbath" because he is the Lord of work, the Lord of rest, and the Lord of this small world.

So for those that want to and recognize that they need to start this practice, and for me who's still shaping what this day looks like, here's what I've got.

First, we can't think of this as legalistic as the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law did. The question to ask is not "I need to avoid work...what qualifies as work so I make sure I'm not doing it?" but "What are things that restore my soul and connect with God? THOSE are the things I need to do." Few examples...if someone works construction every day, they're probably going to want to stay indoors, maybe take a nap, spend plenty of time in prayer, and read if they enjoy doing that. But for me, I'm a software programmer...my life during the week is on a computer writing code. I don't get much time outdoors, so I might want to go for a run or to the aforementioned batting cages. Those are things that allow me to connect with God WHILE moving my body. No matter what, if something is restorative to your soul and allows you to commune with God, do it!

Today is my Sabbath, and as you can tell, I'm on my computer. It's even my work computer, mainly because it's faster and easier than everything else I own. Typically I want to disengage from all forms of technology because I know that's good for me. I spend FAR too much time on my phone...checking baseball scores, checking out my fantasy baseball team, playing other games, you name it. So I leave my phone in my bedroom for the day. And even though I have my work computer, my email is closed, I'm obviously not writing code right now, and I only have 3 other tabs in Chrome open: google music, biblegateway.com, and sabbathtruth.com. So I'm allowing myself today to be plugged into some form of technology so that I can write a blog post that will benefit myself and hopefully others. But this specifically allows God to speak to others through these words, and allows God to speak to me by forming my thoughts around this holy day. The point I'm trying to make is that even though I work on a computer every day, I shouldn't legalistically avoid it because it's an inherent evil, but rather I've discovered something that allows my soul to experience God, and if that experience occurs through my computer then so be it!

Friends, please read this as my encouragement for you to partake in the Sabbath. I'm not trying to come across in any sort of way...my true desire for this post is to have our collective eyes opened to the gift God has given us in the Sabbath. Often we view the Ten Commandments as a drill sergeant listing off some bullet points that we need to follow or else. But God spoke the Ten Commandments into existence for the GOOD of His people. I don't have to debate with anyone that murder, lying, stealing, and adultery are bad...honestly, duh. But these Commandments are a loving service to us because God knows exactly what our souls need. This isn't just a guideline...our souls need Sabbath rest.

If you love me, keep my commands.
-John 14:15

The fight of my life

Tonight I had a revelation.

The Biggest Loser is one of my favorite shows on TV right now. It's inspirational to me to see people fighting for their own lives, literally. After each episode, I feel like all I want to do is immediately change my life, get back to the gym, eat right, yada yada. I even got the chance to talk to one of the winners of the show when he came to visit my gym a year ago, so he told me of the drama that goes on behind the scenes, but the show is inspirational nonetheless. This past episode was the traditional "makeover week", where the final contestants get new clothes, hairstyles, and match their wardrobe to their new body shape. There was one moment on this episode that I don't want to forget, which was with my favorite contestant, David. David reminds me a lot of myself, minus the fact that he started the show at 400 pounds. He's a quirky guy, yet passionate. He loves his wife and his daughters, is a romantic at heart, and he has a picture of 2 nails tattooed across his heart to symbolize that he has the heart of a warrior. So yes, he's a little crazy, which is why he reminds me of myself! But he's got a fire in him that shows in every episode...he doesn't quit and in his own weight-loss way, he fights with a Braveheart-like passion. But this moment I don't want to forget came when he saw his family for the first time after his makeover. His wife and daughters came up the stairs, and the look that was on the face of his middle daughter simply pierced my heart. It was a look of ecstasy, shock, and joy. And of course they all burst into tears. What made it more inspirational was that his middle daughter said to him before the show that she had a dream of a man that was her dad that looked completely happy and healthy. And he just whispered in her ear "Do you remember that dream? Did it look something like this?" It was a great moment. But that look...I thought "I want to make someone have that look too".

After the show was over, I played connect-the-dots in my head. In order for someone to have that look on their face, I have to be inspirational. I've always had a desire to be an inspiration and to make a genuine impact of others' lives. I remember my own life mentor telling me how much he enjoys mentoring others, and I found that same joy in mentoring as well. Being a proper inspiration to others and mentoring requires a lot. Above all, it takes a constant and unwavering faith in the person of God. But in my life, I find this manifested in being consistent and being strong; having a consistent prayer life and devotional time, a selfless heart of service, and maintaining a constant face through life's trials. One thing I've written in the past, and have mentioned in other blogposts, is the temptation of mediocrity. The temptation of just coasting through life with a ho-hum attitude, not getting in anyone's way and just keeping to yourself in silent resignation. God didn't call us to a life filled with bills to pay, laundry to do, and groceries to get, even though these are still things that need to be done. But the dots I connected made me realize something. My desire to be an inspiration is suppressed by the vice of mediocrity. And that was my revelation:

I'm under attack.

My parents bought me a small devotional for Christian called "Prayer Warrior". I've been slowly reading through it...there are about 50-some written prayers specifically geared toward spiritual warfare. The first three sections are about understanding that there's a war and we're in it, knowing who our Commander is, and recognizing that our enemy is real. When I think of inspiration/mediocrity in the terms of this spiritual war, it allows me to realize just what is happening. I know what my desire is, and I want to do what I desire. But for some nonsensical reason, I do exactly the opposite. Satan is attacking my heart and causing me to be the opposite of what I want to be. It reminds me of the famous "do" passage in Romans 7: "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it." Complicated in word, but fairly simple in thought: We do what don't want to do, and we don't do what we DO want to do, all because of our sinful nature. Satan is the father of lies, the great deceiver. I know who I am, I know who God made me to be. Mediocrity doesn't define me.

Yes, I may get upset at work. I may grow lazy and lay around rather than going to the gym. But this is why I LOVE Proverbs 24:16: "for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes." So even though I don't feel like a righteous man, there is no doubt in my mind that I'm saved. I'm going to Heaven someday. Not through anything that I did, but because the Holy Spirit is in me. This is my weapon in this very real war, the Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God - Ephesians 6:17. There is only one way that anyone can achieve what they desire: submit to the grace of God and let Him lead. Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart - Psalm 37:4. I have a beautiful girl to fight for...that has been the desire of my heart for years, and now I have it. Her face is the one where I want to see that look of ecstasy, joy, and shock. I want to inspire her. So the fight of my life, as dramatic as it may sound, is real. Satan tried to steal my heart from me, and now I'm fighting to get it back.

No one is invincible in this life and no one has it all together. Friends, God has called you to a life full of joy (John 10:10). If there is a vice trying to hold you back, it is from Satan. I'm praying for anyone that reads this...eliminate your vices and let God be your Commander. Let Him show you an abundant life in ALL circumstances and phases of life.

Reflections and challenges on the Eve #3

Merry Christmas everyone! This is my third year doing my Christmas Eve post, so please enjoy reading!

My thought actually came a few weeks ago. It's simply this: Do we recognize Jesus? "Well sure we do...He's that little porcelain baby on my coffee table." We recognize Christmas as a celebration not of commercialism but of Christ's birth. Even non-believers get annoyed at the crazy commercialism of Christmas and recognize that there is something more to this holiday (Why are churches packed on Christmas Eve?). But do we really see Jesus for who He is and was? Do we decorate Him in lights? Do we act like Him? We have some work to do...

Last night in church, 4 people came up to the podium and gave their life testimonies, people from different stages of life. Our senior pastor also gave a quick testimony, saying "I've always thought myself as...average. I'm not incredibly athletic, not incredibly smart or good-looking, I'm just, average." But he used this to say that the angels that came to announce Jesus did not come to kings. They didn't come to high-ranking members of society. They came to shepherds. They came to these outcast, dirty, average, shepherds. Why is this important?

Imagine the scene where Jesus was. Here is Joseph and his 14-year old wife in labor with a child not of his blood. The two of them are likely staying with Joseph's family in Bethlehem, since they had to go back for Caesar's decreed census (Luke 2:1). Now multiple translations in verse 7 use the word "inn". I really have no idea why inn was used, but it paints a different picture in our American minds. The greek here is "kataluma" which is more accurate to mean "guest quarters". Most Jewish houses had guest quarters that were separate from the main rooms of the house, and with everyone returning to Bethlehem for census, it's easy to see why the house would be packed initially. So Mary goes out to the guest area where all the animals also sleep (hence the animals at nativity) and gives birth there. And of course Mary needs a crib of some kind or somewhere to lay Jesus...oh look, a feeding trough! And there lay Jesus. Eventually the shepherds came and the magi came to present their gifts. But even though the magi, these men of high position, came with gift of gold and myrrh and incense, my point is this: Jesus' birth was HUMBLE.

The point of this post is highlighted in the following verse. Matthew 11:29 - "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." I asked earlier if we truly recognize Jesus. When the true picture of Jesus' birth is painted, Brandon Heath's song Jesus In Disguise comes to mind: "Jesus in disguise, a scar across the sky. You were looking for a king you would never recognize." When we read the Christmas story, we as Americans tend to "Americanize" and "Hollywood" the real Christmas story. Why? Why can't we accept the birth of Christ as is? Well, because we're looking for a king we wouldn't recognize. We prefer the Revelation version of Jesus...the one who comes with an iron fist and pounds Satan to a pulp before sending him to the lake of fire. We don't recognize the one who came humbly, lived humbly, and used love as his main weapon. Take away the Bible from our minds just for a second, and imagine that we don't know Jesus. What is our first thought when we see this man have dinner with prostitutes? What do we think when we see him visiting disease-ridden lepers, the outcasts of society, the men that no one wants to be bothered with? My first thought would probably be "Ew." Think if we were members of our middle-class society, which we mostly are, and saw a 14-year old girl get pregnant to a respected elder in our church, unmarried. Christians AND non-Christians, isn't our snap reaction to judge them first? Mary, you whore. Way to knock her up, Joseph. News flash...through all of the jeers of society, that's how our king was born. Not in a royal palace, but in a feeding trough. He didn't dine with kings, he dined with the hated members of society. I'm not exempt from all of this...I've visited a homeless shelter all of once in my entire life, on a required field trip at school to sing Christmas carols and give gifts. I'm sitting comfortably in my apartment, I've shelled out about $500 on Christmas gifts this season, and not a dime of it went to feed someone hungry or homeless. Do I recognize Jesus?

Christmas is one day per year, and we have 364 days until the next one. The "Christmas spirit" will certainly fade as it always does, but we need to have the hearts to love others, because we're no better than the "outcasts". There was one other testimony in our Christmas eve service that was especially driving but I didn't get a chance to share it here. The man who gave his testimony spoke with a very business-like tone, was somewhere around 30-35, was in a full business suit, and opened with a very driving statement which is what I close with:

"Hey you. Yeah, you with the smart phone. Put down your game of solitaire for a second and listen to what I have to say. I didn't want to be up here, but I'm here. And certainly you can take a break for just a few minutes to listen to me. And I say this to you, because I AM you. Whatever list of sins you have, mine are worse."

Everyone, let's lead the example of Jesus. Whether it's family, friends, or complete strangers, love others and love God. Merry Christmas everyone...this day our Savior is born!

#IWILL

Often, companies (or just people) will put out motivational sayings; little quips to keep us going through whatever trial we find ourselves in. #IWILL is Under Armour's current motivational campaign. On their website, they have a few quotes and pictures of athletes doing some crazy things. One quote on the site is from Julio Jones, wide receiver for the Atlanta Falcons, "When the ball's in the air, nobody brings it down but me. #IWILL". Another is from Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, "Every single day, you have to have a relentless will to be something greater than what you are. #IWILL". Last is from my favorite running back in the NFL, Houston Texans running back Arian Foster, "I mentally push myself through so much pain that, by gametime, it's second nature. #IWILL".

#IWILL has become a slogan for my own life recently, even though I haven't necessarily lived it every day. #IWILL is a very sincere callout to anyone who chooses to accept it. The life that we live is tough, and being a Christian sometimes makes this life even tougher. As a Christian, people around me will judge me because I choose not to party and get drunk. As a Christian, I believe in absolute right and absolute wrong, which makes me have to resist what we refer to as "sin". Now, I have an eternal joy and an eternal hope ("But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." - John 4:14). I have the hope that I will enter heaven, be given a new body, and will experience the beauty and power of God to the fullest degree. That's my hope. But I live in a backwards world where hope is laughable, and happiness is sometimes hard to come by. So how do we still maintain the mindset of joy in this fallen world? How do we continue to live in a world that we KNOW is going to laugh at us for having hope? Read the title again.

I WILL do this. I WILL love others. I WILL worship my God. I WILL. It's a challenge to everyone, but it's a challenge especially to me as a man of God. I'm reminded of the long quote at the end of Courageous: "You don't have to ask who will guide my family, because by God's grace, I will. You don't have to ask who will teach my son to follow Christ, because I will. Who will accept the responsibility of providing and protecting my family? I will. Who will ask God to break the chain of destructive patterns in my family's history? I will. Who will pray for, and bless my children to boldly pursue whatever God calls them to do? I am their father. I WILL!" Any man of God should have the cry of "I will" in their life. Sanctus Real's song "Lead Me" is chock full of the passionate cries of "I will". A wife calling her husband out to lead, his children calling him out to lead and be their hero, and the husband crying out to God and begging for the strength to lead them. I have my own battles to fight. I have a girlfriend who calls me out every day to be the spiritual leader of our relationship, and that is not something I can afford to take lightly.

Truth be told, I've been working on this blogpost for awhile. In fact, the last time I wrote on this specific post was about 2 months ago. #IWILL...do it later, I suppose. In fact, I still have 3 other blogposts that are waiting to be finished just because I apparently don't have the drive to finish them up. But this relates well to the warning that goes along with this whole thought, and one thing that we have to gracefully accept. #IWILL...fail. We live in this fallen world where nothing is perfect. No matter how much drive we shove into an activity, we'll always fall short if we're not striving toward the correct goal. Listen to Ecclesiastes 2:22-23: "What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless." Whoa. That's in the Bible?? The book of hope and joy?? Sure is...and the author? Unknown, but widely accepted as the wisest man in the Bible, King Solomon. So the wisest man in the Bible is saying that our toil, our work, is meaningless? Ecclesiastes 1:3, "What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?" However, throughout the book Solomon maintains a tone of sarcasm and pessimism, ultimately teaching us that all that we do is meaningless if we are not working for our Creator. Ecclesiastes 10:17-18, "Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth and whose princes eat at a proper time—for strength and not for drunkenness. Through laziness, the rafters sag; because of idle hands, the house leaks." Solomon is telling us that all that we do is meaningless unless we purpose our actions for Christ.

But even though we purpose our actions for Christ, we will still fail, being fallible humans. And God knows it. God knows we will always be tempted, will always stray from Him, will always break His commandments and sin against Him. But Proverbs 24:16 states, "For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief." Even a just man, a righteous man, will continue to fail. I consider myself a man of God and a born again Christian, but I will continue to fall. The question is not IF I will get back up; Proverbs states that I will. The question is HOW I will get up. People that try to simply pull themselves up by their bootstraps are just doomed to trip and fall on their face again. Trust me, I've tried it far too many times. The way to get back up is by saying "#IWILL trust You, God." We can't pull ourselves up...we've been trying it since Adam's bite of fruit in Genesis 3. We need God. We need His love, we need His power, and darn it we just need to worship Him for all that He is and all He can do for us. But we have to do our part. God's not going to open the Bible, glue our butts to a seat and shove our nose in the book until we read it cover to cover. This is where we have to push ourselves. I've used this excerpt before, but this from the life of Winston Churchill: "A professional author said to [him] that he couldn't write unless the 'mood' came on him. The great statesman replied: 'NO! Shut yourself in your study from nine to one and make yourself write. Prod yourself! Kick yourself! It's the only way.'" God's going to meet us where we're at, but we have to meet Him too.

Everyone has something that is standing in their way of something they want. So get up and go get it! Myself, I've been missing a deep connection with God for awhile now. To say I haven't really prayed recently or even read my Bible in awhile would be an overstatement. But #IWILL. If I were to add a small slogan to add to Under Armour's website, here's what it would be at this stage of my life:

I have goals to achieve, I have a beautiful girl whose heart I need to fight for every day, and I have a mission from God. This is mine to bear, and I won't let anyone take my God-given duties. #IWILL

A biblical exploration of stress

What do you do when you don't know where else to turn?

Stress. Does anyone ACTUALLY want stress? Of course not. But, stress happens. It's a fact of life and of the world we live in. Family, relationships, friends, jobs, other responsibilities and circumstances...the world we live in can get pretty overwhelming. We're sitting here sometimes even in pain of stress, and we don't know how to handle it. So I have three questions to ask that need a true biblical answer. Why do we get stressed? Who do we rely on? How do we beat it? Having an answer to these would certainly help with living in this crazy world. So let's dive in.

First question: Why do we get stressed? As usual, I provide my own life for example. I've been a Christian for about 13 years now (holy crap...that's crazy). My Christian life has been a pretty big roller coaster of spiritual ups and downs. 6th grade through 11th grade I was never living for the Lord with my passionate heart. A retreat changed me in 12th grade and I got on fire for God. Went through freshman and sophomore years in college on a small decline. Got through fall of junior year just fine. Then, spring semester of junior year happened...possibly the most awful time in my life. I don't even know how I got the way I did. Requirements for my 5 classes stressed me beyond belief. I'd say no to activities, I'd pull all-nighters and crazy long work days, and I just wasn't healthy. My parents were worried that my mindset was suicidal. My girlfriend at the time even said it had been a month since she had seen me smile. I even remember one night where Bill was scared to come in the bedroom because of my demeanor and the music I was listening to (Korn, Disturbed, Linkin Park, etc). So WHY was I so stressed? I ran out of time to do things. My life became work and the commitments around me. I shoved God to the side...I didn't have time for Him. So I shouldered the load and look where it got me, into the darkest pit of my life. And for what? So I could meet a college deadline? And how much of that really matters in the light of eternity? The stress and the proverbial "light at the end of the tunnel" just isn't worth it. "Oh, I'll have more time to enjoy life once THIS is out of my hair". News flash, boys and girls...there's always going to be something in life trying to steal our time.

So the answer to why we get stressed is simply because we let Satan let us get stressed. But, but...family crap! And job stuff! Stop it. "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." - 1 Peter 5:8. Could we maybe say that stresses could also be referred to as temptations? You see, there's something interesting about Jesus' life. Through all the memoirs that are the Gospels, they provide pretty good detail about the stresses/temptations of his life. Starting in Matthew 4 when he wandered through the wilderness and fasted for 40 days, and let me stop there for a second. Fasting for 40 days?! Not eating for a month and a half?! The Bible doesn't articulate EXACTLY what he did, but 40 days of that would literally be some kind of hell on earth. Yet Jesus was peaceful. He was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted/tested by Satan. And he responded to Satan and drove him away. Moving forward to Gethsemane, where Luke 22:44 says "And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground". Jesus knew he was about to be crucified, and a man not turning to God would completely shatter under this stress. Not the Lord. Jesus was not going to let Satan be a part of this scene. We always refer to Matthew 4 as Jesus' temptation. What we fail to realize is how much Jesus was tempted beyond that. This scene was a temptation. Jesus could have panicked and fled for the hills. But he knelt down, turned his eyes to the heavens, and the man sweat blood in his prayer. Did God reward him? Not necessarily. See, Jesus' circumstances didn't change, but his focus was on the Father. Jesus was stressed, but his soul was at peace.

Next question: Who do we rely on? I would answer it with one word, but that's no fun. So again from my own life. Junior year of college, I relied on myself. Even in team projects, which ended up being a total mess that year, I took a large part of the projects on myself and I ended up a mess. I was so stressed and couldn't handle it that I even threw up from the stress. It was absolutely awful. And again...for what? That semester weighs nothing on eternity. And now I have that memory instead of an enjoyable one. We can rely on others, but we all fail each other from day to day. No one has it all together, no matter how much it looks. I know people that I almost idolized at one point or another. They seemed to be living a great and happy life, they were great role models, people respected them, and everything looked great. Then I learned about things they struggled with. They sometimes even beat out my own stressful experiences. As the famous song says "we all need somebody to lean on". And we SHOULD lean on others; God made us relational beings. But we can never put the entirety of our faith in another person, or we'll end up in the pit I was in.

So the one-word answer to who we rely on is, of course, God. "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." - 1 Peter 5:7. "The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." - Isaiah 58:11. "For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." - Matthew 6:32-34. It's everywhere in the Bible. "Do not fear." "Do not worry." It's been said that there are 365 "fear nots" in the Bible. I've never looked for myself, but I know there are plenty to hold you over. And I know it's dangerous to take verses out of their original context. But put these verses back in their original context, and you'll see exactly what kinds of stresses these people were in. They likely outweigh your stresses. Rely on God first, He's made promises that He will keep.

The last question feels to me that it's been answered: how do we beat it? How did Jesus beat Satan in Matthew 4? How did Jesus beat Satan in Luke 22? He quoted Scripture. He prayed. He was completely in tune with Headquarters, completely immersed in the will of His Father. And that's how we beat this. We read. We pray. We seek God and grow close to Him as He grows close to us. As Jeremy Camp sings, "Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you. He's near to the broken and confused. By His stripes, our spirit is renewed. So enter in the joy prepared for you." - Healing Hand of God. And Jesus says "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30. "Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber...very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep...the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." - John 10:1,6,10.

One last thing. Jesus came to give us life more abundantly, and to the full. But we're in this life full of stresses and ridiculousness. Yet God made the promise "God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it." - 1 Corinthians 10:13. So I made the argument that these stresses and temptations come from Satan, and not God ("When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone" - James 1:13). But tell me this. How is a diamond, either natural or synthetic, formed? The answer is that we take pure carbon (found in common graphite a.k.a. pencil lead), subject it to INTENSE heat and pressurization, bring it to a very quick cooling stage, and voila, a diamond. So...feeling the heat of life? Feeling pressured? Look to the heavens for a moment...God might be trying to do something with you. God always has a purpose for every moment of your life. Diamonds are flawless, and that's what God is trying to make us. We just have to seek Him first. And don't take any of this from me, I'm just another flawed and stressed human being. Take it from the perfect Word that God gave to us. He won't fail you, you just have to come to the surface and let Him cool you off.

What do you do when you don't know where else to turn? Let God make you into a diamond. Trust Him.

Why I Love Lightning

Because a Facebook status simply doesn't suffice! :)

What brings you closer to God? I'm sure a lot of things do. Reading the Bible. Praying. Doing good works. Even tragedies. Losing loved ones. Going through trials. The list can go on. But for me, it's lightning storms. Obviously, almost everyone enjoys beautiful, sunshiney weather. Rewarding work can be done outside, games can be played (especially baseball), and many other things. Others enjoy rain, just from the peacefulness that it brings as it flies through leaves on a tree. And you haven't lived until you've heard that rain falling on a tin roof. Still others enjoy snow. Peaceful, undisturbed snow is one of God's greatest beauties here on earth. As for me, I honestly don't care too much for rain or snow. I don't make it a secret that I'm a boy of the summer and I enjoy the sunshine. But at the end of a sunshiney day, I'd trade it away just to sit on a porch and watch God show off through a lightning storm.

Tonight I was at Sarah's place for awhile, and was leaving just as lightning started flashing and rolling thunder could be heard in the distance. Once I realized that storm was in the direction of my apartment, I FLEW home...of course, not before getting stuck behind the slowest of drivers. But anyway. I know some people can get scared of thunderstorms. Some don't like the loud bangs, yeah I get that. I know even others that had traumatic experiences with lightning...one of my childhood friends had lightning hit their chimney. And it's rare, but people die from lightning strikes too. But nonetheless, I haven't been traumatized and loud thunderclaps don't bother me. I LOVE thunderstorms! So I got home and began my thunderstorm tradition. I got my phone out and queued up Revelation Song by Phillips Craig & Dean. I ran into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of red wine...ONLY red wine will do, white wine simply doesn't suffice. I pulled up my chair on my porch, started playing the song on repeat, had a sip here and there, and just sat and watched.

Now I get excited during thunderstorms because, like I said, I like to watch God show off. Tonight was different. God wasn't just showing off. God was SHOWING OFF! Tonight these weren't just low rumblings and occasional white lights across the sky. These were bolts flying from the heavens down to earth. I remember seeing one that was so bright, it burned onto my retina for about 5 minutes. Every time I blinked, I could see the outline of this staggered bolt of glory. Wow. And just when I think the show was coming to a close...BANG! A huge claw-shaped bolt touches down and sends a huge crack through the sky. Those were the two that I remember most, and man were they beautiful.

Why do I love lightning storms so much? Well, I originally asked what brings us closer to God? To me, lightning storms are such a clear and tangible indication that God is here. So often we get the feeling that God is so distant and we can't connect with Him, so whenever I see lightning I rush out to meet Him there. I wrote something similar about this in the past, and I quoted Psalm 29:3, "The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters." Every time I heard that thunderclap, God was saying "Here I am." It leaves me awestruck because of how big God is. A thunderclap isn't something that seems to come from the east or west, THIS direction or THAT direction, but it surrounds you. It's all around you. Whenever I hear that sound, I feel my eyes scan the entire sky because God is EVERYWHERE! Occasionally I would just close my eyes and let my other senses take everything in. These crazy thunderclaps would send chills down my spine and make goosebumps rise up instantly. Even a cold rain came and pelted me for a little while on my porch. The music truly added to it though. I have three favorite songs from Phillips Craig and Dean, "Revelation Song", "Great I Am", and "When the Stars Burn Down". I like them so much because they are beautiful, but they also have an eerie sense to them. I feel like these would be songs played as I'm approaching the throne of God. "Holy holy holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come" - Revelation Song. "Hallelujah, holy holy, God Almighty, the Great I Am. Who is worthy? None beside thee. God Almighty, the Great I Am" - Great I Am. "Blessing and honor and glory and power forever to our God" - When the Stars Burn Down. All of this just adds to an extraordinary experience.

Tonight I found myself quoting Jeremiah 32:17, "Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee." In this crazy life we live, I'm glad God gives us reminders that He's still here with us. God still has time for us as individuals and cares for us to our heart's deepest level, even while He roars just a small portion of His power through all of His creation. This is a truly awesome God we serve.

Like I said, a Facebook status simply doesn't suffice. I'm so thankful for the various things that God uses to bring us closer to His glory. We don't deserve that. We don't deserve to be anywhere near His glory, not in the sinful state that we're in. Even Christians go through life sometimes and forget to care about our relationship with God. It seems like a shame that God has to remind us so often just what a great God He is. But we're not perfect, He knows that. There's only one perfect being, and He's real. And thunderstorms may not bring you closer to God like they do with me, and you may not like thunderstorms at all. That's fine. I don't like spiders, but I have to remember that God created them, so they are good. Just remember that God is in thunderstorms and speaking through them. Don't be afraid to listen and I promise there is a wonderful experience to be had by witnessing just the smallest percentage of God's awesome beauty and power. And whatever brings you closer to God, find it and worship Him through it.

"The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire. Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them." - Psalm 18:13-14

"O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds Thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed! Then sings my soul, my savior God to Thee, How great Thou art, How great Thou art!" - How Great Thou Art (my 2nd favorite hymn)

Will you take me as I am?

Ever have that thought that keeps you up at night and won't let you go to sleep? That's why I'm here right now.

The thought on my mind has to do with sin and forgiveness. Recently I've been struggling with something. A friend of mine committed a sin...it's a pretty blatant sin if we're defining it biblically, which is how we define sin anyway. The thing that has been bugging me about it is that no one really seems to care or take it too seriously. I've talked to a few friends about it and have mostly been getting a "eh, whatever" reaction. Because I feel dumbfounded about it, I do what I do best...I get frustrated about it. So I've been struggling for awhile with this and tonight God reached me and gave me a beautiful thought.

First of all, sin is sin. Murder, rape, lying, stealing, it's sin and it's breaking God's law, causing a rift in our holy relationship. "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" - James 2:10. But because of these circumstances surrounding the sin of my friend, I gave into temptation as well and also sinned. My sin was judgment, lack of forgiveness and compassion, pride, anger, among other things I'm sure. Even though all sins separate us from God, we still "rank" them. Murder is worse than lying, rape is worse than stealing, and so on. I don't know if that's right or wrong, but that's not what I want to focus on. My sin separated me from God as much as my friend's sin did. My friend's sin is ranked high on my "list" of sins, which is why I became angry.

Did I do much to help the situation? No, not really. I was frustrated and I let that affect me and others. But God led me to a song that I've been listening to all night: "Take Me As I Am" by Lecrae. I'm not even joking when I say that every syllable of every word in this song is convicting to me. The chorus can sum it up: "Will You take me as I am? / I know the way I'm livin' is wrong / I wonder, how could You love me when my life's so ugly / but You came down and died for me / Will you take me as I am?" That, along with the end of the first verse: "I thought at first I had to clean up my life / Now I'm hearin' I just need to cling to the light / I'm ready to do it, but Lord I pray you understand, / My life is a mess. Will you take me as I am?" This song is incredibly powerful. It shows the desperate and depraved state that we're in and that we can do nothing to bring ourselves out of it. Shamed, we avoid God, thinking we have to somehow try to make ourselves pure before entering His presence. Isaiah certainly thought so. "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." - Isaiah 6:5. Adam certainly thought so too. "And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." - Genesis 3:10. They experienced shame because of the state that they were in. But God answers: "Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." - Isaiah 6:6-7. He answers again: "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." - Hebrews 4:16. Because of the love of God, we're now free to enter into His presence, which is exactly what God wants. He wants us to love Him and be close to Him. Unashamed, for all is forgiven.

The song, the verses. What is God saying? "Alright. I'm done with it! It's in the past. We're forgetting about it. We're moving on. We've dealt with it." That's what God is saying through these words. We had a guest evangelist at my church last Sunday who told us to "have a funeral" for our sins. We are alive in Christ and dead to sin, therefore we can bury our sin six feet under...not forgetting it, but learning from it and forsaking it.

And if God is up somewhere in the heavens forgiving sins and moving on...shouldn't I do the same? Why should I sit here and continue to judge and be frustrated? Surely my sins aren't any better or worse than someone else's, especially with this plank in my eye as Jesus says I have. That doesn't necessarily mean I should flat-out ignore it when someone sins. That's not helping them grow closer to God. Sins should be addressed and discussed biblically, and work put in to avoid the sin in the future. But if it is dealt with and repentance is gained, that should be the end of it. A true definition of forgive and forget.

I'm certainly not saying I have an all-wise handle on this (especially at 2:16am, current time). But no matter what sin we commit, we can always come to God with it and He will take us just as we are because He sees us at the heart and loves us. We're not defined by the sin we commit...we are defined by exactly what God tells us we are. My definition is White Knight because God told me that's what I am. But even the strongest of Christ's warriors sin on a daily basis. And in light of this, Colossians 3:12-13 states "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." I'm so glad for this message from God. Since God takes us just as we are, we should take our brother and sister just as they are. Not judgmental, not angry, but with all that Colossians states. My friends, I screw up on a daily basis, and if I'm your friend I will let each and every one of you down because I am imperfect. Will you please take me as I am, and ask me to do the same for you just as God does for us?