What's possible in faith in Christ?
Let's look at Paul. Paul said the life he lived he lived by faith in Christ. Take a minute and soak that in. We live by faith in Christ.....Paul did some crazy cool stuff with God.
Let's remember what Jesus said. Jesus says in Matthew 10: 24 “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters.
It is possible to be like Jesus on this earth. But how?
Several things: consecration (aka not grieving and not quenching the Spirit from a place of resting in grace) and being in the word---2 Tim. 2:20-22, 2 Tim 3:16, Titus 2:11-14, Eph. 4:30, 1 Thess. 5:19).
Samuel was set apart for service to God from birth, and grew in favor with the Lord and with the people (1 Sam. 2:26)...and after this, God did not let a single word he spoke fall to the ground 1 Sam. 3:19.
As the disciples went about preaching the Gospel, God confirmed what they said with signs and wonders (Mark 16:20).
Monday, April 22, 2013
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Order and a Rule of Life
It has been a long time since I've posted something here. Frankly, my lack of writing was mostly a result of searching and trying to develop the right order or rhythm of my life, and while my life hasn't quite seen the full the full fruition of order, I'm farther along than when I first started. So I'd like to pick up here with this post; the order of my life and the goals that I've been setting to get there.
So, what's order? In short, I'm agreeing with the many others who that order is objective or something that transcends this world and is not subjective. There are definitely different levels of order but I'm not looking to be apologetic in this post as much as I just want to use it to explain where I've been growing in bringing order to my life. Hopefully, you will just accept my position, that order is passionate agreement to God's desires for life (if you don't think so, disagree with me in the comments below). If you're on board with that, then I'll add the obvious that God's desires are effectively summed up in a single command: Love God and people.
From this place of thinking about God's order being for us to love him to love people, I've in turn been trying to develop some more discipline and structure in pursuing this. This may sound too cerebral or heartless to those who are "more free-spirited" but even in just glancing over society I think we have to conclude that it's pretty apparent discipline is huge in healthy relationships and life as a whole. Think about exercising for the athlete, or scheduled date nights for married couples, or monotonous scale playing and technique honing for performers and artists. All of them take intentional, disciplined, regimented routes of pursuit towards greater passion for their respective relationship or skill. With Love for God and People it is no different; discipline is a must.
Ergo, in light of this fact, I've been seeking to build into my life specific activities of discipline to intentionally grow in love for God and people based upon principles in God's word. Things like: mediating on God's love daily to start the day for at least 15 mins as a means of receiving his love (1 John 4:19, Phil. 4:8), intentionally serving someone once a week, and attempting to hash out and resolve the "heart issues" with God as they arise each day. As I pursue these disciplined and specific goals to help me further intimacy with God and people, I'll be reflecting on them week from week and noting what has been interesting.
This week I won't talk about them a ton, but I do want to share with you a very simple but helpful thing that my revival group pastor shared with me this week. I believe he found the following tidbit in the 7 Habits of an Effective Leader book? I'm not sure, but basically it is tool for helping you achieve and delineate goals called the SMART acronym ...(again unsure of the lingo?). But anyhow, the important thing is that I've found this tool effective and maybe you will too. So here it is if you want to use it! In SMART, The "S" stands for specific--sum up your goal in one sentence, the "M" for measurable---how do you know when you've reached the goal?, the "A" attainable---it should not be dependent on anyone else, the "R" relevant---of all your goals you have where does this goal fit in, and "T" for time specific, what is you time limit and by when or how will you know if you've obtained your goal?
I wanted to share this with you because if you're anything like me, you have times where you realize you need to make a change in your life, and you really want to, but then you either hit snags along the way or you aren't even sure how to get started. Hopefully, this acronym will be helpful for you as it has for me!
So, what's order? In short, I'm agreeing with the many others who that order is objective or something that transcends this world and is not subjective. There are definitely different levels of order but I'm not looking to be apologetic in this post as much as I just want to use it to explain where I've been growing in bringing order to my life. Hopefully, you will just accept my position, that order is passionate agreement to God's desires for life (if you don't think so, disagree with me in the comments below). If you're on board with that, then I'll add the obvious that God's desires are effectively summed up in a single command: Love God and people.
From this place of thinking about God's order being for us to love him to love people, I've in turn been trying to develop some more discipline and structure in pursuing this. This may sound too cerebral or heartless to those who are "more free-spirited" but even in just glancing over society I think we have to conclude that it's pretty apparent discipline is huge in healthy relationships and life as a whole. Think about exercising for the athlete, or scheduled date nights for married couples, or monotonous scale playing and technique honing for performers and artists. All of them take intentional, disciplined, regimented routes of pursuit towards greater passion for their respective relationship or skill. With Love for God and People it is no different; discipline is a must.
Ergo, in light of this fact, I've been seeking to build into my life specific activities of discipline to intentionally grow in love for God and people based upon principles in God's word. Things like: mediating on God's love daily to start the day for at least 15 mins as a means of receiving his love (1 John 4:19, Phil. 4:8), intentionally serving someone once a week, and attempting to hash out and resolve the "heart issues" with God as they arise each day. As I pursue these disciplined and specific goals to help me further intimacy with God and people, I'll be reflecting on them week from week and noting what has been interesting.
This week I won't talk about them a ton, but I do want to share with you a very simple but helpful thing that my revival group pastor shared with me this week. I believe he found the following tidbit in the 7 Habits of an Effective Leader book? I'm not sure, but basically it is tool for helping you achieve and delineate goals called the SMART acronym ...(again unsure of the lingo?). But anyhow, the important thing is that I've found this tool effective and maybe you will too. So here it is if you want to use it! In SMART, The "S" stands for specific--sum up your goal in one sentence, the "M" for measurable---how do you know when you've reached the goal?, the "A" attainable---it should not be dependent on anyone else, the "R" relevant---of all your goals you have where does this goal fit in, and "T" for time specific, what is you time limit and by when or how will you know if you've obtained your goal?
I wanted to share this with you because if you're anything like me, you have times where you realize you need to make a change in your life, and you really want to, but then you either hit snags along the way or you aren't even sure how to get started. Hopefully, this acronym will be helpful for you as it has for me!
Sunday, September 23, 2012
The Poverty and Prosperity Gospel
So the other day I started recounting the provision of the Lord since I've moved out to California and I was pretty blown away by how God has just been providing both in the big and small details of living out here. It's been really awesome to experience and walk in and I've just been really blessed by it. I won't mention everything God's been doing in providing just yet (I definitely will soon in another post!), instead, I want to comment on God's provision or what we sometimes think is a lack of his provision.
This topic of provision came from thinking about times when people in the church share about how God has intervened in their lives (more specifically financially provided), and how sometimes those testimonies fall flat on the audience or maybe makes some in the crowd feel even worse about their current financial/job/health status (In the past, I've noticed this in myself unfortunately, maybe you have too?).
If you're like me and you've struggled with this, I wanted to pass on a thought that I came across in The Supernatural Ways of Royalty by Kris Valloton (one of the the head pastors here at Bethel Church and overseers of the school). Kris states in this book that the tendency in the church to not rejoice with those who receive God's provision or healing touch stems from what he calls a poverty mindset. This mindset he says (and this is my foggy paraphrase) is essentially believing that God only has a limited number of resources and so if God blesses someone other than you with a job, or health, or financial income, he now has that much less power or provision to give/extend to you.
He further explains this perspective through an example of a couple who adopted a child from an impoverished background and how when the child sat down to eat with his new family, he would take massive amounts of food because in his previous family he was never sure when he would get food again. This same child would also demand birthday presents when other children in the family received presents for their birthday because he or she wasn't sure if they were loved. In summation, the poverty mentality frequently hordes when abundance is provided, envies when others are blessed with gifts or provision, and by default assumes any sickness is the will of God to shape character; overall these "impoverished" symptoms flow from believing that God does not have enough to supply the needs for his people or that he often desires for his people to be sick.
I don't know how that lands with you, but the first time I read these thoughts I flat out felt like I'd been punched in the gut. The poverty mindset/lie was all too common in my life and at times robbed me of the peace available to us as children of God. Personally (financially speaking), when I put this mindset on, I rarely give of the good things entrusted to me, I really don't believe God is going to meet my needs and overall act as the adopted son who is freaked out if there's going to be enough for me in Dad's house. Instead of resting in the more than adequate ability of my Dad to provide, I constantly and restlessly believe I need to do everything to secure my needs are met. And when I think this way, with all my striving, I assume something will work out for me because somethin's gotta give with all my effort right? (an attitude that a person of any worldview can embrace). Don't misunderstand what I'm saying, I'm definitely not denouncing personal responsibility (Proverbs 6:9-11) we definitely have responsibilities of applying for jobs and asking the Lord for his intervention, but the difference between faith-filled responsible living and the poverty mindset is that generosity with whatever one has (no matter how much or little) still flows (remember the widow with the mite Mark 12:41-44) and peace abounds because God sees the birds and feeds them, he clearly will care for us!
So far I've only addressed the financial aspect of the poverty mindset, because frankly I haven't been sick very often so it doesn't usually get into my pattern of thoughts. However, I'm sure other Christians frequently encounter this mindset when thinking about their health. What's that look like? Well it basically just assumes any sickness is the will of God and that its presence is there solely to shape your character. One may believe in theory God heals, but when it comes down to it, this belief holds it's much easier to just believe it's just part of carrying my cross and I'll just take the pill or procedure and move along. I'm not saying that medicine is wrong (1 Tim. 5:23) or that God isn't going to use the sickness for good, but what I am saying is it is hasty to assume that the only purpose of it being there is to grow our perseverance. While this very well could be and I do think God certainly uses sickness to shape/preserve our character to that of Christ (2 Cor. 12:7), that it can be used to display God's glory (John 9:3), and that it can be a form of rebuke (1 Cor. 11:27-30), we need to remember that there is no pain, death, nor sickness in heaven (Revelation 21:4) and Jesus eradicated sickness where there was faith. So, with sickness, the question becomes why is it here? And are we handling it with faith, because it doesn't always have to stay.
Frankly, the flesh knows it's easier to just take control of the situation, not pray fervently, and take a pill or go through with the latest scientifically supported procedure, but the flesh also doesn't believe God can heal. Again, I'm not condemning prayerful decisions for surgery, medicine, etc. I'm just trying to point out that God ultimately for eternity doesn't want us sick and while he may allow it, what kind of faith-filled effort are we making to see if God really wants it to hang around?
So collectively in all this poverty mindset discussion what I'm getting at, is that I understand how people in church sometimes error in the prosperity gospel and the poverty gospel. That's basically what this all comes down to isn't it? The collective beliefs that God either wants you healthy all the time with loads of money or he really just wants to make you like Jesus through impoverished trial and suffering for all of your miserable days. The problem with both these views is neither one is a full account of the character of God. God uses sickness to shape character, and God doesn't always give us great wealth (Phil. 4:12). God also doesn't forever want us sick (Rev. 21:4) and gives some of us more wealth than others (Matthew 25:14-30). How then should we live? From a place of gratitude and love: always at rest, always giving, always believing and taking steps in faith that God can do anything and is using all good and bad to shape us into the image of Christ. We shouldn't readily accept that we are sick for all our days or poor, etc. Instead we need to really see what God is using it for, otherwise we can wind up with a very cruel or sugar daddy view of God.
I feel like in a lot of ways I'm tying a bow too quickly on this subject and your input is more than welcome... So what are your thoughts on the factors that drive the prosperity and poverty gospel among Christians? And what kind of things does God provide us with? What do you think about asking for overly-abundant blessings? Let me know, I don't feel like I'm seeing a full picture with this one and I need your colorful thoughts :)
This topic of provision came from thinking about times when people in the church share about how God has intervened in their lives (more specifically financially provided), and how sometimes those testimonies fall flat on the audience or maybe makes some in the crowd feel even worse about their current financial/job/health status (In the past, I've noticed this in myself unfortunately, maybe you have too?).
If you're like me and you've struggled with this, I wanted to pass on a thought that I came across in The Supernatural Ways of Royalty by Kris Valloton (one of the the head pastors here at Bethel Church and overseers of the school). Kris states in this book that the tendency in the church to not rejoice with those who receive God's provision or healing touch stems from what he calls a poverty mindset. This mindset he says (and this is my foggy paraphrase) is essentially believing that God only has a limited number of resources and so if God blesses someone other than you with a job, or health, or financial income, he now has that much less power or provision to give/extend to you.
He further explains this perspective through an example of a couple who adopted a child from an impoverished background and how when the child sat down to eat with his new family, he would take massive amounts of food because in his previous family he was never sure when he would get food again. This same child would also demand birthday presents when other children in the family received presents for their birthday because he or she wasn't sure if they were loved. In summation, the poverty mentality frequently hordes when abundance is provided, envies when others are blessed with gifts or provision, and by default assumes any sickness is the will of God to shape character; overall these "impoverished" symptoms flow from believing that God does not have enough to supply the needs for his people or that he often desires for his people to be sick.
I don't know how that lands with you, but the first time I read these thoughts I flat out felt like I'd been punched in the gut. The poverty mindset/lie was all too common in my life and at times robbed me of the peace available to us as children of God. Personally (financially speaking), when I put this mindset on, I rarely give of the good things entrusted to me, I really don't believe God is going to meet my needs and overall act as the adopted son who is freaked out if there's going to be enough for me in Dad's house. Instead of resting in the more than adequate ability of my Dad to provide, I constantly and restlessly believe I need to do everything to secure my needs are met. And when I think this way, with all my striving, I assume something will work out for me because somethin's gotta give with all my effort right? (an attitude that a person of any worldview can embrace). Don't misunderstand what I'm saying, I'm definitely not denouncing personal responsibility (Proverbs 6:9-11) we definitely have responsibilities of applying for jobs and asking the Lord for his intervention, but the difference between faith-filled responsible living and the poverty mindset is that generosity with whatever one has (no matter how much or little) still flows (remember the widow with the mite Mark 12:41-44) and peace abounds because God sees the birds and feeds them, he clearly will care for us!
So far I've only addressed the financial aspect of the poverty mindset, because frankly I haven't been sick very often so it doesn't usually get into my pattern of thoughts. However, I'm sure other Christians frequently encounter this mindset when thinking about their health. What's that look like? Well it basically just assumes any sickness is the will of God and that its presence is there solely to shape your character. One may believe in theory God heals, but when it comes down to it, this belief holds it's much easier to just believe it's just part of carrying my cross and I'll just take the pill or procedure and move along. I'm not saying that medicine is wrong (1 Tim. 5:23) or that God isn't going to use the sickness for good, but what I am saying is it is hasty to assume that the only purpose of it being there is to grow our perseverance. While this very well could be and I do think God certainly uses sickness to shape/preserve our character to that of Christ (2 Cor. 12:7), that it can be used to display God's glory (John 9:3), and that it can be a form of rebuke (1 Cor. 11:27-30), we need to remember that there is no pain, death, nor sickness in heaven (Revelation 21:4) and Jesus eradicated sickness where there was faith. So, with sickness, the question becomes why is it here? And are we handling it with faith, because it doesn't always have to stay.
Frankly, the flesh knows it's easier to just take control of the situation, not pray fervently, and take a pill or go through with the latest scientifically supported procedure, but the flesh also doesn't believe God can heal. Again, I'm not condemning prayerful decisions for surgery, medicine, etc. I'm just trying to point out that God ultimately for eternity doesn't want us sick and while he may allow it, what kind of faith-filled effort are we making to see if God really wants it to hang around?
So collectively in all this poverty mindset discussion what I'm getting at, is that I understand how people in church sometimes error in the prosperity gospel and the poverty gospel. That's basically what this all comes down to isn't it? The collective beliefs that God either wants you healthy all the time with loads of money or he really just wants to make you like Jesus through impoverished trial and suffering for all of your miserable days. The problem with both these views is neither one is a full account of the character of God. God uses sickness to shape character, and God doesn't always give us great wealth (Phil. 4:12). God also doesn't forever want us sick (Rev. 21:4) and gives some of us more wealth than others (Matthew 25:14-30). How then should we live? From a place of gratitude and love: always at rest, always giving, always believing and taking steps in faith that God can do anything and is using all good and bad to shape us into the image of Christ. We shouldn't readily accept that we are sick for all our days or poor, etc. Instead we need to really see what God is using it for, otherwise we can wind up with a very cruel or sugar daddy view of God.
I feel like in a lot of ways I'm tying a bow too quickly on this subject and your input is more than welcome... So what are your thoughts on the factors that drive the prosperity and poverty gospel among Christians? And what kind of things does God provide us with? What do you think about asking for overly-abundant blessings? Let me know, I don't feel like I'm seeing a full picture with this one and I need your colorful thoughts :)
Friday, September 7, 2012
Pot Roast Faith
Some meaty questions have been coming up recently since I've been at Bethel (going on a week and a half now) and frankly they've created some uneasiness in me from time to time. As meaty questions often require, I've needed to hash them over and examine what I was really believing and what God has revealed to us through his Word. One of these questions is basically the pot roast of meaty questions; that being what is biblical fatih?
This seems like a simple question in some ways doesn't it? I mean just go to Hebrews 11 right? Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1 NIV (1984)). Yes, this is true, faith is being certain of what we do not see and sure of what we hope for, but what are we hoping for and what are we certain of? Too often, I think we over-apply this definition of faith to the things we ask God for and as a result start misconstruing what the essence of faith is. Don't misunderstand, there is definitely a ton of biblical evidence to seek and ask God for his intervention and revelation in our lives (Matthew 6, 7, Luke 18, James 1 etc.) and we should, but often times when we take the biblical definition of faith and look at it solely through the lens of petitioning God, we get a pretty blurry image of faith.
More specifically, if our faith is only thought of a matter of our confidence and certainty in our asking, then when we ask God for things don't we need to (as Greg Boyd says) "muster up enough faith to ring the faith bell and then we'll receive our desired blessing/healing/miracle etc.?" Let me say here, that I'm not saying that doubt doesn't matter in our asking God it clearly does (James 1), but I am trying to pose the question of how certain can you be of something that involves God's intervention? Seriously, how confident can we be? And is the certainty of his exact response/answer to our petitions and steps of faith constitute what faith is? I don't think so. This just isn't the picture of faith we get from people who knew God. (Note: If you've read Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper, these examples will be familiar).
Consider Ester (Esther 4:16), Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego (Daniel 3:17-18), Joab (1 Chr. 19:13), the words of James in James 4:13-17. Brief overview of them all: Ester is to appear before King Xerxes to petition him for the lives of the Jewish people and she tells Mordecai to have the people fast for 3 days and then she'll go before the king and if she perishes she perishes (sounds certain or her fate eh?). Shad, Abed, and Mesh, they refuse to bow before King Neb's idol, King Neb gets ticked, wants to throw them in the furnace. The 3 Abednego's say that their God, Yahweh, will save them from the furnace BUT EVEN IF HE DOESN'T they will not bow down to the image Nebuchadnezzar set up. And Joab, when Israel is completely surrounded by mercenaries and Ammonites, draws up a battle plan and basically says, alright let's fight bravely and God's gonna do what he thinks is right. Finally, in James we see James correcting the church to not declare any future plan of theirs as certain because essentially they do not know what God's will is. All these passages taken into consideration what kind "faith" do these people possess?
At the very least, it is not a faith which knows the exact will of God. It is confidence yes (and confidence that leads to action at that), it is certainty yes, but the confidence and certainty is not in how God is going to move; it is in the character of God revealed in Jesus that he will save me, never leave nor forsake me, and always use everything in my life for my good.
So ya, Bethel-wise I've been here for a while now, and I still don't know what God will do about school. I've encountered some (keyword SOME) people who have a model of faith that seems to declare what God is going to do in my life, and when I share with them what is happening, I'm often told that God is going to provide and get me to school. The problem is as much as I'd like to believe that, I don't know if that's his desire yet. I do not know what he is going to do. I will very shortly know when school rolls around next Wednesday, but not yet. In the meantime, I'm taking as many steps in faith as I can. I believe he wants me here for school, so I'm praying and asking for his provision (being confident that he provides for the things he desires), I've been applying to jobs and places to live. I've also been checking out cool gently ridden road bikes for transportation. They are neat.
These are the things I can do right now. I very shortly will be hearing about a place to stay, whether I'll be going to school, a job, and a bicycle. My plan is to accept a job if I'm offered it and a place to stay if God brings it (because these decisions will likely come before school starting and I think they are the next steps of faith). If these things come through and school doesn't happen, I'll stay till Christmas (God-willing). In the meantime, Jesus is my daily source of joy, peace, delight, love, and refuge; amidst knowing nothing I trust his character to the point of moving.
This seems like a simple question in some ways doesn't it? I mean just go to Hebrews 11 right? Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1 NIV (1984)). Yes, this is true, faith is being certain of what we do not see and sure of what we hope for, but what are we hoping for and what are we certain of? Too often, I think we over-apply this definition of faith to the things we ask God for and as a result start misconstruing what the essence of faith is. Don't misunderstand, there is definitely a ton of biblical evidence to seek and ask God for his intervention and revelation in our lives (Matthew 6, 7, Luke 18, James 1 etc.) and we should, but often times when we take the biblical definition of faith and look at it solely through the lens of petitioning God, we get a pretty blurry image of faith.
More specifically, if our faith is only thought of a matter of our confidence and certainty in our asking, then when we ask God for things don't we need to (as Greg Boyd says) "muster up enough faith to ring the faith bell and then we'll receive our desired blessing/healing/miracle etc.?" Let me say here, that I'm not saying that doubt doesn't matter in our asking God it clearly does (James 1), but I am trying to pose the question of how certain can you be of something that involves God's intervention? Seriously, how confident can we be? And is the certainty of his exact response/answer to our petitions and steps of faith constitute what faith is? I don't think so. This just isn't the picture of faith we get from people who knew God. (Note: If you've read Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper, these examples will be familiar).
Consider Ester (Esther 4:16), Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego (Daniel 3:17-18), Joab (1 Chr. 19:13), the words of James in James 4:13-17. Brief overview of them all: Ester is to appear before King Xerxes to petition him for the lives of the Jewish people and she tells Mordecai to have the people fast for 3 days and then she'll go before the king and if she perishes she perishes (sounds certain or her fate eh?). Shad, Abed, and Mesh, they refuse to bow before King Neb's idol, King Neb gets ticked, wants to throw them in the furnace. The 3 Abednego's say that their God, Yahweh, will save them from the furnace BUT EVEN IF HE DOESN'T they will not bow down to the image Nebuchadnezzar set up. And Joab, when Israel is completely surrounded by mercenaries and Ammonites, draws up a battle plan and basically says, alright let's fight bravely and God's gonna do what he thinks is right. Finally, in James we see James correcting the church to not declare any future plan of theirs as certain because essentially they do not know what God's will is. All these passages taken into consideration what kind "faith" do these people possess?
At the very least, it is not a faith which knows the exact will of God. It is confidence yes (and confidence that leads to action at that), it is certainty yes, but the confidence and certainty is not in how God is going to move; it is in the character of God revealed in Jesus that he will save me, never leave nor forsake me, and always use everything in my life for my good.
So ya, Bethel-wise I've been here for a while now, and I still don't know what God will do about school. I've encountered some (keyword SOME) people who have a model of faith that seems to declare what God is going to do in my life, and when I share with them what is happening, I'm often told that God is going to provide and get me to school. The problem is as much as I'd like to believe that, I don't know if that's his desire yet. I do not know what he is going to do. I will very shortly know when school rolls around next Wednesday, but not yet. In the meantime, I'm taking as many steps in faith as I can. I believe he wants me here for school, so I'm praying and asking for his provision (being confident that he provides for the things he desires), I've been applying to jobs and places to live. I've also been checking out cool gently ridden road bikes for transportation. They are neat.
These are the things I can do right now. I very shortly will be hearing about a place to stay, whether I'll be going to school, a job, and a bicycle. My plan is to accept a job if I'm offered it and a place to stay if God brings it (because these decisions will likely come before school starting and I think they are the next steps of faith). If these things come through and school doesn't happen, I'll stay till Christmas (God-willing). In the meantime, Jesus is my daily source of joy, peace, delight, love, and refuge; amidst knowing nothing I trust his character to the point of moving.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Daily Life and Baby Birds
It's different for me to just write something that's just generally informative (versus writing that is instructional, corrective, hashful---yes hashful, like a thought, subject, or idea that is worthy of being mulled over, chopped up, talked out, regurgitated for baby birds to eat, etc.) I just don't do it. Whenever I write online, it's #1 going to be a Facebook note, and #2 it's going to be about spiritual things that have been brewing around for some time. That's just typically what happens. I use social media more as a platform for truth and while my more general information about my life might occasionally be seen on a facebook or twitter status update, more than likely, I save those deets to be discussed over the phone or in person.
However, that day is not this day (Aragorn, I'm lookin' at you). This day, is a new day. Since, I can't/won't always be able to connect via Skype, phone call, instant messaging, or in person with you folk whom I value greatly, this blog's gonna get some daily stuff thrown in it. Hope it's not too boring, and now I'm going to leap and just write about daily life; also known as, what's been shakin' lately.
Getting ready for a trip from Indiana to California can take a small village. While normally it should only take about one person, it's taking me many people so far. For one, there's the 'rents (shoutout to you mom and dad!). They helped me pack, fed me many awesome meals, got me some pants, and drove me northeasterly (yes, northeasterly, spellcheck-it-out) to Mishawaka, IN tonight to drop me off at the welcoming home of Dave and Karli Pepin. These parental efforts, were all so that I might catch my train tomorrow (Monday) from South Bend to Chicago, and they were quite formidable. After their much needed and appreciated help, we traded hats, hugged, and parted ways, and my good friends Dave and Karli continued in their awesomeness and hospitality and provided me a place to stay. Of my layover here, the most noteworthy of happenings t'was the gifting of a (Hansen's?) Cherry/Vanilla Cream Soda to myself, and the co-wordsmithing of a new word to describe a 3 week span of time (week, fortnight, month...whose holdin out on 3 weeks?). Good times indeed.
Now to the more present, there are still many friends helping my transit. From Miskawaka for example, my awesome bro Zachariah Castillo, is scheduled to hoist me into his automobile for about 30 mins to the South Bend Airport to take the Southshore to Millenium Station---downtown Chicago. Following many tears and gloom that precipitate from broZack's and I's parting and the arrival of the train, the eldest of my sisters Kathrine Barse will greet me and take me to her and her husbands home to stay the night. From there, we will wake up on what hopes to be a grand Tuesday. She will drop me at the Airport and I get on a plane to San Francisco courtesy of a Buddy Pass from a very giving sister in Christ Honey Storlie. At this point, I will connect and fly either directly to Redding or about an hour outside of Redding to a town called Chico where I will be picked up.
And so as we all can now see, 7 people is really all it takes to get to California from Indiana. Maybe not quite a village, but still a really loving and close people. I'm really thankful for all of them and how they've helped me...it's an awesome blessing.
Thank you really,
--Drew
P.S.P.R's (p.s. prayer requests), tuition, place to stay, job, bicycle, laptop, the Lord's will, and that I stay more focused on that God is good always! There is the power of God in agreement of prayer and yielding to his will (Matt. 18:19, 1 John 5:14).
However, that day is not this day (Aragorn, I'm lookin' at you). This day, is a new day. Since, I can't/won't always be able to connect via Skype, phone call, instant messaging, or in person with you folk whom I value greatly, this blog's gonna get some daily stuff thrown in it. Hope it's not too boring, and now I'm going to leap and just write about daily life; also known as, what's been shakin' lately.
Getting ready for a trip from Indiana to California can take a small village. While normally it should only take about one person, it's taking me many people so far. For one, there's the 'rents (shoutout to you mom and dad!). They helped me pack, fed me many awesome meals, got me some pants, and drove me northeasterly (yes, northeasterly, spellcheck-it-out) to Mishawaka, IN tonight to drop me off at the welcoming home of Dave and Karli Pepin. These parental efforts, were all so that I might catch my train tomorrow (Monday) from South Bend to Chicago, and they were quite formidable. After their much needed and appreciated help, we traded hats, hugged, and parted ways, and my good friends Dave and Karli continued in their awesomeness and hospitality and provided me a place to stay. Of my layover here, the most noteworthy of happenings t'was the gifting of a (Hansen's?) Cherry/Vanilla Cream Soda to myself, and the co-wordsmithing of a new word to describe a 3 week span of time (week, fortnight, month...whose holdin out on 3 weeks?). Good times indeed.
Now to the more present, there are still many friends helping my transit. From Miskawaka for example, my awesome bro Zachariah Castillo, is scheduled to hoist me into his automobile for about 30 mins to the South Bend Airport to take the Southshore to Millenium Station---downtown Chicago. Following many tears and gloom that precipitate from broZack's and I's parting and the arrival of the train, the eldest of my sisters Kathrine Barse will greet me and take me to her and her husbands home to stay the night. From there, we will wake up on what hopes to be a grand Tuesday. She will drop me at the Airport and I get on a plane to San Francisco courtesy of a Buddy Pass from a very giving sister in Christ Honey Storlie. At this point, I will connect and fly either directly to Redding or about an hour outside of Redding to a town called Chico where I will be picked up.
And so as we all can now see, 7 people is really all it takes to get to California from Indiana. Maybe not quite a village, but still a really loving and close people. I'm really thankful for all of them and how they've helped me...it's an awesome blessing.
Thank you really,
--Drew
P.S.P.R's (p.s. prayer requests), tuition, place to stay, job, bicycle, laptop, the Lord's will, and that I stay more focused on that God is good always! There is the power of God in agreement of prayer and yielding to his will (Matt. 18:19, 1 John 5:14).
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
I Know the Plans I Have for You....and they don't all entail Sunshine and Butterflies
I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future.....etc. This is the part of Jeremiah 29 we church folk obviously quote all the time (while oft disregarding seeking God with all our hearts), the plans part. Tell me all the about the plans God has! Tell me what awesome things he's got planned and that we're going to do! YA! PLANNNNSS. This is ok and in fact yes, it's good! God truly does have plans for us and he tells us what they are too.
No not the plans like "Now go forth and marry brother John, the most blessed son of Jed! From there you 2 shall spend your lives readily making beds! beds of cotton and and silk and thread! and evermore you shall be merrily, merrily wed". No, no, these are not the plans he tells us about. Don't misunderstand, I believe God has a whole lot to say about who and if we marry and a ton of other specific things, however, I am saying that we (at least American) Christians often horribly misconstrue what God actually wants to do with me and you because we are too myopic.
More specifically, we focus so much on the dream, that forget a whole lot else of what God's general plan is for all of us. General details!? Come on, we want to see the specs on the finished product. We want to be in the positions of leadership, in the places influence and administration. We want to be there so bad, that we ignore conditions for being there and more than that we put these "dreams" (btw how often are they dreams and how often are they idols?) in front of something greater. Something greater you say? What's greater than my dreams Drew? They're HUGE. Mmmmm well.... Sanctification?
Ding ding ding. Yes, God's plan(s) now we're getting somewhere! Scripture time. Romans 8:28-30 "And we know that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose (plan?). For those he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his son." That sounds like part of God's plan to me; that we should be conformed to the likeness or character of King Jesus. And I think it does to a lot of us too....but why don't we focus on this process of being made like Christ more? I dunno. I know for me because that's the hard part of the Christian life.
Ya it is. Just like no one in football wants to talk about 2 a-days, or no one likes thinking about the schooling to become a doctor, or no 20-something likes the first few hard years outta school trying to figure out what he likes to do for a living. This is the rough, no, this is the flat out ugly dog part. But it's necessary.
Back to the Book. Consider Acts 14:22 We must undergo many trials before entering the kingdom of God. Or James 1, Consider it pure joy my brothers when you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance and perseverance must finish it's work so that you may be mature, complete, not lacking in anything. Similarly, Romans 5 We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces character, and character hope, and hope does not disappoint us. And 1 Peter 4:1 Therefore since Christ suffered in the body, arm yourselves with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. When we think about God's plans we must think in part of these words or I'm afraid we are going to find ourselves very confused with what God is trying to work in our lives in the midst of hard times.
God has plans for us. They are not all sunshine and butterflies. Some of his plans include hard trials meant to shape our character. They certainly do not have to be dismal times though, whether hard or good, if we find contentment in Christ (1 Thess. 5:16-18). This note is not meant to discourage anyone from boldly walking into where God has called them, however, it is a reminder that if he hasn't fully revealed to you where to go or what to do or the dreams that started unfolding hit a huge snag, the point of the call or dream wasn't just to use you. It was meant to shape you. And maybe when these times come, you won't be so taken off guard like I am when not everything is going peachy.
One more thought, we aren't passive in this whole process. Consider 2 Tim. 2:20-21. In a large house there are articles. Some special and some common. The man cleansed from the latter is useful to the master and prepared to do any good work. Let's do the hard part with the help of the essential Holy Spirit. Let's be useful, and let's find out what plans God has for us from there.
No not the plans like "Now go forth and marry brother John, the most blessed son of Jed! From there you 2 shall spend your lives readily making beds! beds of cotton and and silk and thread! and evermore you shall be merrily, merrily wed". No, no, these are not the plans he tells us about. Don't misunderstand, I believe God has a whole lot to say about who and if we marry and a ton of other specific things, however, I am saying that we (at least American) Christians often horribly misconstrue what God actually wants to do with me and you because we are too myopic.
More specifically, we focus so much on the dream, that forget a whole lot else of what God's general plan is for all of us. General details!? Come on, we want to see the specs on the finished product. We want to be in the positions of leadership, in the places influence and administration. We want to be there so bad, that we ignore conditions for being there and more than that we put these "dreams" (btw how often are they dreams and how often are they idols?) in front of something greater. Something greater you say? What's greater than my dreams Drew? They're HUGE. Mmmmm well.... Sanctification?
Ding ding ding. Yes, God's plan(s) now we're getting somewhere! Scripture time. Romans 8:28-30 "And we know that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose (plan?). For those he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his son." That sounds like part of God's plan to me; that we should be conformed to the likeness or character of King Jesus. And I think it does to a lot of us too....but why don't we focus on this process of being made like Christ more? I dunno. I know for me because that's the hard part of the Christian life.
Ya it is. Just like no one in football wants to talk about 2 a-days, or no one likes thinking about the schooling to become a doctor, or no 20-something likes the first few hard years outta school trying to figure out what he likes to do for a living. This is the rough, no, this is the flat out ugly dog part. But it's necessary.
Back to the Book. Consider Acts 14:22 We must undergo many trials before entering the kingdom of God. Or James 1, Consider it pure joy my brothers when you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance and perseverance must finish it's work so that you may be mature, complete, not lacking in anything. Similarly, Romans 5 We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces character, and character hope, and hope does not disappoint us. And 1 Peter 4:1 Therefore since Christ suffered in the body, arm yourselves with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. When we think about God's plans we must think in part of these words or I'm afraid we are going to find ourselves very confused with what God is trying to work in our lives in the midst of hard times.
God has plans for us. They are not all sunshine and butterflies. Some of his plans include hard trials meant to shape our character. They certainly do not have to be dismal times though, whether hard or good, if we find contentment in Christ (1 Thess. 5:16-18). This note is not meant to discourage anyone from boldly walking into where God has called them, however, it is a reminder that if he hasn't fully revealed to you where to go or what to do or the dreams that started unfolding hit a huge snag, the point of the call or dream wasn't just to use you. It was meant to shape you. And maybe when these times come, you won't be so taken off guard like I am when not everything is going peachy.
One more thought, we aren't passive in this whole process. Consider 2 Tim. 2:20-21. In a large house there are articles. Some special and some common. The man cleansed from the latter is useful to the master and prepared to do any good work. Let's do the hard part with the help of the essential Holy Spirit. Let's be useful, and let's find out what plans God has for us from there.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Ahhh blogs. Gotta love them... in some ways. I mean, frankly speaking, I haven't ever encountered a blog that provokes me to think thoughts like, "Oh man! everyday I want to hear that person's thoughts! I just can't wait to hear what they're thinking about and pondering!....mmm, so much insight I'm about to glean!" (and a disclaimer, you won't find an everyday-immersive blog here).
I mean I'm not saying you won't find something worth reading here either, but I'm aware that if you do, it's because God's doing some cool stuff. So I hope you enjoy reading it. I should mention too that I'm a straight up newbie when it comes to blogging so bear this in mind as I navigate the blogosphere. With that said, Welcome! and I hope you enjoy what I have to write or at the very least it gets you thinking.
--Drew
I mean I'm not saying you won't find something worth reading here either, but I'm aware that if you do, it's because God's doing some cool stuff. So I hope you enjoy reading it. I should mention too that I'm a straight up newbie when it comes to blogging so bear this in mind as I navigate the blogosphere. With that said, Welcome! and I hope you enjoy what I have to write or at the very least it gets you thinking.
--Drew
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