We all reach points in our life where we don't know what is going to happen to us. Our fate seems sealed just beyond the horizon, and we don't feel like we have control. What will happen to us? It is easy to worry when things are not in our control, but I think it helps to reflect on what the Dalai Lama once said. "If you have fear of some pain or suffering, you should examine whether there is anything you can do about it. If you can, there is no need to worry about it; if you cannot do anything, then there is also no need to worry."
We're getting close to the summer and a lot of us don't know where we're going or what we're doing. Yes, we do have the power to influence our futures, but how do we know what path to take? I wish I could give some simple profound answer that makes everything clear, but I can't. That's not my job. The best I can do is leave you with a catch all no-matter-what-happens sort of verse.
"He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God."
Micah 6:8
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
How do we drink?
"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?"
John 4:11
I was discussing the spiritual state of the college today with my RA, and its become clear that for the most part peoples hearts aren't where they should be. There are a lot of reasons for this, and it might be impossible to pin this on one thing. Is it a lack of service? Is it a lack of personal responsibility? Why is there such an eclectic group of people here at a Bible College?
If I had to give account for my own spirituality (or occasional lack thereof) it would be this: Before I came to Bible college I had a real thirst to know God, and to know more about God. It was like I desperately longed for water, and thought that by going to Bible College I would finally be able to drink.
And drink I did. At first it was refreshing and invigorating. I was ecstatic and excited because I had found more water than I knew what to do with. But there was a dark side to all of this. After adjusting to drinking huge amounts of water, it became very difficult to leave this place and go back to finding water on my own.
Just when I thought I had figured out how to make it in the desert of the real world, Bible College was back. It was back to drinking from a firehose. It was back to an overbearing amount of expectations that take some time to adjust to. Am I being very clear here?
Going from the equivalent of Sunday school on crack for 7 hours a day is a huge transition from 2 hours a week. Life is all about balances, and we really can accomplish a lot if we can just find time in our lives to sort out everything that comes our way.
It's hard to drink water when we're lost in the middle of an endless sea, and its hard to drink when we're lost in the middle of an endless desert.
Water abounds, but what about living water? I suppose I could talk about how people's water seems to get diluted because of all their studies, but that would be another entry for another day.
John 4:11
I was discussing the spiritual state of the college today with my RA, and its become clear that for the most part peoples hearts aren't where they should be. There are a lot of reasons for this, and it might be impossible to pin this on one thing. Is it a lack of service? Is it a lack of personal responsibility? Why is there such an eclectic group of people here at a Bible College?
If I had to give account for my own spirituality (or occasional lack thereof) it would be this: Before I came to Bible college I had a real thirst to know God, and to know more about God. It was like I desperately longed for water, and thought that by going to Bible College I would finally be able to drink.
And drink I did. At first it was refreshing and invigorating. I was ecstatic and excited because I had found more water than I knew what to do with. But there was a dark side to all of this. After adjusting to drinking huge amounts of water, it became very difficult to leave this place and go back to finding water on my own.
Just when I thought I had figured out how to make it in the desert of the real world, Bible College was back. It was back to drinking from a firehose. It was back to an overbearing amount of expectations that take some time to adjust to. Am I being very clear here?
Going from the equivalent of Sunday school on crack for 7 hours a day is a huge transition from 2 hours a week. Life is all about balances, and we really can accomplish a lot if we can just find time in our lives to sort out everything that comes our way.
It's hard to drink water when we're lost in the middle of an endless sea, and its hard to drink when we're lost in the middle of an endless desert.
Water abounds, but what about living water? I suppose I could talk about how people's water seems to get diluted because of all their studies, but that would be another entry for another day.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Kindness, Compassion, and Forgiveness
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Ephesians 4:29-32
I wish I could take this passage and post it in huge letters on the wall of our hallway. How often do I hear "your mom" jokes? How often do I hear people tearing one another down? Many times a day. What does it mean to grieve the Holy Spirit? I imagine that the Holy Spirit is trying to work in our lives, but we've become so far removed from the true things of God that the Holy Spirit isn't able to work in us fully.
Just as I am grieved over the lack of spiritual growth (and really, trend in spiritual decline), I think that also the Holy Spirit must be grieved to see people that were once committed now giving in to their sinful tendencies.
"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."
It seems like any time we examine ourselves and find something wrong in our lives, we need to do more than just get rid of that shortcoming. We need to apply whatever the counter is. In this case it is kindness, compassion, and forgiveness.
Ephesians 4:29-32
I wish I could take this passage and post it in huge letters on the wall of our hallway. How often do I hear "your mom" jokes? How often do I hear people tearing one another down? Many times a day. What does it mean to grieve the Holy Spirit? I imagine that the Holy Spirit is trying to work in our lives, but we've become so far removed from the true things of God that the Holy Spirit isn't able to work in us fully.
Just as I am grieved over the lack of spiritual growth (and really, trend in spiritual decline), I think that also the Holy Spirit must be grieved to see people that were once committed now giving in to their sinful tendencies.
"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."
It seems like any time we examine ourselves and find something wrong in our lives, we need to do more than just get rid of that shortcoming. We need to apply whatever the counter is. In this case it is kindness, compassion, and forgiveness.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Outside influences
"Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need."
-Ephesians 4:25-28
Do I talk about telling the truth? Or should I talk about anger? How about stealing? Stealing would be a good one since I know I'm guilty of it, but I'm also guilty of anger.
I think that maybe I can talk about all three of these things in a broader sense by considering them in a more general way. We sin. You do it. I do it. It's just life. Sometimes it takes someone to look us in the eyes and tell us we're sinning in order for us to realize it. In our own minds we've already justified it. The burglar has justified his stealing in his own mind. The addict tries to justify his addiction, etc.
What Paul is doing in this section is he is calling out sin. Are you stealing? Stop. Are you deceiving your neighbor? Stop. Are you quick to anger and sin? Stop. It could just be me, but it seems like there are times where someone just needs to be blunt and tell us we shouldn't do something. There's something about that outside influence that challenges us and helps us to readjust our own perception of how things are. Hopefully today we'll be mindful of God and others trying to speak to us.
-Ephesians 4:25-28
Do I talk about telling the truth? Or should I talk about anger? How about stealing? Stealing would be a good one since I know I'm guilty of it, but I'm also guilty of anger.
I think that maybe I can talk about all three of these things in a broader sense by considering them in a more general way. We sin. You do it. I do it. It's just life. Sometimes it takes someone to look us in the eyes and tell us we're sinning in order for us to realize it. In our own minds we've already justified it. The burglar has justified his stealing in his own mind. The addict tries to justify his addiction, etc.
What Paul is doing in this section is he is calling out sin. Are you stealing? Stop. Are you deceiving your neighbor? Stop. Are you quick to anger and sin? Stop. It could just be me, but it seems like there are times where someone just needs to be blunt and tell us we shouldn't do something. There's something about that outside influence that challenges us and helps us to readjust our own perception of how things are. Hopefully today we'll be mindful of God and others trying to speak to us.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Created to be like God
"You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."
-Ephesians 4:20-24
I think that last line is interesting. "...created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." It seems like a lot of atheists/humanists/postmodernists/etc. all find joy in making themselves gods. I'm no expert, and so I could completely be wrong here, but it seems like that is what they do. They intellectually kill God so that emotionally they can lift themselves up to that elevated status. They glorify man for all his wonders, and give him credit even though man would be dust without God.
And so I think it is interesting that we were created "to be like God" but wait, it doesn't stop here. We were created to be like God "in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians will explain in a little more detail what that means later on. Hopefully this will be beneficial to think about today. Hopefully we press on toward some idea of righteousness and holiness, knowing that this was God's intended purpose for us so that we could be on the same level of awesomeness as God. (Although still beneath God, because he is infinitely more awesome than we are.)
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."
-Genesis 1:27
-Ephesians 4:20-24
I think that last line is interesting. "...created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." It seems like a lot of atheists/humanists/postmodernists/etc. all find joy in making themselves gods. I'm no expert, and so I could completely be wrong here, but it seems like that is what they do. They intellectually kill God so that emotionally they can lift themselves up to that elevated status. They glorify man for all his wonders, and give him credit even though man would be dust without God.
And so I think it is interesting that we were created "to be like God" but wait, it doesn't stop here. We were created to be like God "in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians will explain in a little more detail what that means later on. Hopefully this will be beneficial to think about today. Hopefully we press on toward some idea of righteousness and holiness, knowing that this was God's intended purpose for us so that we could be on the same level of awesomeness as God. (Although still beneath God, because he is infinitely more awesome than we are.)
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."
-Genesis 1:27
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Hard heart?
"So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more."
Ephesians 4:17-19
Lately I've really started liking Ephesians 4 and 5. It talks about putting off the old man and becoming a new one. From what I can tell, that's something a lot of people seem to be missing. Sure, maybe we're giving to the poor, and maybe we're spending a lot of time in prayer or study of the scripture. Those things might not be the most important thing, though. I think we need to remember that as Christians we should be pressing on to have a transformed life. Sure, it doesn't happen overnight, but there should be some measurable amount of change in our lives.
When we lived without Christ our hearts were hard and we "indulged in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more." I guess its hard for me to see directly, but I know I still do things that I would have done even if I weren't a Christian. Are we changing? Has there been a change? Sometimes I think it's harder to see than at other times.
Maybe the difference is in the "sensitivity." Without Christ I can justify my sin and I can embrace it and indulge in it. That was a long time ago, though. Now I have a new sensitivity to sin. I know what is wrong (even though I may do it). It may just be me, but I really find motivation from Ephesians 4-5 to put more effort into living a holy and pure life.
Ephesians 4:17-19
Lately I've really started liking Ephesians 4 and 5. It talks about putting off the old man and becoming a new one. From what I can tell, that's something a lot of people seem to be missing. Sure, maybe we're giving to the poor, and maybe we're spending a lot of time in prayer or study of the scripture. Those things might not be the most important thing, though. I think we need to remember that as Christians we should be pressing on to have a transformed life. Sure, it doesn't happen overnight, but there should be some measurable amount of change in our lives.
When we lived without Christ our hearts were hard and we "indulged in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more." I guess its hard for me to see directly, but I know I still do things that I would have done even if I weren't a Christian. Are we changing? Has there been a change? Sometimes I think it's harder to see than at other times.
Maybe the difference is in the "sensitivity." Without Christ I can justify my sin and I can embrace it and indulge in it. That was a long time ago, though. Now I have a new sensitivity to sin. I know what is wrong (even though I may do it). It may just be me, but I really find motivation from Ephesians 4-5 to put more effort into living a holy and pure life.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Idolatry
"You shall have no other gods before me."
-Exodus 20:3
I don't know what it is that got me thinking about this, but it recently occurred to me that most people here at Bible college don't seem to be serving the right god. What is your god? Is it money? A job? A computer? A car? A girl? A boy? A building? A place? A band? Yourself? Etc. The list could go on and on of things that people make their god. We all have within us an innate need to worship something. Hopefully that something is God.
It seems like our gods can become very demanding, and we don't even realize it. They demand our time, our money, and our sleep. We can even sacrifice other relationships to please whatever our god is. The difference between a god that we set up and the God is clear but easy to forget. When we sacrifice of ourselves for God its worth it. Everything else will suck us in and leave use worse off than we were when we started. Maybe this is just something you have to experience for yourself, and maybe I'm just writing this to remind myself. I hate the cycle of lifting something up on a pedestal only to find that it is hollow and unproductive. It seems ridiculous how people in other cultures can bow down and worship statues, but we do exactly the same thing in a different way.
God inspires me. God transforms me. God makes me more than my mind can imagine. God uses me. God blesses me. God works with me. God leads me. God is worth worshiping.
-Exodus 20:3
I don't know what it is that got me thinking about this, but it recently occurred to me that most people here at Bible college don't seem to be serving the right god. What is your god? Is it money? A job? A computer? A car? A girl? A boy? A building? A place? A band? Yourself? Etc. The list could go on and on of things that people make their god. We all have within us an innate need to worship something. Hopefully that something is God.
It seems like our gods can become very demanding, and we don't even realize it. They demand our time, our money, and our sleep. We can even sacrifice other relationships to please whatever our god is. The difference between a god that we set up and the God is clear but easy to forget. When we sacrifice of ourselves for God its worth it. Everything else will suck us in and leave use worse off than we were when we started. Maybe this is just something you have to experience for yourself, and maybe I'm just writing this to remind myself. I hate the cycle of lifting something up on a pedestal only to find that it is hollow and unproductive. It seems ridiculous how people in other cultures can bow down and worship statues, but we do exactly the same thing in a different way.
God inspires me. God transforms me. God makes me more than my mind can imagine. God uses me. God blesses me. God works with me. God leads me. God is worth worshiping.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Personality Types
"The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another." -1 Corinthians 1:21-25 (ESV)
Yesterday I took a Myers-Briggs personality test and found that I was an INTJ. I'm one of the rarest personality types (1% of the population). As I began thinking about the different personality types, I realized that God does not use just one type. Introvert and extrovert. Feeling and thinking, etc. We are all useful to God in some way, even if we're not the personality we think we need to be. There are two things to remember, though. One: Our personalities can be a blessing to our community by bringing balance to our group, or two: our personalities could bring conflict to our community if we don't recognzie our appropriate places.
Yesterday I took a Myers-Briggs personality test and found that I was an INTJ. I'm one of the rarest personality types (1% of the population). As I began thinking about the different personality types, I realized that God does not use just one type. Introvert and extrovert. Feeling and thinking, etc. We are all useful to God in some way, even if we're not the personality we think we need to be. There are two things to remember, though. One: Our personalities can be a blessing to our community by bringing balance to our group, or two: our personalities could bring conflict to our community if we don't recognzie our appropriate places.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Unsatisfied
"Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you:" -John 6:27
Have you ever set your eyes on something only to find that once you got it, it wasn't all that you thought it would be? That seems to be the case with me lately. The irony is that I can preach a sermon on how the hungers of our heart will only be satisfied in Christ, but I don't live it. I have the bread of life to give to the starving world, but do I eat it? No, not usually. It is so easy to starve myself until I'm completely malnourished. Why would the world want the bread on my plate? If we're not eating it, why should we expect anyone else to do the same?
Wake up, Christian. You have something precious. You have the bread of life. Don't let that go to waste. Finish up your veggies, and don't forget to eat your bread.
Have you ever set your eyes on something only to find that once you got it, it wasn't all that you thought it would be? That seems to be the case with me lately. The irony is that I can preach a sermon on how the hungers of our heart will only be satisfied in Christ, but I don't live it. I have the bread of life to give to the starving world, but do I eat it? No, not usually. It is so easy to starve myself until I'm completely malnourished. Why would the world want the bread on my plate? If we're not eating it, why should we expect anyone else to do the same?
Wake up, Christian. You have something precious. You have the bread of life. Don't let that go to waste. Finish up your veggies, and don't forget to eat your bread.
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