A Worldview the Size of My Hometown

One of the craziest stories in the Bible involves God's destruction of the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah. God describes the cities as being so evil that not even ten righteous people could be found within their borders. God chooses to save one man and his family out of all the people who lived there. The man's name was Lot and he was only able to bring his wife and daughters with him, as his two sons-in-law didn't believe him when he tried to warn them of the coming destruction. When God delivered Lot and his family from Sodom he told them to leave without turning back. Lot's wife decided to turn back toward the city in an apparent lust for the sinful place they were leaving behind and suffered the same fate as the city she loved. This all sets the stage for one of the most disgusting stories the book of Genesis tells. Lot's daughters seemed to be under the impression that the rest of mankind was destroyed and it was therefore their responsibility to repopulate the other, or at least their responsibility to repopulate their bloodline. This thought led them to deceivingly getting their father drunk and each procreate with him on different occasions. Their crude and drastic decision led to the people groups known as the Moabites and the Ammonites, who go on to be two of the great rivals of God's chosen people in the Old Testament, the Israelites.

So what is a person supposed to make of a story like that?
There are obvious implications in regard to God's judgment against evil, but I want to focus more on Lot's family's paradigm of their hometown Sodom. It's interesting to observe not only Lot's wife's yearning to return to a city which no longer existed, but also Lot's daughters' apparent hopelessness after its destruction. Whether they actually thought the whole world suffered the fate of Sodom is unknown, but for Lot's family, Sodom was the whole world.

One thing I've found to be true as I've had the privilege of reading the Bible while traveling to different parts of the country and the world over the last decade of my life is the importance of having a worldview that expands beyond the borders of the town we call home. In no way do I intend to criticize those who have lived in one town for a lifetime. Oftentimes that's a respectable life to live, especially if someone is in a healthy environment. The problem lies in the fact that most people don't find themselves in a healthy environment. And if all that a person knows is the town they come from, they may not even know that it's not normal for everybody else.

Let me share an example of what I'm talking about. Over the last several years I've had the privilege of getting to do ministry at jails, prisons and drug rehabilitation centers. Anyone who's in a healthy mental state within those facilities is willing to admit they lived a life in the past they don't want to go back to. In fact, many don't wish to leave the confines they're currently in due to fear of going back to the place they came from and getting back into the same bad habits that got them in trouble.
It's interesting to note that though the world has 7.7 billion people, 7 continents and over 200 countries, each with hundreds of cities, our worldview tends to be limited to those towns we've resided in.

To the outside observer reading the story of Lot's daughters in Genesis 19, their actions don't make any sense. But if you were to jump into their worldview for a second and realize the fear they had because all they'd previously known was gone, perhaps their actions would seem a little more understandable. What about you? If someone with a broader understanding of the world were to observe your life would they question the logic of the decisions you make?

While travel is a fantastic adventure and I'm grateful for the places I've been fortunate enough to go to, I don't believe it's absolutely necessary to have an appreciation for perspectives outside our city limits. The Bible insists upon putting faith in God to the extent that we are challenged to see things from another perspective. Fear retreats to what we know intimately and makes all decisions on that basis. While faith fearlessly advances into new territory and embraces possibilities outside what we've been able to tangibly observe.

The story of Lot and his family runs adjacent to the story of Lot's cousin Abraham and his family. Interestingly enough, God called them both to leave from their homeland in pursuit of a greater calling. Though Abraham made many mistakes along the way, it seems that he more readily embraced a faith driven life with an expanded worldview. This led to a life of great blessing for not only himself, but also the lives of his family and those around him.

I believe God is calling us to expand our horizons. Whether it's as drastic as moving to a new place or as simple as reading about other cultures, faith is greatly enhanced when one steps out of the comforts of what we know and begins to see the life outside of the walls we naturally confine ourselves to.

Embracing the Awkward

Contrary to popular belief, I believe love is uncomfortable, at least at first. Ironically, we live in a culture that tells you the opposite, one that tells you to embrace things only if they feel right. In other words, avoid the awkward. The Bible gives a thorough definition of love in Paul's letter to the Corinthians, and I'm always struck by the line, "Love is not self seeking". In other words, love is not selfish. Yet so often when we talk about love, the conversation tends to focus on ourselves.

If love is selfless, then love must be utterly familiar with being uncomfortable. If we are to not be self seeking, then we must embrace the awkward, that which we naturally avoid. I think of meeting someone for the first time and having that awkward conversation that we really don't want to have, asking questions that we really don't care to hear the answer to. Perhaps this is because we're obsessed with our own comfort. We tend to avoid conversations that make us uncomfortable. What if we embraced meeting new people because we were genuinely interested to hear their story? What if we became oblivious to the uncomfortable because we are more concerned with the feelings of those we're speaking to than our own?

Love walks on the edge of one's comfort zone, constantly expanding the borders to new horizons, inviting the uncomfortable to share in our comfort. Love listens well to others because she cares to hear their story. Love is constantly meeting new people because he is well aware of how many wander about in such loneliness. Love becomes familiar with the unknown because she is aware that most people never leave what they know. Love is beautiful as he cares more about you and me than he does about himself. Love embraces what you and I find to be awkward because she isn't focused on her own feelings so much as she is on others'.

My battle with depression and anxiety

I've battled depression and anxiety for as long as I can remember. Up until recently it's always been something I've been ashamed of. There have been very few mornings in my life when I've had much natural zeal to get out of bed in the morning. I hate the idea of being lazy so my logical desire is never to oversleep, but there's always a battle going on in my mind. I guess you could say that battle between logic and emotion has been the front lines of fighting against depression and anxiety in my life.
I'm a very emotional person. I feel like I've had the choice to either cry a lot or harden my heart to more sensitive feelings and become emotionally numb. While I have opted to go with the latter route for a period of time, I've learned that that will suck the life out of you in a hurry. So I cry easily. I'm a sensitive guy. I'm not ashamed of that at all. I believe crying is healthy, and I'm encouraged to know that Jesus cried in his time on earth.

Perhaps the hardest part of admitting that I have a serious struggle with depression and anxiety is the feeling that it might in some way be discounting my faith. I believe there's a fine line here. My identity is not defined by what I struggle against. My identity is defined by who God says that I am, even when  I don't feel that way. I have to constantly remind myself that in Jesus I'm loved, I'm God's child, I'm pure, I'm valued, and that my life is meaningful though I don't always feel that way. By the grace of God, I'm a righteous child of God who battles against anxiety and depression.

One of the hardest things for me to admit is that when my mom battled cancer for four years and then passed away when I was a junior in high school I used that as a justification for my depression and anxiety. What I mean is that prior to my mom's health issues I still had those problems, but I was ashamed because I didn't have a "valid" reason for having them. Now that I've been in a pretty healthy stage of life the last several years, I've still had serious problems with anxiety and it's been hard for me to admit. I'd like to think that since I'm a fully committed Christian, I would always feel peace. I don't always feel peace. Therein lies the struggle between how I feel and what is really true. I believe that Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and I believe that the fruit of God's Holy Spirit is joy and peace. I believe that God has promised a peace that passes understanding to those who prayerfully trust him with a grateful attitude. In spite of my belief, there are seasons of my life where I'm still plagued with anxiety and depressive thoughts.

I'm learning how weak I really am, and I'm no longer ashamed of it. My pride wants you to believe that my walk of faith has excelled me beyond some of these troubles, but the truth is I struggle often. The beautiful part about it is that my faith has grown all the while. I don't doubt God or his promises as much anymore because I've quit believing that I'm entitled to feelings of peace as a Christian. God is the source of all things peaceful and all things joyful, and he gives them graciously, not on the basis of our deserving those blessings. Perhaps I'm allowed some of these struggles that I would not trust in myself and that I would never cease to pursue a deeper relationship with God. In my weakness he is strong. In my discomfort he longs to comfort me. In my unrest he desires to give me rest. One of the greatest comforts I have in this life is to know that Jesus came to earth and suffered the things we suffer. He is able to sympathize with our weakness because he allowed himself to be a weak human. If the God of creation was not ashamed to be weak, then neither should we. In my weakness I am strong because the power of Christ dwells in me.
I don't particularly like to share these things because it makes me vulnerable. I share them because I hope to encourage people who have a similar struggle. I've learned a lot of helpful tools in battling anxiety. But at the point where I believe that I've learned or grown enough is when things will start to overwhelm me once again. I still have a lot to learn. There is a lot of room for me to grow.

Life without a cell phone

Over the last few years I've often wondered what life would be like without a cell phone. It's crazy the number of things we depend on it for: GPS directions from one place to another, social media, text messages, phone calls, alarm clock, camera, music, and endless other apps that are readily available. It certainly adds a lot of quantity to our lives. We seem to have an endless number of contacts, people we keep in touch with, and if we want, we can have an endless amount of data so that we can be on our phones all day. We have internet on our phones so it's essentially a little computer in our hands.

Personally, all of the quantity of things that are available through my cell phone decreases the quality of my life. I can't sit through a meal or meeting with someone without my phone vibrating in my pocket multiple times. And though I generally try not to pull out my phone, for the sake of those in front of me, my mind still wanders to who might be contacting me and what they might want from me. Recently, one of my good friends gave a sermon describing anxiety as a divided mind. I can honestly say that my phone has brought me a great deal of anxiety because it divides my attention daily. As a minister, I already feel "on call" 24/7, but how much more so when anybody can contact me in an instant from anywhere in the world. My wife deserves more of me, and those who I am with deserve more of me.

Those who know where I'm going might begin to make statements like, "It might be ideal to go without a cell phone, but it's not very practical in today's day and age" or "Why don't you just cut back on having it with you all the time?"
I've been reading a book that describes the burdens we often place on ourselves by making so many "have to" statements. For most of the things we say we "have to" do we actually have a choice in the matter. In today's society we "have to" have a cell phone, right? We actually have a choice. One of the most convicting passages of Scripture for me comes from Paul's letter to the Galatians, "For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ."
When I'm honest with myself, I do a lot of things to try to please people under the pretense that I'm serving others for the sake of Christ. Personally, for me to be able to best love God with my undivided heart and to love people better, I believe it's best that I go without a cell phone for the foreseeable future (starting at the end of this month). I realize that this won't please a lot of people, but know that I can still be reached via my office phone, Facebook or email. Just don't expect an immediate response because I always want to prioritize those who are in front of me.

I'll do my very best not to bind my personal convictions on others in this matter, because ultimately everyone has to make the decisions that they know in their heart will be best for their relationship with God, in regard to phones or whatever other matters of opinion we're faced with.

I know, I know. I'll have to pull out a map on the highway. I'll have to leave an hour earlier on road trips. I'll have to read my Bible from a book that can be held in my hands. I may have to get an actual camera, and maybe even an ipod. Hopefully I'll become a more patient person. Hopefully I'll become a more peaceful person. Hopefully you'll love spending time with me because you'll know you're getting 100% of my attention. All in all I'm very hopeful when I think of this transition. Fifty years from now when I look back on my life I can't possibly see myself regretting this one bit.

Zechariah 3 sermon manuscript

Title: Claim Your Prize

Big Idea: As Christians, we are God’s possession. If we are God’s, then satan has no right to claim us because God defines our identity.

Aim: That the hearers will leave with confidence to be more bold in their walk of faith as a result of knowing that they belong to God alone and that their identity is eternally tied to him.

Introduction: Besides Jesus, you know who I’ve had the closest relationship with? My mother... I’ve recently been contemplating why she’s so special to me... I’ve concluded that it has to do with how I’ve seen her as a result of her being so confident in her own identity. To me she’s been the best mother and spiritual leader a son could ever hope for. Though she’s known herself as a mother and wife, most importantly she’s identified herself as a possession of God. My mom is absolutely identified by her belonging to God and that’s why I love her so much as a mother. This morning we’re going to look at the idea in Scripture of what it means to be God’s possession. After all, shouldn’t that be key in how we see our own identity? This morning we’re going to be looking at a passage of Scripture in...

Zechariah 3:1-10- I want you to visualize the imagery of this passage as I read. This section of Scripture gives us insight into the spiritual realm hardly shown elsewhere in the Bible.

Text Synopsis: We see here a vision of the prophet Zechariah in which satan is accusing the high priest of Israel before God. satan is accusing Joshua on the basis of his filthy garments with the intent to claim Joshua as his. Following God’s rebuke of satan, God removes the dirty garments and clothes Joshua with clean garments. The angel of the Lord then tells Joshua to walk in God’s ways now that he has been made clean. The vision ends with a picture of a great day of prosperity to come.

1. satan stands to accuse (3:1) in order to claim us as his possession
1. Revelation 12:10- satan accuses the brethren day and night before God. His very nature is to accuse; in fact, that’s what his name means. Jesus says that he’s a liar and that he only speaks lies.
2. Perhaps you haven’t recognized it as the voice of the accuser, because we think what he’s saying is true. Here we have the picture of satan accusing Joshua on the basis of his filthy garments, and if we’re too quick to draw a conclusion we may agree that satan’s accusations are true. Though satan’s accusations may be factual, they are not true. satan wants to identify us according to our mistake-ridden past, while God identifies us as those created for a future of eternal life. satan’s accusations of Joshua were factual in that he and the nation of Israel had earned the filthy garments by sin, but they were untrue because God didn’t define Israel by her sin; He redefines her with clean clothes.
3. Maybe we’ve fallen for the same trick in our own lives. You may be tempted to believe the lie that if you’ve had sex outside of marriage, then you’re a fornicator. Maybe you’ve been deceived into thinking that if you’ve lied, then you’re a liar. Or perhaps you’ve allowed satan to stamp you as a sinner because you’ve sinned.
4. Jude 1:9 contains an interesting account of a dispute between Michael the archangel and satan over the body of Moses. satan is rebuked in the same way he’s rebuked in our Zechariah text. I believe satan accused Moses with the intent to have him for eternity. If you remember… Moses’ life ended with a sin that hindered him from entering the promised land. He struck the rock that God commanded him to speak to and dishonored God’s name before Israel, thus God didn’t allow him to enter the promised land.

Transition: It does not end there, for Moses nor for us

2. God stands to claim his possession (3:2) God’s rebuke of satan signifies the truth that Moses belongs to God and satan can’t have him, because Moses’ faith was not in himself. His faith was in God. Likewise God stood to defend Joshua and Israel as his possession; and in the same way he claims us as his possession. But how do we know that we’re a possession of God?
1. Matthew 28:18-20- When Jesus gave the great commission, he commanded that disciples be baptized into the name of the Father, Son and Spirit. The language here implies that the disciple is being baptized into the possession of the Father, Son and Spirit. Just as Joshua’s iniquities were removed when God removed his filthy clothes, so were our iniquities when we were baptized for the forgiveness of our sins, as we read in Acts 2:38.
1. If baptism is the point at which we become God’s possession, what’s the most logical point of attack for the accuser? Doesn’t it make sense that the deceiver wants people to believe that baptism is unnecessary to become God’s? Furthermore, for those of us who are familiar with what God does at baptism, satan wants us to doubt that our baptism was legitimate. Why do so many of us question whether our baptism produced the results that God promised? It’s because satan is constantly accusing Christians that we don’t belong to God. For those of you who may struggle with doubt in this area, let me give you a word of encouragement: If your faith was in Jesus to forgive your sins at baptism, then Jesus forgave your sins. What a peace that ought to give us!
2. 1 Peter 2:9-10 speaks of the church now that we belong to God, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” Do you remember when you once didn’t belong to God? Much like Joshua and the nation of Israel we stood clothed in filthy garments. But now, praise God, we are His possession! We are now a kingdom of priests! You and I have become God’s priesthood now that we belong to him. And satan can’t have God’s priesthood. In Christ, our identity is eternally tied with God.
3. As the people of God we are told in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 that our body is a temple of God’s Spirit. Just as the Spirit dwelt in the holy of holies in the Old Testament, so God’s Spirit dwells in his holy nation, the church. The truth that God’s Spirit dwells in us as a seal of our salvation is proof that we are eternally identified with God. We are told that we are no longer our own. We’ve been bought with a price and are therefore to glorify God in our bodies. As a royal priesthood and a temple of God’s Spirit…
3. We stand clothed in his purity and holiness… today (3:3-5) We see in the vision of Zechariah that God not only removed Joshua’s filthy garments, but He clothed him with clean clothes
1. Galatians 3:26-27 tells us that we are children of God through faith in Christ and that we are clothed in Christ through baptism. Since our baptism we have literally been covered in the righteousness of Jesus. Furthermore…
2. 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that those of us who are in Christ are new creatures. The old has passed away and the new has come. Not only were we a new creation at baptism; we are new creatures today. It’s not as if the cross atoned for our past sins and we have to atone for our future sins. Verse 21 here in 2 Corinthians 5 explains that Jesus, the sinless one became our sin-bearer so that we could become the righteousness of God. We’re clothed in Christ’s perfection today.
3. You notice one of those articles of clothing in our Zechariah text is a turban. I’m convinced that this isn’t limited to cultural implications. In Exodus 28:36 we see that the priest’s turban had an inscription on it that read “Holy to the LORD”. Not only are we holy, being set apart from the world, we are also holy in the sense that we are set apart unto God for his purposes. Because we are clothed with the garment that reads “Holy to the LORD”...
4. We stand to walk in God’s ways (3:6-7)
1. 1 John 1:7 says that if we walk in the light as God himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. To walk in the light is to walk in this intimate relationship with Jesus, the light of the world.
2. Similarly, in 2 Corinthians 5:7 we are told to walk by faith, not by sight. We know that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. We cannot possibly know how to walk in faith if we are not constantly in God’s Word.
3. Galatians 5:16 tells us to walk by the Spirit that we won’t carry out the desires of the flesh. It’s impossible to walk in God’s ways alone. Not only are we in need for the fellowship of the church, we desperately need the Spirit’s help in our walk. After we’ve walked faithfully, guided by Jesus our Shepherd…
5. We stand with assurance that we are pure and holy in final judgment (3:8-10)
1. The forgiveness of the land that happened in one day in verse 9 of our Zechariah text is referencing Jesus’ atoning sacrifice for sin at the cross. Hebrews 9:27 says that it’s appointed for man to die once, then after comes judgment. For those of us who belong to Christ, we are defined by what Jesus did at the cross.
2. Then there’s this promise of a vine and a fig tree. If you’re like me, you’re wondering, “What does that mean?” The Israelites of the time would’ve definitely understood it to be a symbol of peace and prosperity after all enemies had be conquered. So when is the last enemy conquered for us?
3. 1 Corinthians 15:26 tells us that the last enemy to be defeated is death. Paul goes on to give us insight into what happens for Christians on the day of judgment. In verse 57 he asks, “O Death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?... Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ!”...

Conclusion: What you may not have known as I spoke of my mom earlier is that on January 26 of 2010 she passed away from colon cancer... Some might say that she lost her battle for her life, but that’s only those who don’t understand that her battle wasn’t merely against cancer. Her battle was against the spiritual forces of this dark world; and praise God she didn’t belong to the evil one. On January 26, 2010, on “that day”, God claimed her as his possession for all eternity. Though my mom didn’t live a perfect life, satan’s accusations against her identity were met with a rebuke, because her faith was in Christ. She became a possession of God when she died to sin in baptism, and God has claimed her as his ever since. She lived a life of boldness that reflected her identity as a child of God. In fact, during her four year battle with cancer, I saw her fall in love with God like I’ve never seen anyone. And now that it’s all said and done, she stands victorious in Christ Jesus…

That’s my mom’s story, but is that your story? Have you become God’s possession? If you are a possession of God, we can say together as the church:

If God is for us, who can be against us? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither things present nor things to come, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The wisdom of service

"...for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you..." (1 Peter 1:9-12)

For anyone who believes in eternity, one of the main goals of life, if not the main goal, is the salvation of one's soul. The above passage sheds so much light on not only the depth of salvation but also the depth of service. Jesus, the Savior of the world, has only been known by mankind as the Messiah (or Christ) for the past 2000 years or so. Prior to that, God's plan of Messianic salvation was a mystery. Yet it was a mystery longed to be understood by all those who sought God, as we read from the scripture in Peter. The writer of Hebrews puts it like this when talking about these ancient men of faith, "These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect" (Hebrews 11:39-40).

In the younger generation of American society it's easy to feel a sense of entitlement. We, as Americans, are blessed beyond what we understand. We're blessed with riches only the poor can truly appreciate, we're blessed with freedoms that those confined within harsher systems around the world envy, we're blessed with citizenship many others have worked hard to get, and we're blessed with a tremendous opportunity to seek truth while other countries hinder their citizens rights. I use the word "blessed" because these things are unearned by most of us. Yet it's so easy to lord it over those who weren't privileged with the same things. We pass judgment on illegal aliens as if we have the slightest understanding of what kind of lives they're fleeing from. It's too easy to look down upon people we don't understand. Only in Christ is there a true respect for the graces received in life. We ought to praise God that there were men and women over the centuries willing to commit their lives to the work of God, so that we could have a fuller understanding of salvation in Jesus. Praise God that the Godly people of old "were not serving themselves but you". Jesus said it this way, "I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor" (John 4:38).

True wisdom is reflected in selfless servitude. Jesus was sure to teach his disciples this counter-cultural truth both in his life and teaching, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:42-45).
I distinctly remember a brother in Christ commending me for my strong faith last year, reminding me that I'm blessed because I've had generations of people praying for me to become the Christ-like man that God had made me to be. That was a great reminder for me of how much has been done for me and passed down through generations of good seeds planted. The next time we're tempted to flaunt our freedoms and blessings as if earned, let us remember the number of people that have poured into our lives from years ago. When we come to a genuine gratefulness of that, we will have the wisdom to pour into the lives of future generations by serving others as selflessly as we can in the now.

An update on my schooling and future plans

This past May I finished my first year of schooling at Sunset International Bible Institute. It proved to be a huge blessing for me as  I grew a lot in my knowledge of the Bible and ministry, and was also blessed with the opportunity to be involved in many new ministries. Currently I'm interning with the Sidney Church of Christ until the end of July, as I'll be returning back to classes in Lubbock August 10. Two weeks ago I was blessed to go on a week long mission trip to Nicaragua, through God is Able Ministries, for my third year in a row. Every time I leave the country, my passion for international mission work is renewed, as I look forward to the day that I'll be doing it full time. Following my graduation in May of 2016 from SIBI, I plan to continue an additional semester the school offers for missions. So I'm on track to be finished with school by the end of 2016, with the plan to leave for the international mission field in the first part of 2017.
While we're not allowed to have jobs while attending school, I've been supported financially this past year. Thank you so much to those who have committed to supporting me in that, and thank you to everyone who has been praying for me along this journey. This upcoming year, I'm hoping to raise more support, as I continue participating in short term mission trips throughout the school year. If you're interested in supporting me or a ministry I'm a part of, please give me a call (406-321-2307) or email (ike2307@hotmail.com). Also, there is a simple donation link on the sidebar through paypal. I'm overwhelmed by the constant love and support I've received by friends and family as I continue to follow the path that God has laid out before me.
While raising financial support isn't something I've ever been fond of doing, it's proved to be a blessing for many reasons. Firstly, it's humbling for me and helps me to realize I cannot do what I'm doing on my own. Secondly, I know that not everyone is in a position to be able to travel and serve people in the name of Jesus, as I've been blessed to be able to do, being young and single. It's been a privilege to be an advocate for those who have supported me. Lastly, I've seen many who have invested in me have the opportunity to minister alongside me in the places they'd previously supported. Just this past week, as we travelled to Nicaragua, I got to see my dad, step-mom, aunt, uncle and the McNat family all serve where they had supported me to serve in the past. They'll all tell you, as I've often struggled with myself, that there sometimes aren't words for the experiences you have on the mission field. I'm thankful that God has used myself and others to open a door for more people to see what a privilege it is to serve outside the country, and even simply outside our comfort zone. God has a funny way of working through anyone in any given position as we place ourselves and our resources in his hands. I can't thank him enough for the people he's blessed me with as he leads me on this journey.

The struggle for contentment

Why is it that peace of mind seems so tough to come by? We long for things we don't have, and if somehow we attain them, we manage to remain discontent. Anxiety stirs deep within us as we dwell upon how much greater life was in a different place, at a different time, with different people. Yet if our minds will let us be honest with ourselves, we found no greater contentment in that place, in that time or with those people than we do in the present. We attempt to glorify what never was, as if to attain some sort of hope for the lack of peace in the here and now. Logically it makes no sense, but emotionally we continue to toy with the thoughts and memories of when the grass was greener. Color blind as we are, we remain blind to the opportunities that lay before us. There can be no peace without contentment. I heard of a man who learned to be content in all circumstances. It seems unbelievable. The secret, he said, is to be thankful in all circumstances. Are gratefulness and anxiety as inversely proportional as this man would suggest? I can't say I've run into any genuinely thankful worriers. I'm not exactly apt to be filled with gratefulness when my heart is burdened with anxious thoughts. Nor am I filled with discontentment when expressing genuine thanks. Can it be that simple? And where does a heart of gratitude come from any way? Many have convinced themselves that people are naturally one way or the other. “I'm a worrier”, one says, while you can't seem to punch a smile off of some people's faces. Certainly we are all gifted differently and we face varying levels and types of internal battles, but one cannot always let who they've been known to be define who they are becoming, or who they are all together.

Perhaps the most often quoted scripture was written in regard to this subject of being content, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” While the general truth remains for someone who is in fact strengthened by Christ, this was written to address peace in the midst of the highs and lows of life. Getting along with humble means and living in prosperity. Whether hungry or well fed. Suffering need or having an abundance. The idea is that there has to be something greater to be thankful for amidst those ups and downs. The object of our gratefulness cannot be something that can quickly be taken from us, or else our gratitude remains inconsistent. The object of gratefulness has to be constant. I know no constant, save Christ Jesus. Therefore, I can remain thankful no matter the circumstances, and say with those whose joy you cannot take, “I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me.”

Why I write

I used to write as a form of expression. I've always enjoyed writing because it enables a person to encapsulate a mood on any particular day. But ask almost any writer, and they'll tell you that their work is never good enough. I look back at a lot of my old writings, rarely impressed, often embarrassed, about how I thought then in comparison to how I think now. Lately, I've blogged for the purpose of positively influencing the lives of my readers. I don't often write to entertain anymore. I've always been my biggest critic, and as I examine my past writing, I notice a pattern. The first thing I often notice is the immaturity of my past self, in certain tones, thoughts or words. The thing that blows me away is that though I've always been hard on myself (I used to be what they call a "perfectionist"), there are certain aspects of my writing I can look at and wouldn't change to this very day. Those words, the ones I'm proud of, have one thing in common: I can't take credit for them. I wondered today why anyone would ever take the time to read what I've written while the word of God is in print. Everything worthwhile that I've ever written has it's roots in the Bible. Given that some reading my blog may have little respect for the Bible but some respect for me, I feel that it's necessary to make this point.
I write to change lives because I'm grateful that mine has been changed. I write in hopes that those reading will be seeking truth, that which is not relative but has always been absolute. I write to share the joy that I've been freely given; a joy that doesn't stop at me.
I'm confident there is no person on the face of the earth that is more blessed than myself. The Bible promises that Christians are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm (Ephesians 1:3), and you can't have more than that. I'm reminded of a C.S. Lewis quote that "he who has God and everything else has no more than he who has God only." As well as C.S. Lewis was able to articulate deep truths, his writings were nothing new either, simply an intellectual's perspective on the truth of the Bible.
I've been reading a lot of material on early christian writings for school this quarter. It's crazy how so many of the deep thinkers of the first few centuries AD had such varying theologies. There was not a lack of education among early church fathers, leaving so many of these men with diverse reputations. It's equally easy for those who study church history to come away with a variety of views in regard to some of the early well known Christians. This got me to thinking how I'll be remembered when I'm dead and gone for centuries (if Jesus doesn't come back first). I don't want to be remembered by the depth of my theological thinking or for how well I could articulate my views on a passage of scripture. I want to be remembered as someone who reflected the love of Jesus Christ his Savior in the way he lived his life. I want to be remembered as someone who sacrificed for the well being of others. I don't desire for people to look back and see Isaac as someone who could win a debate about the existence of God. I want people to remember Isaac as the person who would humble himself to serve anyone for the honor of his Savior. My words only carry weight if they're reinforced by the way I live, and that is precisely why the words of Jesus are more important than the words of any other man to have walked this earth. It's easy to read the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 and speak of how it's a tremendous idealistic moral sermon, but when you understand the life of the man who spoke those words, they become powerful. I don't aspire to be as great of a philosopher as Socrates or Plato. Nor do I desire to be as intellectual as C.S. Lewis or Origen. I long to be as loving, humble, and passionate as Jesus the Christ, the one man who enforced every good word he ever spoke with the way that he lived. I write to honor my Lord Jesus, to share what he's doing in my life, to give others hope of what he can and will do in theirs.

The depth of God's love

If you have a healthy relationship with God, it's because he's allowed you to suffer. Yes, I do believe suffering is a prerequisite to a close relationship with God. And yes, I understand that those aren't necessarily words that appeal to non-Christians, or even most Christians for that matter. Why would anyone want to commit themselves to a God who promises suffering, right? The conclusion that I've come to is that it has to do with the depth of God's love for those he has created. 

To help make this clear, I want to begin with an illustration. As humans, we have confrontations in 100% of our close relationships at one time or another, and I believe that the heart of the relationship is determined in how each party handles those confrontations. For instance, when a child disobeys their parent, the natural loving response from that parent would be discipline. I think we can all agree that a parent that sees their child doing something they know to be wrong, and allows the child to continue doing it, is displaying a poor example of parental love. I would also say that most people have experienced conflict in friendships and other close relationships. Maybe many of you have experienced the type of conflict that went unresolved and the relationship simply dissolved. But, the friends, spouses, parents, or children that we remain closest to are those in which both parties have expressed the truth about how they feel toward one another. You probably agree with all or most of what I just said in that paragraph, right? Then why is it that there's such a great tendency to throw this aspect of relationship and relational conflict out the door when it comes to God?

The bible says that sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2). Then, one might ask, why does God allow the possibility for sin? To which I respond, why does a parent allow the possibility for their child to make a mistake or to disobey? Loving parents know that keeping their child on a leash will only inhibit them in any aspect of growth. Likewise, God allows us freedoms in order to allow for growth. Sin is what we do when we are dissatisfied with God. God created us. He made us to be fully satisfied in him. The bible says that every good and perfect gift comes from him, the unchanging Father (James 1:17). So, let's look back at the illustration of relationships from the previous paragraph. We could say that sin causes conflict between us and God, thus requiring a conflict resolution. An unloving God would allow us to keep on sinning, but a loving God allows suffering as a form of discipline. The bible says it this way in Hebrews 12:5-7:

5 "And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
    and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
    and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”[a]

7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?"

Statistics say that 1/3 of this generation of Americans are raised without a father figure in their life. Maybe you're one of those people raised without a father. I have many close friends in that situation, and they've had to endure an unspeakable hardship because of their inherent need for a father (Psalm 68:5). Yet many people choose to deny either God's existence or his love because of his allowance of suffering in this world. From a truthful perspective, God is the only father with a right to desert his children when they make a mistake (sin), because sin is a rejection of God. However, God allows suffering, as a form of discipline, because of his great love for mankind. Maybe you're following me at this point but you're still wondering about the really horrific sufferings such as rape, child molestation, and the like. Notice, I've said God allows suffering; he does not create the suffering. Suffering is a result of sin, which is a result of rejection of God. (In other words, God is so good, that he uses bad to point back to his goodness.) So why doesn't he rid the world of rape, murder, and the rest of the sins that make the top of our unwanted list? I'm only going to touch the tip of the iceberg in my answer, but in short, God would then have to rid the world of lies, cheating, stealing, lusting, fornication, and so on because it's all a rejection of him. In order to do that, he would have to kill everyone on the face of the earth. So, to the one who opts not to believe in God and God's love because of God's allowance of suffering, and stands in judgment on those who've committed truly horrible sins, I ask this: Do you really want justice? Naturally, the wages of sin is death, because sin is a separation from God who gives life. Therefore all people stand condemned to die as sinners. Not believing in God because of suffering is illogical. In reality, the allowance of suffering points to a need for someone to mend brokenness. What is the most loving thing God could do for those who have deliberately rejected him over and over, except to allow them to suffer, in order that they will turn back to Him, the giver of life?

Because suffering is such an important topic for those in a relationship with God and those who don't have a relationship with him, the bible has a ton to say about it. I cannot possibly begin to express all of my thoughts towards suffering in this small post, and my thoughts don't even compare with those in the bible. Hopefully this small writing has stirred your thoughts, which you are welcome to contact me about. For now, this is to be continued... 

Love always trusts

1 Corinthians 13 gives the best definition of love that literature could hope to give. There are a few defining words I have always struggle to understand though. That's probably for good reason because love is often beyond understanding. The line that always gets me is the one that reads, "love always trusts". The more literal translation reads "love believes all things" but that doesn't make it much clearer to me. I believe the picture that this quote is portraying is that of walking by faith. Maybe another way to say it would be to say that "love doesn't need proof". One of my favorite movies is A River Runs Through it, something of a family biography written by one of two brothers the story centers around. The movie does a good job of portraying the words written in the book by including the philosophy and depth intended. There were two things that united the family together throughout the story, God and fly fishing. Near the end of the film, one of the brothers, Paul, is beaten to death in a bar over an outstanding debt he owed. Needless to say, there is great hurt and confusion within the family. The father asks his living son, Norman, what he really knew of Paul. Norman responds by saying that maybe all he really knew about him was that he was a great fisherman. Yet his father insisted he knew more than that. So the movie ends with the father giving one of his final sermons of his life reflecting on the family's difficult situation regarding Paul's death. Indirectly describing his son Paul's need for help and refusal to allow it, he ends by making the statement, "We can love completely without complete understanding." It's a beautiful line. I believe it says the same thing that the apostle Paul penned a couple millenniums ago that I just wrote of.
Both the passage and the quote from the movie mean so much to me for this reason; since I was little I've had a great desire to understand everything I involve myself with. To be quite honest, it's caused much heart ache, because there is much that I cannot understand. As a Christian, there are many circumstances in life that make no sense to me. You've heard it complained, "If God is a loving god, then why..." You can fill in the blank, and it's probably been pondered before. There has to be a point in life when we realize that God is the loving God, and the "why" of life and death is his to know.
Could it be that the option of faith that God gives us is necessary to shield us from much greater pain? The wise king Solomon wrote in the book of Ecclesiastes, "In much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain." Could it be that God is keeping the majority of the pain to himself so that we might have joy in faith? There has only been one man to walk the earth who was capable of knowing all things, and his life was one of great sorrow and pain. But praise be to God for the life that Jesus lived, because without it our faith would be in vain.

Love doesn't always make sense. In fact, love doesn't often make sense. Mother Theresa put it this way:

"People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway."

There are many things we know we ought to do, but do not end up doing because we can't make sense of it. It's that way with our lifestyle and careers. We settle, for lack of faith and for knowledge of pain. Faith is not stupid, but it is risky. For those of you who are like me and struggle with not knowing what you'd like to, let's rest easy knowing God knows what we do not. Let's continue to love when it makes no sense. Let's continue to be selfless when there is no apparent reward. Let's trust God when there seems to be no good reason. The book of Hebrews says, "Without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him." 

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen"(Hebrews 11:1). I don't know about you, but I am assured of the eternal life I hope for and I'm convicted that the God I do not see will provide. Because of this, I can always trust. I can always believe, even without understanding.

Washing feet at Tech

In my last blog I talked about evangelizing on Texas Tech's campus. For a few weeks now I've wanted to go on campus during a football game day and wash people's feet. As ridiculous as that sounds, I try to make application of the bible in all areas of my life. John 13 has been a very meaningful passage of scripture to me:

"So Jesus got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, 'Lord, are you going to wash my feet?'
Jesus replied to him, 'You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.'
'No,' said Peter, 'you shall never wash my feet.'
Jesus answered, 'Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.'
'Then, Lord,' Simon Peter replied, 'not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!'
Jesus answered, 'A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean...'
When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. 'Do you understand what I have done for you?' he asked them, 'You call me "Teacher" and "Lord", and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.'

So with this passage in mind, four of us set up at memorial circle in the middle of campus four hours before Texas Tech hosted Texas at home. Given that it would be difficult to stop passers by for the purpose of washing their feet, we decided to ask people to take a survey that would lead in to the foot washing.
The first question of our survey was an icebreakert. Our first real question to our survey was, "What is the first word that comes to mind when you hear the word 'Christian'?" To which we got a variety of replies: Jesus, religion, bible, God, Julian, Church, salvation, hypocrite, judgmental, cross, music, savior, faith, and me. Following that we asked whether they believed in heaven and/or hell, and if so, where they thought they'd go if they died today. 43 responded that they did believe in heaven and hell, 7 responded that they didn't, several responded that they didn't know, and one responded that he believed only in heaven, and he didn't know if he'd even end up in heaven. Most of those who said they believed in heaven and hell said that they'd end up in heaven, two said they'd go to hell, and five said they'd go to purgatory (a place the bible says nothing about) which would save them from hell. We then asked whether they'd heard the story of Jesus washing his disciples feet, to which most replied that they had. Our final question was whether or not they'd let someone wash their feet if someone offered. Most immediately replied with a "no" or in some derogatory way, but quite a few said yes. Of course those "quite a few" turned into "a few" when they found out we actually had a bucket of water ready to wash their feet. In the two hours we were there, we washed six people's feet, all of whom were greatly appreciative. We finished by spending quite a bit of time with a group of young college guys who were full of questions and converstion.
A lot of people look at the passage in John 13 and suggest that it's not relevant in a modern context because most of the foot washing had to do with Jewish ritual. Maybe they're right to a certain degree, but I consider the words of a student who's feet I was washing, "If I were a king I'd have people wash my feet all the time. This is awesome." To which I respond in my thoughts, "If I were a servant, I'd be washing feet all the time." Just as Jesus did not come to be served but to serve, Christians are called to be servants. Today was an impact-full reminder of the purpose of being a servant. When I consider my King and the life that he lived, I'd have it no other way. I am Christ's servant. In the words of Paul, though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible for Jesus. This is my goal, of which I fall short often, but have come to understand the reward when I remain faithful. I'm grateful for the example of servitude I find in Jesus' life through scripture, and am filled with hope, knowing my leader has paved the road for the narrow way.

Evangelism at Tech

I'm a part of the evangelism team in Cross Campus, the college group at the Sunset church where I'm a member here in Lubbock. Our team has been trying to come up with ideas about how to serve and evangelize on Texas Tech's campus here in town. It's not the easiest to come up with stuff. My buddy and I have started a thursday night bible study that was supposed to kick off last week. Last Thursday didn't exactly go as planned, and all the people supposed to come tonight bailed last second. So we started wandering campus this evening and asking people if they'd like to join us for next week. We probably asked 15 people and the immediate answer was "no" with almost no hesitation. It made me think of selling cars, walking out on the lot and having nearly everyone tell me "We're just looking",when the truth was that the majority was there to buy a car. I don't mean to compare evangelism with car sales in the sense that Christians are selling something because that's not the truth. In a physical sense, I have nothing to gain from telling people of my faith. The truth is simply that if you believe in the real Jesus Christ and what he taught, it would be unthinkable not to tell people of his salvation.
Finally, after getting shut down by several people, a few kids said they'd be up for a bible study. The whole thing brings up a lot of thoughts for me though. Obviously the perceptions vary greatly across a college campus, but it's almost as if the overall vibe is that religion is a thing of the past and Christianity is a self-righteous cult that isn't to be trusted. This is a view I'd very much like to help in changing, but it takes much more than the ability to effectively debate. People need to see the actual love of Christ and believe in its source. That's why I'm almost hesitant to call what we're doing a "bible study". In student's minds that's a huge turnoff, when in reality most people would probably be willing to discuss their religious background and compare viewpoints of theology or lack there of. They say that a lack of education is the greatest reason for poverty, and I believe the same holds true for spiritual poverty. I look at people holding cardboard signs on street corners and I have pity for the different hardships they've experienced that I couldn't begin to comprehend; then I think of spiritual poverty as I walk around in every day life, simply knowing that most people are without an intimate relationship with their Creator. As a Christian, my heart breaks for both. Unfortunately, yelling "Jesus is Lord" across a college campus isn't much more productive than telling a homeless person to get a job. If you care about either, there must be a desire to show the spiritually deprived that Jesus is Lord and the physically deprived that there's alternatives to life on the street.
I'm learning. I don't know where everyone is in their faith, or whether they have a faith; but i want to know, and I want to care. The more I pick up this thick book that's seen multiple millenniums, the more I come to believe the adjective that precedes the word "Bible" in its title. It is holy, and the more I read it, the more I want to be. Christians are called to be set apart, and the majority will never understand. They don't have to; they just need to know we care about them. God has put eternity on man's heart. It's man's duty to seek the answer as to why he has placed it there and a Christians privilege to help reveal the mystery.

What is life?

I was having a rough night a few days ago, and I thought to myself, "life is hard". Then I got to thinking a little more about that, and concluded that it isn't life that's hard; it's death that's hard. Someone might say that there's this time period between birth and death that most people call "life" and that is in fact difficult. Let me put a different lens on that though. I believe the truth is that life is beautiful and a tremendous blessing, and that death encompasses pretty much all the worst of what we know. You see it's death that's hard; not just when someone passes away, but the death that sneaks into life as subtly as the bad guy in a horror film. 

I think back to the garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were told that they could live in complete freedom, allowing them to do just about anything, but were instructed not to eat of the "tree of knowledge" in the middle of the garden. God said if they ate from that tree they would surely die. Picture this. For however many years Adam and Eve were in the garden, walking with God, they were experiencing life. Then they opted to test the meaning of the phrase "you will surely die" by eating the fruit of the tree they were commanded not to. But they didn't die right away, at least not the death that someone in the 21st century would expect. Not too long after they were banished from the garden, chaos broke loose in certain areas of their life, and I can just picture Eve looking at Adam, with thought of the peace in the former garden they lived in, and saying, "Death is hard". You see, Adam and Eve experienced the true form of both life and death. They experienced life before there was death, and they experienced life after there was death, most likely concluding life was better on its own.

I say all this to express the importance of perspective. I cannot say "life is hard" without immediately thinking of the Giver of life, without thinking of the blessings that come with life. Life isn't hard. Life is perfect; it just happens to be flooded with traces of death. Distinguishing what promotes life or death is more  than eating an apple a day or not smoking cigarettes. It requires a knowledge of truth, a knowledge of what will light the way. Most people would say that death is inevitable. Then again, most people don't know the Giver of life. For many, the biblical record of Adam and Eve is simply a story. For me it's a historical picture of life without death. Heaven is a promise of life without death, of light without darkness, and of truth without lies. Heaven isn't only something to strive for. It shines light on what's living and what's dying right now.

This whole thought came while  I was frustrated with circumstances, while sitting in a Sonic pretending I had the self-control not to order Sonic's version of Dairyqueen's Reese's blizzard. I point this out to bring thought back to the reality of now and let you know that I don't believe life is a vague philosophy that will one day prove itself true. Life is truth. The key is a matter of distinguishing what parts of death have sunk in to what we know as life and ridding our minds of thoughts of death. When I was sitting there thinking "life is hard", my mind was overwhelmed with thoughts of death, thoughts of the difficulty of physical pain, thoughts of the hardship of loneliness, of the hopelessness of a lost world. That's when it occurred to me that that's not life. Life is the everything good, and after all, we are living.

Youtube channel

My friend, Bryant, and I are going to start a Christian youtube channel tomorrow. We're gonna start tomorrow's video off by introducing Bryant and I, our backgrounds and faith. Bryant has a great story, and is a huge inspiration. We're hoping to get topics and questions from viewers and friends on Facebook. Nick Webber suggested we speak about the importance of media and its consequences in the life of a Christian. I don't know if we'll get to that tomorrow, but we're hoping to pick out of the topics that people suggest. We're trying to reach a wide range of people and hope to give good insight from a godly perspective. We encourage comments and suggestions for how to improve. We certainly want to be an encouragement to both believers and nonbelievers.

Another aspect of our youtube channel will be clips of poetry. I've written lots of poems that I'd like to share that address aspects of Christianity in today's society. I look forward to hearing comments and suggestions from friends on Facebook.

Break Week

Our first quarter here at Sunset is finished and we are on a break week between terms. The first term finished well. I think I passed all my classes, and I've been able to get involved with some good groups outside of school.

There's a program called "China Now" that came to one of our chapel services last week. They are looking for Christians who are fluent and educated in the English language to go to Chinese Universities to teach 14-20 hours a week. Housing and salary is taken care of, so the rest of the 148+ hours of the week can be spent serving and evangelizing. If I wasn't in school, I think I'd already be in China. God keeps teaching me to be patient and letting me know there's endless options for mission work when I finish up school next spring.

I was able to visit a place called "Tent City" over the weekend with some friends from church. It's a little plot of land on the outskirts of Lubbock where there's about 100 military tents set up for homeless people to live. We were encouraged to just go out and make conversation, meet people, and hear some stories, to share time with the people there. I'm so grateful for places like this. They find people in need and help them get back on their feet. There's a "no drug" policy, which I'm sure isn't easy to maintain, but the place seems to be very respectable. I sat down and talked with a few different people, trying to be mostly in one-on-one conversation. I ended up meeting about four different people, each of them having a unique story. The first man I talked to was telling me his family didn't associate with him and he really didn't have any active relationships. When I asked him if he had a relationship with God, he said that really wasn't his thing. Later on in the conversation, he said it's scary not to know Jesus. Questioning whether I heard him right, he again said, "It's scary to be apart from Jesus." I got the feeling this man wanted a relationship with God but didn't understand God's forgiveness. This man doesn't need to hear about forgiveness; he needs to be shown it. Life is all about relationships and if evangelism lacks the relational aspect, then it's not fulfilling its purpose. My personal goal is to be diligent about showing love to people consistently as I tell them about God's love, otherwise they won't trust what I claim is "God's love".

There was a young guy there from Jamaica, who had come up to Midland on a basketball scholarship for the junior college. He's probably my age and he's homeless in a tent. People become homeless a number of different ways. While a vast majority has no compassion on homeless because of drug and alcohol use, I'd say homelessness is a result of three things: a lack of education, a lack of love being shown, and a lack of relationships. Drugs and alcohol are merely used to fill the void. 

Something I think people don't realize is that there's a new generation of homeless people rising up right now, most of whom are underprivileged children in rough homes. If you find yourself lacking compassion for the older generation of homeless people, just take a look at the places where they came from: abuse (both sexual and physical), lacking one or both parents, poverty, having parents who were addicts, and on and on. If Jesus spent his Friday nights with the outcasts, why would I be satisfied with the movies?

Upcoming Mission work

After a couple of weeks at school here at SIBI in Lubbock, things continue to be progressing well. The classes are a load, going to school from 7:30 to 4:30, then having homework and studying I need to do. It isn't the same as my past history of schooling where I studied little. High school didn't require a lot of studying and, without making too many excuses, I was too lazy and lacked much interest in the course material in college to spend much time studying. It's a different story for me when it comes to the bible. I enjoy studying and learning new things from the bible. There are still many things I have to force myself to do though. For example, I'm currently taking a break from an assignment that requires us to read about 70 pages from the MLA book for writing. When I first began to read, I put it down and said "no way", but then I looked and saw reading this book is 10% of our entire grade for the class. It's not like college where you can get away with just skimming because our teachers make us sign a sheet that says we read it or didn't read it... and we're in preaching school. I think that would actually be effective for college professors as well because most people aren't deliberate liars.

Anyhow aside from the boring studying stuff, I attended a meeting today for a mission trip some students are taking to Ottawa Canada in mid October during our fall break. It's fairly inexpensive for an international trip, between $500-$700, so I'm really hoping to go. We would go for a week and do different evangelistic activities and spend some time with the small church up there. I guess Ottawa has a population of about 1 million people. I've never been to Canada so I would enjoy taking the trip. I'm at the state in my life where I really want to travel everywhere and get a sense of different cultures, hopefully being a good example for Jesus wherever I go.

I started taking a Portuguese class that one of the teachers at SIBI is teaching. He was a missionary in Brazil for a long time and takes students on week trips during the summer to both Brazil and Mozambique, which is apparently a Portuguese speaking country as well. So far the language seems to be very similar to Spanish, but more difficult to learn. Hopefully after a while of the class I'll be prepared at least for a short term trip to a Portuguese speaking country. It's funny how learning it makes me want to finish learning the more advanced teachings in Spanish... in due time I suppose.

I've been looking for different opportunities to serve outside of school in the community and quite a few people had suggested that I go visit the Carpenter's Church here in downtown Lubbock. I got on their website and found out they were very interactive with homeless and poverty stricken people in the downtown area. They meet every day of the week and house what homeless people they can. Anyhow I went and joined them last night for their Wednesday evening meal/service. It was certainly different than any church I've ever been in before. I met the couple that leads the group and they were very kind, explaining that it's family atmosphere. I got to help serve some dinner and listen to stories from all sorts of different people. It was humbling, kind of like Nicaragua in a lot of ways. There were various people from all walks of life, most of whom seemed to be struggling, whether homeless or financially impoverished. I appreciated being able to sit down and just listen. I like to hear about where people come from. It helps me to be more compassionate. The reason I have a tendency to be a hypocrite and judge by appearance is only because I haven't spent enough time getting to know and understand people who differ from myself. While the church service and dinner was rather chaotic, I found it to be peaceful. The truth is that we can't organize everything to be the exact way we'd like it to be. Sometimes things are out of our control, so we do our best and let God do the rest. I commend the folks at the Carpenter's Church for starting a good work and creating a family setting amongst people groups that are too often separated by barriers that only exist in our minds. More to come...

Made in his image

Then God said, "Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness..." -Genesis 1:26

I won't lie to you and tell you the first thing that comes to my mind whenever I see anyone else in society is that they are also made in the image of God, just as I know myself to be. But that's the truth. We were all intended to reflect God's image. That is, God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Notice how the scripture reads "make man in our image" suggesting not only that there are multiple persons implied (Father, Son and Spirit), but also that those persons are unified. In other words, man was created to be unified with God. Think for a moment of the most special relationships you are a part of. What makes them special? Is it not the unity that has taken place, usually because of a common interest, purpose, or often times last name.

The reason I'm even writing this is because we have a tendency to overcomplicate things, myself especially. Life is simple. God's purpose for us is simple. It's to show the unifying love to one another that God has shown to us. Instead we make things out to be a great competition, again, something I'm most guilty of. As Americans we tend to think it's us against the world. We're "proud to be an American". When truth be told, just as any legitimate blessing, there's nothing we've even done to earn our citizenship. And the people that have gone leaps and bounds to earn their citizenship in such a blessed country are the ones most scrutinized, persecuted and often forced to leave. Ponder that for a bit. It doesn't make sense. And yet the same attitude Americans tend to have of "this is mine" inherently so, has unfortunately rubbed off into the attitude of the American church. The freedoms and graces of Christ are so often felt to be deserved or earned, and thus divisions begin. Things would be so much simpler if we would just have an understanding of how richly blessed we are, no matter what we're talking about. Maybe you've worked for everything you have, and you refuse to credit your blessing to someone else. At least be thankful that  you're not one of the approximately 27 million slaves in the world right now, because no matter how hard they work, freedom will never be earned, only possibly given. There are so many unmerited blessings that we have that we take for granted, and ultimately we're left broken and divided.

I was tempted to complain about some frustrating issues I've had with my stomach lately, then I met a man in class with me who was far worse off. He hasn't eaten in over a year, but instead has been fed for 12 hours a day with a feeding tube, while his stomach is drained by another tube into a catheter-like bag that he carries around his shoulder. And my point isn't that we can always find someone worse off than us, so be grateful. My point is rather that every thing we have,  every breath we take, every blessing we can call ours is a gift that we don't deserve. Life is an unearned gift from an Almighty God. And the reason God gave us that gift is to be unified with him through Jesus. People are not the enemy. Terrorists are not the enemy. Foreign countries are not the enemy. We're all just broken image bearers of God. If we could only see society as such.

Anyone who knows me knows of my desire to help homeless people. I don't know why but I've always had a desire to help them. I've heard all the criticism towards them. "They've had their chance." "All they do is buy alcohol with that money." "I won't help someone that won't help them self." I don't see it that way. The Bible records David, "the man after God's own heart", saying in the 119th Psalm, "I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant". Why would David say that? He was the king of the most prominent nation in the world. Every one of his needs were met. He seemed to to have it all. The reason David made that plea to God is because he saw everything he owned, every relationship he had as an unmerited blessing from God. He knew that the reason he was well off was because God kept pursuing him. Even when David made mistakes, God didn't leave his side. The thing that makes me different from the homeless person standing next to wallmart with a cardboard sign is that I've been shown more love. I can't take that for granted. I can't assume ownership of a blessing I've done nothing to earn. At the end of the day, a paycheck is still a blessing from God because he gave me the hands to earn it.

There ought not to be divisions among us. I know that's an idealistic statement, and thus I understand that I cannot expect any more of others, to break down the barriers that society puts up, than the efforts I myself put forth. I have to be willing to associate with those most different from me, in interest, in race, in ethnic background, in culture, in financial background, in religion, or in whatever else might separate us.

Jesus prayed one of the most powerful prayers of unity shortly before he was crucified, "that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you sent me." (John 17:21-22) I'm confident that the world would believe that Jesus was sent from God if the Christians that follow him would show the same unifying love that he came and displayed 2000 years ago. Go show some act of love that will help unify your family, your workplace, your church, your marriage. When you see someone different than you, learn about them instead of criticizing them. My brother so wisely stated to me earlier this week that you can learn from anybody, even if it's simply to have a better understanding of why they believe what they believe, regardless of how senseless it may seem.

"Love one another... By this all men will know that you are my disciples." (John 13:34-35)
I don't want to have to tell people I'm a Christian. I want them to know simply by the love that I show them. I've fallen short a thousand times, but this is my goal none the less, and I hope it's yours too.