Is it really a waste?

Recently I have got some opposition for my faith. It comes in public realms, as well as in private conversations. After some of these instances it made me sit down and think about what I am doing. Why am I serving a God that I cant see with my eyes? Why did I die to myself to live for another? Why do I say not my will but yours? Is any of this worth it? All of these questions were narrowed to one major question "Am I wasting my life, the only one I get?" After spending hours thinking about it, the answer is simple... No.

I will approach how I came to this answer from several angles. The first is that as a Christian I am a better person. I am a better husband, friend, brother, and son because of my faith. It is obvious when you look at the history of my life. Before I was a Christian, I had many failed relationships with friends. I fought with siblings, and parents all the time. After becoming a Christian I am seeing people through a new lens. I try to love people even amidst their (sometimes long) list of flaws.  Don't get me wrong, I still grow impatient with my family and friends, but I still approach how I feel about people much differently. I am today a greater person because of Christ.

Another thing to consider is where I would be if I wasn't a Christian. A friend of my asked me that exact question one time. I responded with "powerful for the kingdom of Hell." If I am honest with you that is where I would be. Before I was a Christian I was longing to do something with my life. To have a sense of purpose, to change the world. I think if presented with the option of changing the world for the worse, I would still be on board. So it is worth it to me to be a Christian just to take myself away from being used for the furtherance of evil.

 What about all the things that you can't do? What about all the things that you have had to sacrifice? These are all questions that I have been asked and thought about thoroughly. Needless to say as a Christian there are many things, (especially considering that I am in college) that I have had to sacrifice. But if I am honest, anything that I think through I don't miss. I mean think of Pre-marital sex. All it takes is watching one episode of "Teen Mom" to make me realize that sacrificing having sex before marriage is one of the wisest decisions I ever made. Along the same lines there are things like pornography or being sexually immoral. But if you set aside your feelings about this for a second think about how much pain is associated with pornography or prostitution, even one night stands. The hurt, the regret, the sadness, the shame. Next time you thing about participating in these acts just remember that someday that might be your daughter, or your sister. Our culture may lie to us that these things are 'manly' but I for one feel more like a man every time I say no to these things. Because there is nothing manly about not protecting women. It isn't just sexual acts that are sacrificed. The life of partying, drinking, and drugs are all given up as well. It ought to be easy to understand why I willingly give these things up. Why would I want to do something to my body in which I am inhibited from thinking clearly or acting maturely. We are told we are 'cooler' the more we party or drink, but honestly, I think we just look 'sillier.'

Something that seems to always keep people from following Jesus is the 'rulebook.' There seems to be this widespread lie that being a Christian is all about following rules, being controlled. A real 'obey or die' sort of illusion. If The bible tells us that there is not even condemnation for [breaking the rules] when you are saved by Jesus. Never in my life when I have sinned, have I had to sit down with a pastor or religious leader and be lectured about what a bad person I am. I don't live my life thinking to myself daily about all the rules I must follow. Yes I do sin, I do screw up, and each time I hand these things to Jesus, and say, "thank you for becoming this thing. Thank you for saving me, thank you for bearing my burden." Being a Christian isn't about following the law and being controlled but some authority. Its honestly only about this crazy, insane, love relationship between me and Jesus, and me following this awesome person anywhere he leads me.

The last argument specifically goes out to anyone that is walking this narrow path with me. Any one that is part of this great family of Christ, please read these next few sentences thoroughly. Let me start by saying that my life isn't boring. It is certainly packed with more stuff, but it is Fun, it is Exciting, it is Awesome. My life has been so much better ever since I became a Christian. My life feels like it has purpose. I am not just trying to stockpile as much money as possible, or become as powerful as possible. I am trying to share my treasure with as many people as possible. Every day that someone I know comes closer to knowing Jesus one of the most exciting moments of my life. Sure being a Christian can be overwhelming sometimes. There is still pain, hurt, suffering, and burn out. But it's worth it. It's worth it just to be 'alive.' Just to taste what changing the world feels like. Just to know that I am living daily for one who creates galaxies! It is awesome.

So the answer is that it is not a waste. If I wasn't a Christian I would bored, distracted, annoying, empty, lost, frustrated, confused, angry, hurtful, and spent or wasted. However as a Christian I am; renewed, healed, excited, loving, happy, encouraged, and Alive!

So the long and short of it is that following Jesus is great. It is very hard sometimes, and this path is cleverly called the narrow one. But it is so worth it. It is so great. It is not a waste, and I am sure that 100 out of 100 times if I were to relive my life I would choose to change the world. I would choose to live life to the fullest! I would choose to follow Jesus! I know you would too!

The Bottom Line.

School most years I find a little dull, uninteresting, and irrelevant. This year in particular is no exception. In fact it has increased. I tried for a little while to brush this off as 'senioritis' but this clearly wasn't the case. There has been something going on this last 3 weeks of school, that has brought up more doubt, more confusion, and frustration than ever before. It took me a while to pinpoint exactly what the problem was, and I never expected to learn a lesson about Jesus in it, but since I did, here goes my thoughts about Jesus and Business School.

Business School this year, (as well as most years) is all about money. We will have several hour lectures on exchange rates, the future value of a dollar, and how to make money. If I was to sum up what the last 4 years of business school has taught me it is this; 'Make as much money as possible, whatever it takes.'

In fact that statement isn't that far from the truth. In my senior business class my instructor said 'To be a good business person there are 3 things to do.

1. Make money,
2. Keep shareholders happy,
3. Always act ethically and responsibly, unless when it violates 1 or 2.'

Now if that doesn't jump out at you right away, then read it a few more times. Get why that is messed up right now. This is what my college is teaching the future business leaders of our nation. That the most important thing to do is make money. Indirectly, we are also be taught that personal safety, health, and even human life in general has a price. I am coming to that conclusion because, there is a simple formula to follow.

(e) = Event
(R) = Cost to remedy a situation, with court settlements etc.
(z) = Potential profit margin increase from (e)

If z > R we are taught at business school that this is a good idea. It is easier to mess up someones life, and take the burden of lawsuits since it will be creating more money for the shareholders.

Needless to say, it should be clear why Im starting to become more and more uninterested in business school. If there was one giant thing that was holding me back from being a better Christian it was money. But I realized that the American Dream is crap compared to the Kingdom Dream! The America Dream says, make as much money and get as much fame for yourself as possible. The Kingdom Dream, says give away all your money and everything you own of value, and get as much fame for Jesus as possible. Truth be told, the Kingdom Dream is so much better. I wish I could get a major in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Now this talk isn't actually about money, even though Ill write a blog post eventually elaborating on some of these elements. This blog post is actually about something else. The fact is in business school something I hear alot is "the bottom line." Essentially this phrase means what is the absolutely lowest I can acquire this for. In a business deal, someone would say this when they are trying to eliminate as many costs as possible.

Ironically this phrase was something I was thinking about alot today. I was trying to imagine what life today would look like if Jesus said to the Father, "Ok dad, whats the bottom line here? What is cheapest price I have to pay to reconcile your wrath and save these people?" Lucky for us, Jesus is a terrible business man (at least according to our culture, perhaps, he is the best example of a businessman there is, let that stew for a while)
Jesus, instead said, "I will give everything, including life itself to reconcile the wrath of God and save the world." The more I think about it, Jesus gave everything when he didn't have to. So what is the 'Bottom Line' for me. The minimal amount I can give, is my life. Giving my life to Jesus is the bottom line. It is the cheapest, I can obtain everlasting life, and a relationship with God. Now that we have establish that "the bottom line." is a rather corrupt business tactic, I think its safe to say that I don't want to give God the minimal amount. Especially when we know that God will multiply my investment 10 fold. In fact from a business standpoint, giving God everything will yield the highest return. So let us follow the example of Jesus, and ask not the Father "what is the bottom line here?" Instead let us give God everything and then ask "What more can I give you today?"

Jesus, wasn't born in Texas.

Here is a nice short and easy to read blog post for some of my readers out there who have short attention spans, this one goes out to you. 

A staff worker for my Intervarsity chapter delivered this talk to our Chapter. I really enjoyed the talk.

If you don't watch the whole thing, he addressed a couple of 'fake Jesuses' <-- No sure if this is a real word, but just go with it.  He said the traits and believes that people who buy into a 'fake Jesus' would express. Then he talked about the Real Jesus. He talked about what followers of the one true and only Jesus are like. Brian is a great dude, and serves the real Jesus. It made me realize that in my past I have believed some lies about who Jesus is, and I have bought into the fake Jesus. But I know now, and it is confirmed after this talk, that the fake Jesus isn't who I want to serve, it isnt satisfying. I wanna serve the one and only Jesus of Nazareth.

What the heck is up with Hell

My inspiration for this post strangely enough comes from a movie trailer. The trailer was for a movie about an exorcism. It was a all dark screen and then these creepy red letters faded in that read, "If you believe in God, Then you Must believe in the Devil." Oddly enough this scary commercial is actually very correct. I have also been taking classes all month about various religions and their believes. Some of the faiths that we were examining did not believe in any form of Hell. This class and some conversations that spurred from it got me thinking more and more about Hell. What it means, and what it doesn't mean etc.

Now the first thing to understand is that Hell is real. It is a real place where people really will go. Maybe this is a simple concept for some people, but there are lots of faiths that do not believe in Hell. Hell is important to my faith and here is why. Hell means that first off there is a choice. It means that I have to make a decision and live with the consequences of my actions. It also means that I have the power to determine where I end up. Hell also is accountability. If there is no Hell, and no punishment, then why should I follow the rules. Now please don't go off saying 'you should follow the rules because you want to,' my point is simply that I know what is in store for me if I choose to reject Jesus. Another thing is that Hell, means that God is perfect and just. Without some form of punishment / wrath then God is not acting justly. He is granting favoritism to certain people. The fact is that the knowledge of good and evil is made known to all, and there are real significant choices before us. Hell really is a punishment too. I have had conversations with people that believe that Hell is just a place where God doesn't 'visit'. While Hell is definitely separate from God and from Heaven, make no mistake, Hell is suffering. Final Hell is called the Lake of Fire. Vivid words to describe a intense form of suffering.

Now I suppose I could end my post here, but there are a few more points I want to make.

The first point is that Satan, much like Hell is also real. He really exists and is really on the prowl in the world right now. I know first hand just how twisted and deceitful he and followers can be. Satan is not some being with red skin and a pitch fork, like he is usually pictured in the movies, or comics about him. The 'Prince' of this world is very sneaky and is on the prowl to confuse and destroy Christ followers. A friend of mine said it to me in a way that really stood out, they said "[He is after you], because he hates you, and because you [as a Christian] are dangerous." Satan is trying to return people to the bondage of slavery where they once served.

Another thing I want to bring up is this argument that I heard from someone recently. "In our modern system of justice, penalties for breaking laws are based on the law that is broken. There is always a way to 'pay off' your debt to society. Even the death penalty, after someone is put to death, they have paid their debt. Why is it that People suffer eternally in Hell, and that debt cannot ever be paid off?" 
To this my response is what someone who rejects Jesus is doing, is rejecting his salvation and his eternal life.
 Since the life that he is offering is eternal, it seems to do justice to say that the penalty should also be eternal.

So all of this Hell/Satan/Punishment stuff being said, here are some things we can do.

1. Choose Jesus.
  There really is alot at stake here. Following Jesus is about so much more than this life here on earth.

2. Reject Satan.
  He will be right there to 'take you back' in a heartbeat. He will bring your deepest desires into view. He will speaking nothing but lies to you. Reject everything he says, and if it is bad enough, speak truth back, Satan is completely powerless against the power of truth, and the Word of God.

3. Be Open.
  If you are confused about Jesus, or life after death, or Hell or Satan, talk to someone. Ask questions, look through Scripture. If you are conflicted by the enemy, get help from people, and become equip with truth and knowledge to defend yourself with the Sword of Righteousness that we call truth.

No One Can Serve Two Masters

So this was not intended to be my next post. I choose what order I post these in carefully, but after a conversation I had with a coworker yesterday I decided to talk about this.

While I was talking to this person she said that her friend stopped participating in a certain ministry because he seen some of the students involved in the ministry live 'double lives'. When I heard this I became very upset. The person in this story is not alone. I have heard many stories that end just like this.  This brought up several interesting points I decided to share.

The first point is that we never know what opportunities we might be missing, or causing others to miss by our actions. Take the above story for example. Had this student stayed connected to this ministry his or others that he might have come across could have been very different. Now since I know the student in the story, I'm confident in saying that he turned out alright. But the fact remains that we want to always want to be opening doors for the Kingdom of Heaven not closing them.

Which brings up my next point. Secret sin hurts people. Some people are fooled into this idea that sinning behind closed doors is okay. 'If nobody knows about it, then its not hurting anyone right?' Wrong. The first key point is that, sin always hurts God. It doesn't matter if not a human on earth knows about it. More importantly, sin is separation from God. Meaning that if you are wrapped up in sinning, its hard to stop because you are separating yourself from your lifeline of help.

To go off of this, double lives, have a way of becoming exposed. When a double life is exposed there usually has to be more sin involved, (lying etc) to minimize the amount of damage that it might cause. When, (I say when, because double lives come out eventually) this happens, it can be very hurtful to lots of people. It will destroy creditability in your life, and ruin any authority that your words once carried. People will feel betrayed and hurt.

It's not just the church, or friends and family that will be hurt. I asked a friend of mine one time, what his biggest problem with [Christians] was. He replied, 'They are fake. I can go to church with [someone] on Sunday and then go partying with them on Friday. This double life that this person was living, is hurting my friends view of Christians, and the church, and ultimately God himself.

Now please don't read this and hear my words saying that myself or that Christians are suppose to be sinless. But what I'm trying to get at here is that there is a lot at stake. As Christians we carry the responsibility of exampling Gods character. This is a hefty responsibility that needs to be taken seriously. It has great and even unknown consequences if we fail to do this. So if you are struggling with a double life, or secret sin. Go tell someone. Get accountability and pray daily for this to stop. If you know who this is their story, then be praying for this person. It might be a good idea to approach this person in a healthy and loving way, and offer help in bringing them back to living a righteous life.

Jesus is Love

Ok so I realize that my title isn't very catchy, its somewhat cliche' and something that I'm sure Christian or not you have heard. In the last few weeks I have had several conversations about this topic. I decided to elaborate on two separate sets of three little words.

The first is 'I Love You'. I had a bit of a emotional problem a few days ago. I decided to try and logically think through the concept of Love. Now I know that we are suppose to love. I know that God designed us to love each other, even love our enemies. But why, was the question floating around my brain. So lets think about what 'love' really means. First off, you don't love chocolate. Love is sacrificial. It's placing the needs of others above your own. It's unconditional whether someone is deserving of it or not. It's giving someone power over you and your well being. It's giving everything with no expectation of reward.

So all that being said, love makes no sense, none! (At least according to the standards of this world) This world tells us that it's all about us. That we don't need to sacrifice anything. That we don't need to do anything in less there is a promise of return. That we can pick and choose who we give love to. Not to mention when and where. Unfortunately this means that I feel I am confident and correct in saying that without God humans are not capable of loving anyone.

The kicker there was 'without God'. Whether you accept Jesus, or believe in God or not, you are not without God. He designed and loves everyone unconditionally. Elements of his personality are embedded in your life. Meaning that anyone can love. In fact it is through love that we connect with Gods heart. If we can learn how to love, we can learn more about ourselves, and what other characteristics God instilled in us, specifically ones that we share with Him.

This brings us to the next block of three words. 'Jesus is Love' There is no more true statement ever. The Gospel is certainly a Love story. Jesus is the embodiment of love. It is through his example that we can truly love others. It is only once we come to a decent place of understanding of Jesus, and the cross that we can even begin to try and love others. This is why the cross is so crucial to Christian faith. Jesus, and the cross is so much more than salvation. (This blog post coming soon :-p ) But the fact is that one of the most important things about the cross is the example it sets for love.

So love isn't logical. People don't deserve it. It isn't fair. It does require something of us. But think about the ultimate example of love. A sinless man, bearing the penalty for all sin is certainly the most unfair thing I can think of. Doing it for people that are literally his enemies, and don't deserve it. Doing it for people regardless of circumstance. Sacrificing everything, for people that may never even accept it. Jesus, truly is love.

A friend of mine told me that 'love isn't always easy, but it is always worth it.' She is absolutely correct. When we truly love people, it is worth it.We get to experience the way that God designed us. We get to establish something that will outlast even our physical body, and we get to experience what the King of Kings felt.  Not to mention, think of the smile it brings to our Fathers face when his children are getting along nicely.

So lets throw out the 'worlds' guidebook when it comes to love. Lets throw out the wishy-washy 'love' that ultimately ends often in heartbreak and disaster. Lets call upon the name of Jesus Christ in prayer. Lets says Jesus, You are love. We want to know you first before we ever try to love. We accept our orders to love others and even love enemies. Let us be consumed be you and the cross  to understand how to even love. Let us establish a relationship with Love so that we can truly love others. Let our love for them be the love that is overflowing from the love that you pour into me. Let us be willing to be sacrificial and take a risk with a broken people. Thank you for setting the eternal example, and defining truly what love is.Jesus we love you.

You might be surprised how easy it is to sacrifice your life, and die to yourself after having offered this prayer in faith. You also might be surprised with how God will bless you with love abundantly that you can share with others.

Consider reading this blog post. To get some more wisdom about true love.

You take the Red Pill...

Here is a video link to the scene from The Matrix where they discuss the blue pill vs the red pill. This is purely to give you some context. If you havent seen the movie this might not make any sense.

Red Pill vs Blue Pill

The first Intervarsity I ever attended was my freshman year. The speaker was Steven Grahmann. He was talking about how non-Christians perceive Christians. He said many people will ask 'What do Christians do for fun? Play the organ? Read a Hymnal?' It was funny and even 4 years later I'm still talking about this little joke. But the reality of it is that it is so true. Many non-Christians don't understand Christians. It can easily make you the center of a joke, or a debate. Some people when the find out I'm a Christian just cant wait to pick apart everything I believe in and disprove it with 'science' and 'fact'. Some people tease me about my 'wasted life'. Some people are tolerant, but distance themselves from me unknowingly.

The fact is sometimes being a Christian is really hard. Not only is being a Christian hard, but being a Christian that's passionate about changing the world can be even harder. At Chapter Camp this year Steven Grahmann spoke again about being 'world changers'. I missed these talks as I was on my honeymoon, and at a friends wedding, but I heard all about them, and was able to pick out some of the wisdom that seemed to be pouring out of these talks.

Steven talked about some 'walls' or barriers that you might hit if you want to be a world changer. Feeling alone, Feeling helpless, Feeling temped to go  back to your old life. I could pretty much relate either now or at some point with all of em. It made me think for a second. Why... why is being a Christian so hard.

I got to talking with a friend about some of these walls. Especially the last one. Being tempted to "go back". To just forget this life, return to your old life, for you were better off. I have seen this happen to people. We brought up that character of Cypher from the Matrix. Cypher, had been set free the Matrix. He knew the truth, he knew what was real and what wasn't. But he couldn't do it. Even though he was 'free' he felt more imprisoned than ever. "Why oh Why didn't I take the Blue Pill?" Cypher says at one point, the blue pill meaning passing everything by, and living comfortably in the dark.Cypher wanted to go back. He got tempted with what his old life was like. The pleasures of being ignorant and blind. When it came time to make a choice to either be fully committed to the truth or the Matrix, Cypher chooses the Matrix.

The fact is that there are Christians that relate to Cypher right now. Some people have decided that being a Christian is too hard or they believe in the salvation part, but don't want to get their hands dirty and change the world. I can't let that happen to me. Some people are comfortable living a passive Christian life style. But I strongly believe that we are a generation of world changers. Christians from our generation are total Red Pill People. We aren't ok with 'going back', we aren't ok with living in the dark. We are about changing the world. We are about establishing the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth one stone at a time. As my friend put it "We have tasted the fruit of the Promised Land and we can never go back." Referring to some Old Testament scriptures, about the Isrealites, and the desert etc.

So when the temptation of 'going back' comes up. When your friends tease you about wasting your life. When you ask yourself why you didn't take the blue pill. Just remember that we are a generation of world changers. Remember that as a living sacrifice your giving everything up. But remember that what you are gaining is everything. So just like the characters in the Matrix, lets push our faith to the limits. Lets be excited about our potential. Lets rise up together, and see what we can accomplish when we push this life to the limits. Lets say no to the passive Christian lifestyle. Rather than say we were better off, let us say we are ready, and we will be better off in the day the Lord returns.

The First Rule of Fight Club is...

So I love movies, especially movies with plot twists. I was having a conversation with a friend of mine about the scripture is like a story. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. I started pondering what this looks like. I thought for a second about a movie version of scripture. I mean it has war and violence, sex and romance, good guys and bad guys, and even a big plot twist. Certainly seems like the type of movie I would watch.

So let me start off by saying that its true, that scripture is like a story. In fact its a story that's in progress right now. The end of the story hasn't happened yet. This means that you are a character in this story. Think about this for a second.  If scripture was made into a movie, what actor/actress would play you?

The fact is that Scripture does in fact have a beginning, middle, and end. Its important to know and understand all of these elements. Know this is just my opinion, but this has really helped me to understand more of scripture, and helped me to share use it missionally. I took the "Star Wars" approach to scripture. Which is essentially understanding the middle of the story first. Then going back and understanding the beginning, and finally seeing how it all plays out in the end. (I know, I know, George Lucas hasn't made the end of the Star Wars Series, but lets just pretend for a minute) 

This approach was really helpful, because I read the Gospels first. This helped me to understand the character of Jesus. How he acted, the things he said etc. It made me see elements of his personality. It also helped me to understand the beginning of the story. If you read about how Jesus came and died in the Gospels, when you read the Old Testament, you understand why he did that. Lastly, when you read the end, you know where the story is going. You can be prepared for whats gonna happen, so you wont be caught of guard by any plot or character changes. Read them in whatever fashion you prefer, but get engaged to the story of Scripture.

Now here's where the real fun comes in. Go and share the Gospel with someone in the context of a story. I really enjoy the movie 'Fight Club'. In this movie the end is shown first. Then it recaps the last little while to show how it got here. Try to take the Fight Club approach to sharing the Gospel this week. Most people know that Jesus died, and maybe some even know why he died, but I feel as though there are many who don't get the whole picture. Maybe the ending of Fight Club has been ruined for you, but that doesn't change the fact that seeing the movie play out is still interesting. I already am prepared for the plot twist every time and I still really enjoy seeing how it gets there.

So consider taking this approach. Share the end first. Explain Jesus death. Explain how and why he did it. Explain what it meant, the significance in had then, as well as for the rest of eternity. But then try something different. Go back and explain how baby, born in a stable, Jesus, goes through life, and all the way to eyes of fire Jesus. You just might be surprised how people will react. Even if they have heard the story many times, if you can share it in this creative way it could be much more effective. I know it was for me.

So the First Rule of Scripture Sharing is, you DO talk about Jesus. The Second Rule of Scripture Sharing is, you DO talk about Jesus.....

Share in Death, Share in Life

Paul the apostle, mentioned at one point that if the resurrection didn't happen our faith is basically meaningless. How right he was. Today is Resurrection Sunday. Notice that I didn't say Easter. This might just be me, but when I say Easter, candy, bunnies, chicks, and spring colors come to mind. But when I say Resurrection Sunday, I think Jesus. I think what it must have been like to die and to rise. When Jesus came back to life into his body, I wonder what that experience felt like. One door closed in death, and now one big huge door opened in his resurrection. I wonder if he was thirsty or hungry...

Anyway, the fact is that this "holiday" is one of my least favorite, and yet today is one of my favorite days. Easter is my least favorite "holiday" because of what it involves. Egg hunts, candy (which most people don't eat and then give away to someone else at Halloween), bunnies. It was all just stuff I never really bought into. In fact its a holiday that I forget about. It will be like a week or two before and Ill be like, "wait Easter is on Sunday" and I'm not alone.

Why is today so important then? Because just like Paul said, if we don't believe in this, our faith means nothing. I mean if Jesus never really died, and this all was just a joke. He was just asleep or something, then we are not sharing in his death. And when Jesus bids me to come and die, I say no. Why would I taste this sting of death, even if its not a physical death if Jesus didn't go before me? Or if Jesus did die, but didn't rise, same issue. Then I may accept sharing in death, but with no hope of ever sharing in life. But the fact remains, that Jesus, died. He was dead, he breathed his last breath, and was placed in a above ground tomb. His spirit left his body and it lay limp wrapped in cloths soaked in spices. In literally the greatest miracle in the world, he rose. He proved to all who were watching that he is divine. Fully human, and yet, fully God. Able to rise, still with wounds and blood on his body, air filled his lungs again! Can I get an Amen!?!

Jesus opened his eyes, he had now conquered death. He was so full of love, compassion, and holiness that he finished his work and met with disciples before his ascension. I mean, if I were Jesus, I would want to just start killing or mocking the people who hurt me or those who didn't believe. I would want to laugh at the Pharisees. But Jesus is a good King, and I am not.

Jesus, our King, died and Jesus our King, rose. He did this for you! He did this for his people, he did this to let us settle our debts with a completely righteous God. So today, let us remember this. Let us remember what it took for us to live. Let us remember what power our King truly has the he conquers even death. Let us, instead of having an Easter Holiday, let us celebrate Resurrection Sunday. Let us celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, with a very alive and kickin Jesus. Let us thank him for going before us, and leading us on after. Let us ask Jesus, "Jesus, let me share in your death on a cross, that I may share in your life via a resurrection!"

*PS* This is a link to a blog that I subscribe to. Its excellent and I highly recomend reading and subscribing. Please check out this link about her and her friends thoughts on Easter. They hit the nail on the head!

Alidia and Emily Discuss Easter

Bookshelves of Righteousness

Particle board is a specific type of wood. It can technically be classified as wood. I mean if you break down what characteristics make up "wood" particle board fits at least some or even most of them. Particle board is 'wood' that is made from sawdust. When sawmills cut pieces of lumber down to size there is alot of scrap that is shredded as sawdust. This sawdust is swept up, combined with a glue type mixture and when it dries you have some fake cheap wood. This particle board is commonly found on cheap furniture.

Oak wood on the other hand is an incredibly durable wood. It can certainly be classified as a wood. It's cut down from a very sturdy tree and trimmed to perfect pieces of lumber, it's used for more high quality and longer lasting furniture.

Christians relate to this simple analogy quite well. We all start as planted tree. Some of us die to ourselves. We are cut down. Our old purpose removed. But by grace we are given a new purpose. To serve our purpose we are trimmed. We are polished. We are made into something new. We are called to furniture. We are called to be bookshelves.

The fact is that there are some Christians out there, that are particle board bookshelves. They at one time were cut down, and given a new purpose. But they stayed with the scrap. They couldn't deal with the stresses of the trimming and polishing. The clung to a 'filler' some glue mixture that made them feel whole again. They clung to this filler so badly that it became a part of them. When this type of Christian is made into a bookshelf it often falls apart quickly.

As bookshelves God wants to fill us with more books. He wants to fill us with authenticity and he wants to empower us to to become beautiful furniture pieces. The fact is that particle board Christians aren't able to take on more books. When they reach capacity they begin to fall apart. As particle board falls apart it cannot be repaired unless with more glue, as it cannot be held together well with hardware (nails, screws, etc) because it will fall apart more. A particle board bookshelf looks like a regular bookshelf. It indeed has books on it. It might look sturdy and reliable, it might look full of wisdom, but on the inside this particle board person is falling apart. Some people out there may even swear that the bookshelf is totally genuine. "High Quality" a sign in a sales department might even read. But the fact is that even in the confusion of identity. Particle board is always particle board.

The true wood on the other hand, endures. It can be treated and sealed and last for hundreds, even thousands of years. It can be nice to look at, as the works of its life are apparent. It can continue to grow and contain more and more books, and not break down. This doesn't mean that there is no stress on the shelves. The weight of the books bear down greatly on the true wood. But through being trimmed, polished, and treated by a good keeper it will continue to serve its purpose for a lifetime.

The fact is that God calls us to be true wood bookshelves. Not particle board, imitation bookshelves. Even if we confuse our friends, our family, and our church, God is not confused. He cannot give us more books or repair us if we are living as a particle board person.

What hope does a particle board person have? This is the good news; they have hope, and great hope. Because God can separate them from their glue. Heal their life and replant them as a tree. Through nourishment of a good keeper they will grow into a true oak. After which time God can again use them to become a true bookshelf.

God in the IT department

When I was a freshman I landed a pretty sweet job fixing computers. The job was and is great because I get to do something that I love, something that is familiar to me, something that makes people happy. When you tell people you saved their 50+ page paper for grad school, they're really excited. I was really thrilled when I got the job. For anyone who doesn't know I have been working on computers for a long time. I have even built computers from scratch. Which means that I know all the details about them. I know how they should sound, how they should function, what temperature they should be etc. This makes them easy to fix, since I know as soon as something is wrong. Oddly enough God decided to teach me a lesson, which I decided to share with all my readers while I was at work tonight. 

There was these two computers that I was trying to fix. They were very broken. They had all sort of problems, and as soon as I fixed one of the problems another one seemed to surface. I decided to dedicate 90% of my attention to these computers. I would wheel my chair to a few other "easy" ones, and I could wheel away from them, because I was confident that they didn't need my direct attention at all times. I just gave the easy computers the resources they needed to almost fix themselves. This allowed me to sit at these two machines and make them my highest priority.

Strangely enough God does the exact same thing. God is like a IT employee. He's doing something that he loves. He's been doing it a long time! He likes making us happy. He designed us, and is able to repair us so easily because he designed all the parts that compose us. He can also dedicate 90% of his attention to the "problem" computers. Now don't get me wrong here, God is a little better than me at managing his attention and can realistically give 100% attention to everyone, but for the sake of this metaphor just bear with me.

God sits and focuses on these computers that have a lot of problems. He takes em one step at a time, fixing one area of our lives until we are back in working condition. He can dedicate his attention carefully working through the problems that the person has. He also gives these "easier" computers the resources to fix themselves. He gives his followers community, scripture, and lots of other tools so that we can fix ourselves and continue to help others.

The best part is that God wants us, as his followers, to do the same thing. God wants us to focus our energy on relationships that need fixing the most. Its easy to just want to give up, to always just want to work on easy machines, but its the harder ones that require the most dedication. Sometimes we are involved in relationships where there is a lot of fixing to be done. Well let this be a lesson to keep going. Keep investing time in these relationships, because even the most difficult problems are eventually fixed.

So if you are a follower, invest in these relationships. God is working in their life. Hes working hard. Ask him for the resources to help your friends. Ask him how you can help your friends since he designed them and knows exactly how to fix them. If you are not a follower, then know that right now God is investing himself in you. He trying to fix you. Hes dedicating himself to you. He sitting there, not distracted by anything else that is happening. To him you are his number 1 priority right now. So help him help you. Take a risk and hand your life over to God to be fixed.

Yes I do!

On Thursday a few campus-mates and I did a quick 20 minute training teaser to our Intervarsity Chapter. The training consisted of a few elements. One of which was Sharing the Gospel in the Context of Injustice. I practiced this training several times before and felt really good about giving it. But while I was standing up there Listening to the training something really jumped out at me. Emily, my partner that I was doing this presentation with said, God knows suffering. God is the only God who has taken on human form, to know pain and suffering. Even dying the worst possible type of death, to know first hand how we felt. God has even felt the pain of losing a child.

Wow, even though I'd heard her say that in practice many times, and even though deep down I knew it in my heart she said it with such a passion that it just stuck out in my mind. Times I had felt pain rushed to my head. All the times I had cried out to God in my "suffering" saying, "God you don't know what this is like!" How wrong I was. God was right there with me, knowing exactly what it feels like. He has felt physical pain, the pain of betrayal, the pain of loss, even the sting of death. Since I was still giving the training I had to focus on the moment and I ignored the questions and the analysis my brain desperately wanted to do about this little few sentences she said.When I got home though I started to let me brain wrap about this subject.

Thoughts about all this went spinning around. The idea of Jesus somehow being 100% God and 100% man were confusing me. The idea of Jesus having a physical body in Heaven seemed to be confusing me. So many questions were just racing around my head. But I managed to narrow down my question to one that I needed to answer. "Why?" "Why would God experience pain, loss, death?" I thought about it, I mean don't get me wrong, I love Jesus. I love that God in supreme wisdom created a plan to keep his law perfect and flawless but also let us be "clean" and spend eternity with him. But I mean, God could easily just done things differently. Even if he sent his Son, why did he have to die? Why did he have to suffer? Why did a close friend have to betray him? As I thought about it all a rather simple answer seemed to present itself. "Why Not!"

This way God in is supreme wisdom did not only save his Children that he cares about, he did so much more. God as the maker is now able to relate to us as his creation in a way that no one else can imagine. God designed our hearts to love. He designed our hearts to experience pain when we are betrayed. He designed us to experience pain with loss. He did this because he feels the pain too. And he sent Jesus to experience this pain first hand. To see how we felt. So that all the times we cry out to him "You don't understand" he can wrap his arms around us and respond, "Yes I do."

God save the Queen?

Being that I'm a nerd the game of Chess has always been exciting to me. It combines the elements of offense, defense, strategy, and sacrifice. The problem is that I'm not very good at the game of Chess. Recently I decided that, especially if I want to be a business personal someday, learning chess would be a good idea. It's a great way to pass the time and allows for good conversation while playing. I decided to learn how to play, and play well.

I played against my wife, friends, and even online. As most things in life you really have to practice to get better. I could easily see improvement in my game play. I started winning more and more games. I got brave enough to take on my computer in the game. Needless to say the computer even on a medium difficulty wiped the floor with me. I couldn't figure out why I was losing, and believe me I was losing badly. I decided to carefully analyze my style of game play and identify where my errors were. It was through this strange turn of events that God decided to teach me a very important lesson.

The lesson was about what's important. God who is creative enough to teach me something through a game I enjoy knows a lot about importance. Fitting that a lesson of importance would be taught to me through Chess, because there is clearly a importance hierarchy in that game, in terms of the pieces. Pawns are worth one point, knights are worth 3 points etc. It was based on this value structure that I learned my lesson. I started playing a game of chess against a very aggressive opponent on the computer. There were trades left and right, and finally I had a situation where my Queen was in danger. For anyone who doesn't understand how the game is played, the Queen is the most valuable piece. You only get one queen and it's worth nine points both on offense and defense. Being that my queen was in danger I moved her away quickly.

"Checkmate" pops up on my screen. I had just lost the game. "Why did I lose?" I thought to myself. I scrolled through the play history to figure out where my strategy failed. I was able to trace it back to a single move. It was where I moved my queen away from danger. I studied the board for a second, I was tricked. My queen was in danger and I moved her to save her, but in doing that I left what is truly important unguarded, my King. My King was left defenseless and I lost in the next move. I hit the "undo" button and replayed the game from this bad move I made, and guess what, I won! I was shocked. I sacrificed my queen and was able to walk away with a win. In that moment something clicked.

I had just learned at Intervarsity Large Group on Thursday about the dangers of being prideful, and losing sight of who's really the most important in a relationship with God. It now made a lot of sense. The queen in chess is certainly an important piece, but is it really the most important? Not at all, the King is. Without the King the game is lost, and if the game is lost the queen essentially has no value. It made me realize that In my life, I like to think I'm the most important in my relationship with God. I like to think that I'm the piece that's playing offense and defense. I'm the piece that's worth 9 points. But the fact is that my King is the most important. Without my King, this game is over. With this new perspective of focusing on the King as the most important piece I been able to improve my Chess gameplay, and now I seek to improve my life by humbling myself before my King, and acknowledging who's really important in the relationship.