In the grand scheme, no one person can really change the world. In fact, no person can really make the right choices for any other person. At some point, we have to recognize that people make their own decisions. People can only be influenced so much.
In the grand scheme, God calls us to preach his gospel to everyone. BUT, never does he say to force people to make steps toward God. It is not written that rearing a child in the right way yields a adult who makes all the right choices. There is no proven formula that works across the board for people. Ultimately, people, make their own decisions.
I think, at some point, I need to realize that people don't make (what I perceive to be wrong) decisions because I did something wrong. I need to realize that the people in my life aren't rejecting me when they reject the gospel. If I say something biblical and someone rejects it, they don't reject me, they reject God. Everyone is born with a sinful nature - one that naturally rejects God. Overcoming this nature and following God wholeheartedly, in a sense, doesn't feel natural.
Look at children. Their natural tendency is to gratify themselves. I have a 22 month old niece who is the perfect example of this. She always yells, 'mine!' or picks up all of her toys when other children are around because she doesn't want them to play with them. We're naturally greedy. Sure, at some point, we learn that such behavior is not 'mature' or socially acceptable. BUT, we'd like to take everything for ourselves and leave nothing for others. Deep down, at our core, we're selfish beings.
This is a sticky topic in my mind. Who is to say that the advice I give is totally correct, sound advice? If I believe it is sound, biblical advice, and someone rejects it, then they're rejecting God, straight up. If it's not biblical, then they're rejecting me. But, since when does it matter to God if someone rejects me?
Point: Often times, it's not me that is being rejected - it's God.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
stuff cont...
It’s not that it’s wrong to have nice things. It’s not wrong to buy things that you don’t necessarily need even though there are millions of people who suffer continually all around the world. The spirit will lead you to do the things you should do. He’s not calling all wealthy people to send half their paycheck to Africa. After all, he doesn’t need our money to save these people from physical death. He doesn’t NEED my help in the least. God doesn’t need a thing from me.
However, God does tell me to honor him with my stuff. I should be using my stuff to bring God as much glory as possible; even though he doesn’t need me for anything. Nevertheless, I am provided with opportunities to please, honor, and glorify him. I’m not to put stock in earthly things since they are really of little value. What is money in the grand scheme of everything anyway? Next to worthless, I'd say.
This was a moment of clarity for me with the help of a couple good friends :)
However, God does tell me to honor him with my stuff. I should be using my stuff to bring God as much glory as possible; even though he doesn’t need me for anything. Nevertheless, I am provided with opportunities to please, honor, and glorify him. I’m not to put stock in earthly things since they are really of little value. What is money in the grand scheme of everything anyway? Next to worthless, I'd say.
This was a moment of clarity for me with the help of a couple good friends :)
Saturday, July 3, 2010
What are we doing?
Sometimes, I wonder this. What are we doing? Like, seriously, what are we doing? As much as we claim to be followers of Christ, what are we REALLY doing for Christ? You can't dive 10 blocks without passing a church. Sometimes I feel all we really do is exist inside of them. I'm guilty as well.
My church took a survey awhile ago that 'revealed' what we, as a church, need to work on. The survey revealed that as a whole, we were extremely low on people who are in the Bible on a consistent basis. Also, as far as I can tell, it takes a whip or cattle prod to really get people to serve in the church, let alone in the community within which they live. Maybe that's just my perception??
I had a conversation recently with a good friend of mine. He brought up the point that many Christians perceive God as all knowing, all powerful, all loving, etc... While these things are true, He's a jealous God. He's a Just God. He did wicked crazy things to people who didn't obey him (recorded in many different places in the Bible). This tells me that we're more concerned with making people feel good than we are telling people the truth.
The bottom line is I feel that we as Jesus-followers are really missing the mark. We're severely distracted by the pleasures of life and the lie that sitting in church on Sunday and being in a small group is following Christ to the best of our ability.
If people were sincerely grateful for the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, I feel we'd have a much greater movement of God's people being involved in God's work.
My church took a survey awhile ago that 'revealed' what we, as a church, need to work on. The survey revealed that as a whole, we were extremely low on people who are in the Bible on a consistent basis. Also, as far as I can tell, it takes a whip or cattle prod to really get people to serve in the church, let alone in the community within which they live. Maybe that's just my perception??
I had a conversation recently with a good friend of mine. He brought up the point that many Christians perceive God as all knowing, all powerful, all loving, etc... While these things are true, He's a jealous God. He's a Just God. He did wicked crazy things to people who didn't obey him (recorded in many different places in the Bible). This tells me that we're more concerned with making people feel good than we are telling people the truth.
The bottom line is I feel that we as Jesus-followers are really missing the mark. We're severely distracted by the pleasures of life and the lie that sitting in church on Sunday and being in a small group is following Christ to the best of our ability.
If people were sincerely grateful for the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, I feel we'd have a much greater movement of God's people being involved in God's work.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Girl America
Listening to “Girl America” by Mat Kearney made me think of all the injustice that happens everywhere all the time. I caught myself wondering if the majority of people just block it out and pretend that life is happy everywhere or if we acknowledge it, but just decide that it’s “too bad.” Neither of these responses is the right one. What makes us unwilling to reach out? What does it take to love a stranger enough to lend a helping hand; in the name of Jesus or even of morals in general. Reasons I can come up with are as follows:
-It messes up the comfortable life that I currently possess or am trying to obtain.
-I don’t want someone to reject my love.
-It’s an awkward situation and I wouldn’t know how to act or react.
-I wouldn’t even know where to begin…
All of these reasons are valid and most likely true. In Matthew 25:40, Jesus says, “Whatever you did for the least of these, you did to me.” There will always be injustice. There will always be hurting people – everywhere. God commands his people to reach out. It is awkward and uncomfortable. It is also seen as going above and beyond. Lastly, it’s perfectly acceptable to the vast majority of society to just sigh “oh, that’s too bad” and move on with life.
HOWEVER, this is no excuse. Too often, (I think) Christians quench the opportunities God gives us to be used by him to extend his love to broken people. That doesn’t mean that an opportunity was made crystal clear and we reject it (although sometimes this is the case). I think that often, we need to be looking for opportunities and follow God’s leading, even when it seems scary to do so.
This is somewhat of a scatter-brained post. Sorry. Your thoughts?
-It messes up the comfortable life that I currently possess or am trying to obtain.
-I don’t want someone to reject my love.
-It’s an awkward situation and I wouldn’t know how to act or react.
-I wouldn’t even know where to begin…
All of these reasons are valid and most likely true. In Matthew 25:40, Jesus says, “Whatever you did for the least of these, you did to me.” There will always be injustice. There will always be hurting people – everywhere. God commands his people to reach out. It is awkward and uncomfortable. It is also seen as going above and beyond. Lastly, it’s perfectly acceptable to the vast majority of society to just sigh “oh, that’s too bad” and move on with life.
HOWEVER, this is no excuse. Too often, (I think) Christians quench the opportunities God gives us to be used by him to extend his love to broken people. That doesn’t mean that an opportunity was made crystal clear and we reject it (although sometimes this is the case). I think that often, we need to be looking for opportunities and follow God’s leading, even when it seems scary to do so.
This is somewhat of a scatter-brained post. Sorry. Your thoughts?
Friday, June 4, 2010
"Stuff"
Many buy into the lie that material things bring happiness. It’s commonly thought that owning homes, cars, motorcycles, gaming systems, designer clothes, a nice cell phone, etc… means a better life. To sum it up, the more money you have to purchase these things, the happier you’ll be. It’s funny because in America, many people’s lives show that they believe this. However, if you ask someone if money/material things will make them happier, they would say no.
I think another common misconception is that you have to be “wealthy” to fall into this trap. I don’t think you have to have much to fall into it. I know it plagues me and I’m newly married and not quite graduated from college. I don’t really have a lot of disposable income, but I can still feel a lot of pressure to acquire things I probably don’t need. The pressure comes from the lie that life will be better with that new item.
So based on these thoughts, I’ve started wondering what would happen if we decided to give up some of our “stuff.” My speculation is that we would have more time to love our families and friends. We would have more time and resources to help those in need. Our relationships would be deeper. Perhaps a summarizing idea would be that there would be less “stuff” to distract us from being used by God to further his kingdom. I think there’s a reason that Jesus asked the rich man to sell his riches AND THEN follow him. Jesus says it’s harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven then for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. I think the point Jesus makes is that “stuff” gets in the way. Our stuff makes it harder to follow Jesus whole-heartedly. We’re easily distracted by our stuff.
The guys in my wedding party pitched in and bought me an xbox (which I’m quite excited about). My wife (yes, I have a wife now!) works tonight and most of the day tomorrow. It’s quite tempting to sit in my apartment and play my xbox tonight and for the majority of the day tomorrow. It’s fairly distracting for me. Not that it’s wrong for me to play it, but I think it would be more beneficial for me to visit my family, hang with some friends, do something nice for someone, etc… instead of playing ALL night.
I wonder how many times we let our stuff quench opportunities to be used by God. I wonder how much deeper our lives might be without it. Lastly (and I know it’s drastic), I wonder how our lives would look if we literally gave our wealth to the poor and had only basic necessities. Just some thoughts. Oh, and I’d love to hear your thoughts. Let me know what you think!
I think another common misconception is that you have to be “wealthy” to fall into this trap. I don’t think you have to have much to fall into it. I know it plagues me and I’m newly married and not quite graduated from college. I don’t really have a lot of disposable income, but I can still feel a lot of pressure to acquire things I probably don’t need. The pressure comes from the lie that life will be better with that new item.
So based on these thoughts, I’ve started wondering what would happen if we decided to give up some of our “stuff.” My speculation is that we would have more time to love our families and friends. We would have more time and resources to help those in need. Our relationships would be deeper. Perhaps a summarizing idea would be that there would be less “stuff” to distract us from being used by God to further his kingdom. I think there’s a reason that Jesus asked the rich man to sell his riches AND THEN follow him. Jesus says it’s harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven then for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. I think the point Jesus makes is that “stuff” gets in the way. Our stuff makes it harder to follow Jesus whole-heartedly. We’re easily distracted by our stuff.
The guys in my wedding party pitched in and bought me an xbox (which I’m quite excited about). My wife (yes, I have a wife now!) works tonight and most of the day tomorrow. It’s quite tempting to sit in my apartment and play my xbox tonight and for the majority of the day tomorrow. It’s fairly distracting for me. Not that it’s wrong for me to play it, but I think it would be more beneficial for me to visit my family, hang with some friends, do something nice for someone, etc… instead of playing ALL night.
I wonder how many times we let our stuff quench opportunities to be used by God. I wonder how much deeper our lives might be without it. Lastly (and I know it’s drastic), I wonder how our lives would look if we literally gave our wealth to the poor and had only basic necessities. Just some thoughts. Oh, and I’d love to hear your thoughts. Let me know what you think!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
A More Beautiful You?
There is a song by Jonny Diaz that has caught my attention lately. It's called "More Beautiful You." The first line of the chorus is "There could never be a more beautiful you." It's the main thrust of the song and it's so true. People constantly try to make themselves more beautiful or more appealing to themselves or others. The truth is: Every person was made the way they are for a reason.
First of all, the standard that society sets for "beautiful" is basically unattainable. Not every woman has the capacity to be 5'10", blonde, 110 pounds, perfectly toned, tan, etc... Likewise, every man doesn't have the capacity to be 6'2", athletic, musically inclined, and bench 300 pounds. It's ridiculous. AND, how boring would society be if everyone were this way? Making my outward appearance more appealing isn't wrong. However, if I obsess about being overweight because I think I have to meet a standard set by society, I'm in the wrong. Working out to be healthy is great. Working out so that I'll be noticed by people as being more "beautiful," is wrong.
True beauty has everything to do with your heart. Do you care about people other than yourself? Can you put their needs in front of yours? Do you go out of your way to help strangers? Are you honest? Respectful?
I think that the beauty of society is the differences we possess. The unique set of characteristics and gifts we are given shouldn't be hidden.
I have struggles in a related department lately. I've been falling into the trap of thinking that certain aspects of who I am and what I possess aren't going to be good enough. I start believing that it matters if someone else is better than me at one given thing. Lastly, I start to believe that the people closest to me in my life will not be as content with me because of the possibility that I might not measure up.
These are lies that Satan uses against me. He uses them to make me cynical and driven to change something about myself based on the standard other people set. He uses them to make me withdrawl from conversations with people. He uses them to make me focus on the negative. Basically, he uses them to drag me down. I start to buy into these things and sometimes its not until I start realizing that I'm bringing other people down that I need to address my issue.
Jonny unpacks a lot in the song. The last line of the bridge says "And again you'll see through the eyes of a little girl." Man, how amazing it would be to still view life through the eyes of a child. Kids never think about the possibility of their hair being messed up or if they're athletic. Kids are carefree. I love it. Just last night, I hung out with a 5 year old who took marker and colored her entire hand and got it all over her face. She didn't care! She isn't driven to be the best looking, most attractive, successful, athletic, accomplished, etc... girl she can be. She's just enjoying life as it comes :)
I am carefully and wonderfully made. I have a purpose. I am beautiful exactly as I am. Because true beauty is not an outward appearance but an inward, ongoing transformation into becomming more and more like Christ with every day.
First of all, the standard that society sets for "beautiful" is basically unattainable. Not every woman has the capacity to be 5'10", blonde, 110 pounds, perfectly toned, tan, etc... Likewise, every man doesn't have the capacity to be 6'2", athletic, musically inclined, and bench 300 pounds. It's ridiculous. AND, how boring would society be if everyone were this way? Making my outward appearance more appealing isn't wrong. However, if I obsess about being overweight because I think I have to meet a standard set by society, I'm in the wrong. Working out to be healthy is great. Working out so that I'll be noticed by people as being more "beautiful," is wrong.
True beauty has everything to do with your heart. Do you care about people other than yourself? Can you put their needs in front of yours? Do you go out of your way to help strangers? Are you honest? Respectful?
I think that the beauty of society is the differences we possess. The unique set of characteristics and gifts we are given shouldn't be hidden.
I have struggles in a related department lately. I've been falling into the trap of thinking that certain aspects of who I am and what I possess aren't going to be good enough. I start believing that it matters if someone else is better than me at one given thing. Lastly, I start to believe that the people closest to me in my life will not be as content with me because of the possibility that I might not measure up.
These are lies that Satan uses against me. He uses them to make me cynical and driven to change something about myself based on the standard other people set. He uses them to make me withdrawl from conversations with people. He uses them to make me focus on the negative. Basically, he uses them to drag me down. I start to buy into these things and sometimes its not until I start realizing that I'm bringing other people down that I need to address my issue.
Jonny unpacks a lot in the song. The last line of the bridge says "And again you'll see through the eyes of a little girl." Man, how amazing it would be to still view life through the eyes of a child. Kids never think about the possibility of their hair being messed up or if they're athletic. Kids are carefree. I love it. Just last night, I hung out with a 5 year old who took marker and colored her entire hand and got it all over her face. She didn't care! She isn't driven to be the best looking, most attractive, successful, athletic, accomplished, etc... girl she can be. She's just enjoying life as it comes :)
I am carefully and wonderfully made. I have a purpose. I am beautiful exactly as I am. Because true beauty is not an outward appearance but an inward, ongoing transformation into becomming more and more like Christ with every day.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The Invitation Poem.
I stumbled across a poem today that addresses a lot of things that I’ve thought about and resonate with. I don’t want to take away from it at all, so I won’t try to describe my thoughts about it in this post. Also, there is a link at the bottom in which Oriah gives an explanation for the motivation for writing this poem. Read it. It’s something I can strongly relate to and I would be surprised if you couldn’t relate to it as well.
The Invitation
It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.
It doesn’t interest me
how old you are.
I want to know
if you will risk
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn’t interest me
what planets are
squaring your moon...
I want to know
if you have touched
the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shriveled and closed
from fear of further pain.
I want to know
if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.
I want to know
if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.
It doesn’t interest me
if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.
I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”
It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.
It doesn’t interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.
It doesn’t interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.
I want to know
if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments.
-- Oriah Mountain Dreamer
http://skdesigns.com/internet/articles/prose/oriah_mountain_dreamer/invitation/
(scroll down past the poem to read her motivation for writing it)
The Invitation
It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.
It doesn’t interest me
how old you are.
I want to know
if you will risk
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn’t interest me
what planets are
squaring your moon...
I want to know
if you have touched
the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shriveled and closed
from fear of further pain.
I want to know
if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.
I want to know
if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.
It doesn’t interest me
if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.
I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”
It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.
It doesn’t interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.
It doesn’t interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.
I want to know
if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments.
-- Oriah Mountain Dreamer
http://skdesigns.com/internet/articles/prose/oriah_mountain_dreamer/invitation/
(scroll down past the poem to read her motivation for writing it)
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