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May 03 Not the beginning, but far from the endI can't remember if I've mentioned it here before, but I'm in the process of developing a theology of pain and suffering. I think it's something that the modern Christian Church has turned a blind eye to and has chosen to try to gloss over instead of truly dealing with the issue. I won't get into a lot of the deep exegesis here tonight, but I'll give you a few of my basic observations.
Have you ever noticed that most people make their decisions based on what will cause them or others the least pain/suffering and determining that must be the right moral course, as opposed to truly examining the situation and determining the truly correct thing to do? We have made pain/suffering synonymous with evil, but I don't think there is much support for that idea biblically. In fact, as I have been looking for it and studying, I have found more and more examples of places where pain/suffering seem to be the direct will of God for his people because it is the only means to attain the right ends. Now I'm not suggesting that Christianity is by it's nature sadistic, but I think we really need to re-examine the part that pain/suffering can play in our lives for our own good and for the good of others.
Have you ever noticed that the first thing that we pray when we encounter pain/suffering is to ask God to take us out of it, or if we aren't sure that God will do that, then we pray that God would just give us the strength to get through it? We have made pain/suffering something that is to be avoided at all costs as an unnecessary evil in life as opposed to embracing it possibly as God's blessing for us to form us into the people we need to be for his service. Again, I'm not endorsing going out and creating pain/suffering for one's self, but I would say that maybe we need to be praying that God would help us to learn what he is trying to teach us or that we would become what he is trying to make us into through our difficult times.
I can't claim to have seen the depths of pain and suffering in my life, I haven't starved or gone homeless, but I have experienced a fair bit of pain/suffering over the last five years. I wouldn't change a single one of those things I've gone through even if I could. I would not be half the man I am today if not for that pain/suffering. I would not be half as equipped to minister to other people if not for that pain/suffering. I am endeavouring to put some of these things I've mentioned into practice in my life. Lately, the difficult moments have been few and far between, and for that I am very greatful, but I sincerely hope the next time that pain/suffering do come into my life I am just as thankful for what God is trying to make me into as I am thankful for the good times.
Like I said, this is just the start of my journey into this study, but I have already been challenged and grown enormously though it. If you want some more in depth info on exactly what I've been study, and how I came to some of these conclusions, I would be more than happy to share them with you, and maybe as I discover more things for myself I will continue to share them here. Until then, we'll keep working through this life together. May 01 My life, or something like itHave you ever wondered what your life would be like if you had a different career, or did something slightly differently? Don't get me wrong, I love the church I'm at and I couldn't be happier, and I plan on being here for as long as they'll have me, but in the past week I have had at least half a dozen people tell me that I would make a great salesman or sports broadcaster/writer. Now I'll admit that I had considered both of these careers before, but when you have people come straight to you and tell you that you would have been great at something totally different, it has to make you stop and think a bit.
I love sports. I especially love football as most of you know, and this past week while watching the draft, I continually said what the sports casters said, only about thirty seconds before they pointed it out. And when it came to prognosticating the draft and knowing team needs they might draft to fill, I hit on about fifty percent which is significantly more than the 25% that the Mel Kiper Jr. (pro draft expert) hit on. And the funny thing is that this is just a hobby for me that I keep up with in my spare time, where as these guys spend every waking hour studying this stuff. I think I'd really love a career where all I had to do was live football. Maybe someday I will.
And as for the salesman thing, it's something I did a bit at Loney's Golf Shop when I worked there, and now that it's gone I miss it. The only place I have to put my power's of persuasion and sales skills to work is in my fantasy sports leagues where I'm known as "the silver tongue" to a bunch of the guys b/c if I really want to make a trade I can pretty much always work something out with a guy. I'm glad I've got the skills to use in fantasy football/baseball but I wonder how much those skills could have made me in the corporate world. Maybe someday I will find that out too.
Like I said, I love where I'm at right now, but I still wonder somedays what life would be like if I had done somethings different. I know you can't change the past, but with all the options that you have in this life I do wish sometimes I had more than one life to live so I could really see what all those different options would have been like. I'm only 26 but I already feel like life is too short to do everything I want. So many interesting jobs and careers to try, so many people to meet or wish you could have spent more time with, so many hobbies you'll never get to try, so many great books that you'll never have time to read, but I guess that's what prioritizing is for.
Anyways, there's the inner workings of my daydreaming for the day. It filled most of my spare thinking time for the day and likely will for a while until I find some other great mystery of life to ponder.
Have a good one. April 30 More Adventures in Fast FoodFollowing up on the Iced Cap story of a few nights ago, I've had more adventures in fastfood since. As many of you know, I have suffered from Acid Reflux for the last 4 years and take a pill every morning to keep things under control. Unfortunately, my prescription ran out about a week ago and I didn't get it refilled until today. Also unfortunately, it takes about a day or so before it kicks in again. But taking my guts in my own hands, I decided that since I was in the big city today I would take advantage of the food court and have Chinese for lunch . . . . . . dumb. Then for supper Jenn wanted pizza so I obliged her . . . . . . really dumb. As a result of my cavalier ignorance I am now suffering my worst heartburn in years tonight.
Here's some advice for you: Even if you don't suffer from regular acid reflux, mixing food court chinese food and pizza in the same day is likely a recipe for disaster for your guts. You could likely drink battery acid and it wouldn't be this uncomfortable. Taken heed of my warning and save yourself some pain. There's not enough antacid in the world to put out that volcano.
Have a good night, I know I certainly won't. April 28 Happy Draft Day!Happy NFL draft day 2007 everyone! This is the day where every living male in the USA, plus Ben, sets down in front of the TV to watch spoiled 20 year olds be given contracts for tens of millions of dollars. Everyone acts like a GM for the day hoping and praying their team takes the guy they want, and waits to see how the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings will find a way to screw up this rather simple process once again. As for me, I will be spending the day at a friend's house watching the events unfold while Jenn visits with my friends' wife and tries to pretend she's moderately interested to humor me.
 It amazes me more and more each year how many sports reporters are now making their living purely off of being a draft expert (Mike Mayock, and Mel Kiper Jr. to name two), and knowing every single detail and the fifth round offensive linemen taken out of Timbucktwo State University.
I don't know what the day will hold for beloved Bears, but I certainly look forward to finding out. Will they finally trade the disgruntled LB Lance Briggs and trade up in the first round of the draft for a star player, or will they trade down again and accumulate more midround value picks? If I have to guess I will say that they trade down again, that Lance Briggs doesn't get traded, and their first draft pick will be a defensive tackle. That's right, I've made my call. Am I ever glad that I have the option to come back and edit this later so it can appear as though I knew what was really going to happen.
Anywho, whether you watch the draft or not tomorrow, have a happy draft day because I certainly know I will. April 26 Beware the Butter Carmel IcedCap!I enjoy good coffee. I really enjoy a good iced double latte with a hint of raspberry. I've had a Tim Horton's IcedCap before once or twice, and thought I enjoyed those. On Wednesday night I had one of the new Butter Carmel IcedCaps from Tim Ho's and I did not enjoy that.
If you thought a regular IcedCap is sweet, this bends it over and kicks it in the face repeatedly. If the IcedCap isn't sweet enough, this has syrup and whipped cream added to it. I had a medium and wound up with gut rot and sugar shakes for the rest of the evening . . . and I olnly finished two thirds of it. I think even a small should carry a label, "Warning: May cause type II diabetes."
The scarriest part of it was that once of the youth group kids I went with finished his extra large one in about 5 minutes and then offered to finish mine. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I can't see that being healthy for anybody.
Anyways, since I sent out the teaser for my sunday sermon, I better follow through and elaborate a bit. Cliff and I are going to be preaching through the Lord's prayer over the next few weeks, and this week it's my turn to preach on "Give us today our daily bread." The past few passages I was asked to speak on were a little long for my taste (like 18 verses), and now this one is a little short for my taste, but I guess I'll do my best. I don't think this message will be anything ground breaking for anyone in particular, but I guess it is a good reminder. It's essentially the message that we can come confidently to God asking him to provide for our needs because he loves us, but we need to do so humbly enough to remember that we are totally dependant on him for our needs from moment to moment, and not just for bread, but for all of our material and spiritual needs. Hopefully all goes well and people can learn something from it. Either way, I'll do my best to present the message. I'm glad spring is finally hereThose of you who know me much at all know that I have traditionally been known as a cave dweller. I like closed windows, dark rooms, and rainy skies, but for the first time I can ever really remember, I'm really thankful that spring is here and so is the sunshine. My new lawn is turning dark green (which unfortunately means I need to buy a lawnmower), the trees are blooming (which brings wasps), and the sun is coming up sooner (which makes the birds start squawking earlier and costs me sleep), but yes I'm glad spring is here. For the first time I can remember, I'm actually opening up blinds in the house instead of just closing them. I'm not sure whether this is a good or bad thing yet, but it is what it is.
Jenn and I have been going for daily walks, just enjoying nature. Which for those of you who know me, is also a major lifestyle change. I'd much rather read a book or watch TV listening to music on my couch than go outside previous to this, but I'm enjoying my daily walk too. I'm not saying that I'm becoming a tree hugger here by any stretch of the imagination, but I am developing an appreciation for creation.
I still have to say that watching sports in my basement is my favorite pass time, but hey at least this is a start.
Other than that, I finally finished my sermon for sunday. I wouldn't call it one that I'm extremely passionate about, but it fits in with what we're trying to preach through right now at the church so I'll do my best with it. Maybe I'll give a little appetizer on that tomorrow night.
P.S. - Now that we got our laptop, I think this blogging thing will become a little easier for me. April 20 Happy Monthiversary to me (or you as it may be)!Happy Monthiversary! That's right, it's been one month since I last made on entry here. I'm not saying it's good or bad, just that it is. Life is busy here. Between preparing things for the youth trip to YC next month, and doing all of the accompanying fundraising for that trip (we are doing a dessert/movie date night tomorrow), pretty much all my spare online time has been spent managing my fantasy baseball team - Benyamen's BoSox. A team aptly named in honor of my favorite baseball team, the Boston Red Sox.
Right now, my time put in a shrewd managerial skills have Benyamen's BoSox in first place in the league of ten teams. I play in a standard 5x5 roto league . . . for those of you who have lives, that means its a fantasy baseball league that uses 5 hitting stats and 5 pitching stats to accumulate your teams score - batting average, runs, HR, RBI, and stolen bases for batters and ERA, WHIP, Wins, Saves, and strikeouts for pitchers. I can explain more to you personally if you really want to know. To put it mildly right now my team is dominant. While 9 of the 10 teams are between about 40 and 60 of a possible 100pt perfect score, I am sitting at a comfortable 82.5 score with a 21 pt lead as of this moment. I know everything could fall apart in a week, but for now it feels good to be winning.
If you hadn't guess yet, it's true, I have become a baseball fan over the past couple years. After playing my first season of fantasy baseball last year, I developed a new love and respect for the game of baseball and I think I've probably watched or listened to (either online or on XM radio) probably around 30+ games this year. I've found it's a great sport to listen to while you read a book, or do dishes, or drive b/c there isn't a lot of intense action you have to pay close attention to, and you can really visualize what's happening in baseball moreso than any other sport because it's all fairly slow moving and easy to understand.
Anyways, just a note to say that life is good, and that hopefully in the next few weeks here I should have my next introspective treatise ready to publish here. I am working through a theology of Christian suffering and am seriously considering starting writing a book on the subject. It may never be published, but I'd like to do it even just for my own good. I think suffering is an idea that makes Christians really uncomfortable, and in general we have kind of a weak theological grounding in the concept and experience.
Until then, have a good one. Now it's time for me to get back to my baseball. March 21 Don't you just hate it when people lie . . .I'd love to tell you that I have something deep and insightful to tell you this afternoon, but I don't. Right now, I'm just trying to work out the high-speed internet issue I came accross yesterday afternoon.
Since Jenn and I moved out here, we've subscribed to Shaw high-speed internet which is supposed to be a 5 MB/Sec. download speed. We were reasonably happy with it, although I did have some issues with XBOX live play from time to time. Well that all changed when we got iTunes set up a couple weeks back and I realized that my "high-speed" connection was downloading slower than my lite-speed internet connection in my office. After having a repair-man over to check out my connection, he informed me that the highest download speeds ever experienced on their service are 2MB/Sec despite the fact that they advertise and sell it as 5MB/Sec. Essentially I've been paying full price for high-speed internet while only getting lite-speed internet. I've been paying twice the price, for half the service! Apparently they hope to upgrade their servers soon to actually provide the true high speed service, but the repair man said he'd been waiting for 2 1/2 years already so I shouldn't hold my breath.
After checking with Sasktel, I've found that I will actually get a full 5MB/Sec download for the same price I'm paying right now for my 2MB/Sec I'm getting right now! Guess who's switching back to Sasktel this afternoon. March 09 Look at me, I'm a MB delegate!Okay, so it's really not that exciting, but in a strange way I am kind of excited to go to my first MB convention this weekend. I've been to more than a few SBA conventions before, so I know what these meetings can be like, but I'm still excited to see how the MB variety does business. Probably lots of people reading lots of anual reports, and then voting on new board members and such, but that can be interesting too depending on how things go.
I'm kind of hoping that I may be able to get in on the church extension committee if they are looking for new members. With my church planting experience I know at least a lot of what not to do, and unfortunately from what I've heard so far, the current church extension committee is planning on going in the direction of what not to do. I'm not saying that I know a lot of what to do per se, but I know pretty well what doesn't work, so I'd love to have the opportunity to save people from the same fate that tried to eat me alive.
Anyways, at the very least it should be a good learning experience, and we get to stay with Daryl, Dawn, and Libby for the weekend, so the company will at least be good. February 21 There's a hole in my church, dear Liza, dear Liza . . .In case you don't recognize the title, it's from a song that I learned back in grade 7 about a hole in a bucket and the ensuing argument between Liza and Henry as to what should be done about it. It just seemed fitting to me.
Well, we had a bit of an adventure here at the church yesterday. A number of seniors came to the church yesterday afternoon for the weekly get together, unfortunately, one of them forgot to leave their car in the parking lot and decided instead to drive it straight into the church. Yup, that's right, she drove right over the concrete barrier and through the brick wall of the church basement. She came into the church and told us she had broken a window, but as soon as we went to take a look at it, we realized it was much more than just broken glass. You can see some pictures of it below.
She was fine, and actually drove the car away after the afternoon get together was finished. I'm sure insurance will cover the damage, but in the meantime, somebody's sunday school class is going to be a little chilly this weekend.
Have a good one. And if by some chance you someday drive through a brick wall yourself, maybe you should consider just giving up your license and not driving away. February 14 Sports gambling, lotteries and poker . . . Oh My!I haven't done a lot of opinionated introspective writing here yet, but that changes a bit today. I'll start by admitting that by nature, I am a bit more of a deconstructionist. I spend a lot of time thinking about why we do what we do, and whether those reasons are really legitimate, and if not, then what needs to be changed. I think especially given the climate in which the Western church exists today - one of constant questioning and scrutiny - we really need to understand why it is we do what we do, and why it is we believe what we believe. The whole issue of lotteries and gambling and the like kind of was raised in my mind yesterday at the city ministerial meeting here. We were talking around the table and somehow the issue of the church accepting money won in a lottery was raised. The Baptist minister said that he couldn't possibly accept money won in a lottery according the some of their church bylaws. Then the Salvation Army minister said that they would be willing to accept money won in a lottery, but it would have to be on a "don't ask, don't tell" kind of basis. If you don't tell us where the million dollars came from, we won't ask where it came from and then we are all happy. Then another pastor said, "I'm not proud. I'd gladly take it if they're willing to give it." Then it occured to me, what moral/biblical issue do Christians really have with lotteries, or even accepting money won in a lottery or gambling? The bible obviously doesn't say, "thou shalt not play the 6/49", so where do we get this idea from that lotteries or gambling is wrong? If we are going to take a step out, as we have, and say difinitively that lotteries and gambling are anti-christian, we better have a good reason for it. So today I took a look in my handy "Christians and Lotteries" pamphlet distributed by the MB to see what wonderful and legitimate reasons they have for saying lotteries and gambling have no place within the life of a Christian. Unfortunately, I found few legitimate reasons, and more straw men than rock solid reasons. First of all, there is the reason that I had always heard: the good stewardship issue. Obviously the bible teaches us to use our money wisely. Beyond even biblical standards, basic logic would tell you to use your money wisely. But this just isn't enough to justify such a harsh stance against lotteries. "Is it right to spend money on something which has no promise of return . . . ?" Well, last time I checked there is no promise of return on stocks or mutual funds, but yet we would never condemn a Christian for "investing" in the stock market. Why is the chance taken in the stock market an "investment" while the lottery ticket is "gambling". The both contain no promise of return on investment, and if anything the lottery ticket at least provides a higher potential return on initial investment. If we are so concerned about the stewardship issue than why don't we ever have pamphlets or sermons on the evils of buying Tim Horton's coffee everyday on the way to work? That's $10 a week compared to the other guys $2 6/49 ticket per week, and the lottery ticket has potential returns on that $2 where as once the coffee is gone, it's gone. Not to mention that what money from the lottery doesn't go into the prize goes into supporting charities and community initiatives. The moral argument of stewardship as it relates to lotteries just doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Then there was another explanation of " . . . can I buy something (hoping to be a winner) which is based on many losing so a small number can win? Does that not fly in the face of Christ's call to us to look after each others' interests and not just our own (Phil. 2:4)?" To me, this seems to be such a blatant proof-text that it makes my exegetical teeth grind. This passage is saying that as believer's we need to make sure not to take advantage of eachother, and to look out for eachothers needs; it has nothing to do with whether there should ever be winners and losers. What if the lottery winner was to take and use much of the money to care for the visible needs of those in their community? Would this not be far closer to following the spirit of this passage, than just letting the non-believer win and use all the money on themselves? There are always going to be winners and losers in any competition. Would the writer of this pamphlet say that believers should have no part in competitions or sports of any kind because someone will have to lose and that would be an example of not looking out for the needs of others? How then can we have elections for church positions then if this is the case. I can understand the idea that we should not take advantage of other believers, but it is preposterous to think that buying a lottery ticket is equivalent to taking advantage of others. If anything the contributions given to community groups from money not given out in prizes shows a desire to take care of others rather than hording the money for one's self. The final explanation given is that "gambling or buying lotteries can be addictive to themselves or to others." Of any of the seeming explanations, this would seem to be the most legitimate of them. However, the possibility of addiction is no reason to condemn something outright. There are examples throughout scripture of addiction being condemned, but rarely, if ever, the activity itself. Drunkenness is condmened, but the use of alcohol is clearly encourage in other places so long as it is not taken to excess. One can become addicted to nearly any substance or activity if taken to excess, but that is no reason to outlaw that substance or activity all together. It is merely a call to caution. To overreact and outlaw something all together because of the possibility of addiction is to eliminate Christian freedom and to boil our faith down to just another series of laws to be followed. I guess, in closing, I just don't see a good moral/biblical reason to condemn gambling/lotteries. If one person chooses to spend $2 a week on a 6/49 ticket for the possibility of winning money or even just for entertainment, who are we to condemn them while leaving the person who spends $5 a week on r-rated movie rentals to keep on in that direction, excusing them on the basis of their Christian freedom and conscience. Which person has truly done something wrong? I'm not saying that you should all go out and by your lottery ticket this afternoon, but if we are going to be against it we better come up with a good reason to, and if nothing else, certainly temper our response to lotteries compared to our response to other activities. February 07 Look at me, I'm mourning over Train-Rex!Well, it's true that it was the most successful season in 21 years for the Bears, but the Superbowl loss is still tough to take. To go so far and then to lose, mostly due to the noodle arm of one player, is tough to get over. All year the media talked about Good-Rex vs. Bad-Rex and which one would show up on a given afternoon, especially the Superbowl. Well neither of them showed up for the Superbowl . . . the third alter-ego Train-Rex was the participant at QB for the Bears in Superbowl XLI.
What a guy . . . he's got a strong arm that he showed off all year, and when it really counted he broke out the wet noodle and tossed lame ducks up all evening. I don't know if I'll go so far as to say he needs to go, but there better be some competition for his job next year and he better have a lot shorter leash. Why can't a single football team I cheer for ever get a solid starting QB?
Anyways, enough groaning and whining from me for now. It was a lot of fun this year . . . I just wish it could have been Super-fun. January 23 Look at me, I'm a published author!Like the title says, I'm just found out today that I'm a published author, and not just on this blog! Apparently a paper that I wrote while working on my Masters of Theology in 2005 was submitted to a worship website, copyrighted in my name and published. My prof had asked for permission to keep a copy of the paper for personal and classroom purposes, but I wasn't expecting this.
It's not a big deal, it's just a small website that likely few to no people ever frequent, but I thought it's funny that I can now officially be cited as someone's footnote. I guess everyone has to start somewhere as an author, and hey, it's more published works than I had before. Here's to the start of a wonderful career!
 Anyways, here's the link in case your interested in seeing it: http://www.ccws.ca/theology/
My paper is at the bottom of the page, "The Revelation/Response Dialogue in Christian Worship".
So this was my excitement for the day, after the unbelievable excitement of the Bears NFC Championship on Sunday. There will be more on that subject coming in the near future.
Until then . . . January 12 Superhero Personality QuizWell, this isn't really good for anything per se, but it's fun. I stumbled accross it this morning. I never really thought of myself as a Superman before, maybe more of a Green Lantern, but hey, I guess that's what they make the quiz for.
You are Superman
Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test
January 10 Interim BlogWell, it's been a couple weeks now since my last post, and for those of you who have been waiting with baited breath to see what nugget will next drop from the tip of my brain on to the interweb, sorry for taking so long. This unfortunately won't satiate your hunger.
Christmas holidays were great; seeing friends and family again that I hadn't seen in quite some time and having some time to just rest and relax for the first time in about 8 months. Unfortunately, the cold virus made an appearance and dampened some of the experience.
Anyways, this is just an interim blog until I get the time to put down something a little more substantial hopefully sooner than later. I hope the new year finds you well, and I am aiming to post at least twice a week in this new year of 2007 (It's not really a new years resolution so much as it is just a desire to be more consistant in all areas of life.). December 22 Amaryllis UpdateI realize that yesterday's edition was a little on the heavy and long side, so this will be fairly light and short. It's time for another amaryllis update! When last we checked in with amaryllis 2006 it had spent most of its' energy growing long leaves, but the bud had barely started to grow; my how things have changed. In only a couple short weeks, the bud has grown just as tall as the leaves now, and has bloomed four flowers!
One of the flowers is starting to get kind of wilty and slimy, but the rest are still looking great. Amaryllis 2006 definitely grew up a lot faster than amaryllis 2005, but like I suspected, it doesn't have nearly as many blooms. This years' seems to have only one bud as opposed the the three from last years'. It's amazing how the same species of plant can do so many different things. Anyways, updated pictures are attached at the bottom.
Happy trails . . . (I really gotta come up with a decent way to sign these posts off, so I'm going to experiment over the next little while until I find something that fits.) December 21 Jesus "through the eyes of John"Well, yesterday was a reading day here for the most part. Most of my pre-christmas responsibilities have wrapped up here at the church (other than the sunday morning service), and we don't have any more youth activities until New Year's Eve, so things have slowed a bit here; a good day to catch up on my reading.
As I noted in my reading list, I finished "The Last Eyewitness: the final week . . . John relives Christ's last week before the crucifixion". It's a part of "The Voice" series which is essentially and attempt to breathe new life into the narratives of the bible and unlock the power of their stories in a new way. It's basically more contemporary translations interjected with editorial comments from "John" to flesh out the story and explain "what he meant" in certain parts of his gospel. It was a really good, easy read. It's only about 120 pages, but it's pretty powerful stuff. You really feel like you can hear old John sitting down and telling you his story.
A few parts in particular really popped out at me. First of all how Jesus loved. He knew how it was all going to end, he knew Judas would betray him, but yet he still picked him to be his disciple and loved him just as he loved and taught the others. He had Judas follow him and learn from him and likely heard, "I love you," from him on more than a few occasions, knowing the entire time that Judas would finally betray him. He loved him despite the pain it may cause in the end. He loved the man that would lead to his death knowing full well who he was.
"Betrayal by one you love is more painful than the most horrid forms of Roman torture. It cuts deep into your heart and does not allow you the benefit of any kind of defense. But, in Jesus' case, He saw it coming and allowed Himself to be injured. By letting me in on this betrayal before the fact, He shaped my beliefs about what it means to love the way that He loved. Which means that, even when we see betrayal on the horizon, we continue to make ourselves vulnerable. We take on the risk of betrayal by continuing to love. There were many in our community that wanted to love without risk. It's not possible, not in marriage, friendship, or the church - you open yourself to betrayal every time you love." -50
Quite often we as the church, and even as individual believers, are guilty of trying to love safe. We want to meet the needs of the poor, but we don't really want to give handouts because "those people might abuse our gifts and just waste it all on drugs anyways." We find ways to insulate ourselves from truly loving and giving without strings attached as Jesus did. We don't want to minister to "dangerous" people because it's not safe and we have the responsibility to save ourselves or who else would do the work. Well, it seems to me Jesus loved without regard for his own life. He spent time with the thieves and liars, and loved the man who would lead to his death. I'll be one of the first one's to admit that I've avoided doing things because "they aren't safe". They could be dangerous or uncomfortable and so I convince myself that God wouldn't want me to minister in that place, or to those people, becuase he wouldn't want to put me in danger. Well, Jesus loved and ministered without regard for his own life; maybe we need to too.
This world isn't always safe, and people won't always be easy to love, but Jesus loved this creation enough to become a part of it. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son for them. He wanted to save the world, not have to destroy it because of sin. He sent Jesus to redeem the world, not just to give people a way to get out of it. It's great to have eternity to look forward to, but Jesus came to redeem creation here and now, and called us as ministers to his creation. He didn't just come to give us a way to escape the desolation of creation, we came to give us a way to fix it.
"But there are also a lot of believers, I think, who misunderstand Jesus. When our King said, "My kingdom is not in this physical realm," He didn't mean it was for another time or another place, as if this world didn't matter. No. This world mattered to Jesus and it mattered ultimately. Otherwise, why would He have became flesh, a piece of this fallen, broken creation became divine. When the Voice rose from the dead, a piece of this fallen, broken creation became eternal. No, my friend, the kingdom of God is about this world. It may be sourced above, in heaven, but its focus, its realm is the cosmos that is our home. Jesus, in fact, taught us to pray everyday, "Bring about Your Kingdom. Manifest Your will here on earth, as it is manifested in heaven" (Ma 6:10). If you pray this prayer like I do, every day, then it finally sinks in that the kingdom of God has to do with our lives, here and now. It is the time and place in history when God's will is done on earth as it is in heaven. It's not about going to heaven when we die. It's not about getting us out of here so the world can go to pot. Every day we pray for the King and His kingdom to come; we long for that day. The older I get, the more I ache, the more I long to see His will done on earth." -67
I'm more and more convicted all the time that we need to spend far less time judging unbelievers, and spend more time judging ourselves and those already in the church. We need to spend more time reaching out in love to the unbeliever, and less time loving our own security. Maybe if we spent more time defining ourselves by what we are supposed to be (love and redemption) than by what we aren't supposed to be (cheats, liars, gays, drunks, thieves, etc.) the world would be more interested in being a part of what we are instead of what we aren't. I can remember plenty of occasions where Jesus reached out in love to the unbeliever, and judged those who thought they were holy, but I can't think of where the reverse was true.
I'm not totally sure what it looks like yet to be defined as a church by what we are, as opposed to defining ourselves by what we aren't, but I'm working on it and so is our church. I'm sure that things like our car care ministry, food bank giving, and connectedness to our community are part of it, but I think it's only the start. I think most of the world knows what we are against, but unless they know what we are for, why would they want to be a part of it.
Like I said before, I think part of it is redemption too. It's more than just forgiveness from sin, it's redemption to something better. Jesus didn't just come to keep us from being punished for our sins, he came to set us to a better life and a higher calling. He came to redeem his creation, his people. We need as a church to give people something to strive for, and not just to run from. Someone who's debt is cancelled is saved from their punishment, but unless they are given a way to support themselves and a future, they will be back in debt sooner than later. Redemption through Christ needs to be forgiveness from sin, but it also needs to be a restoration and call to greater things.
"What Jesus did next was nothing short of brilliant. Three times He asked Simon whether he loved Him. Each time Simon said something like, "Yes, Lord. You know that I love You." Simon was perturbed that Jesus asked him the same question three times. But later he figured it out, with my help, I might add. Three times Simon denied Him. Now Jesus gave him three chances to repent, confess his love, and be restored. Face-to-face with His Lord he declared his love, and as he did, he felt the burden of his betrayal lift. He began to feel more like the rock he was. Jesus forgave him and then commissioned him to take care of His people. We all took notice. Jesus didn't just forgive him and then offer him some menial task. Our Master put Peter, the Rock, in charge. Since then, Peter's been prominent among us - some have even said a bit too prominent. But it's what Jesus wanted.
We all learned a lesson that day. No matter what we have done, no matter the weight of our burden and sin, our Master wants to forgive us and restore us to be the oeple He mad us and called us to be. Something happens when we confess our love for Jesus. We are transformed. Our burdens lift. And we see clearly, more clearly than before, what He wants us to be and do." -106
When Jesus forgave Peter for denying him, he didn't just absolve him of wrong doing and let people carry on in that path. He absolved him, restored him to where he was before his fall, and gave him a call for the future. People need to have something to aim for if they are going to move on. I just wonder how well we do that. How well do we restore and encourage people after they've fallen? Or do we continue to hold people's pasts over them and keep them from rising up from their ashes? This may seem like kind of an extreme example, but I just think of guys like Jimmy Swagert or Jim Baker or the like. They were prominent in Christian circles, they sinned, they repented, and now somehow seem to continue on as inside jokes in Christian circles; never really being allowed to live past their past. Maybe it's something that we need to look at a little closer; truly forgiving and restoring people after they've fallen, as opposed to "forgiving" them but never really letting them move on.
Anyways, I realize this was a little long winded, but I just wanted to get down my thoughts before I forgot them. If you've made it this far, you win a prize . . . fun and enjoyment! You may not be able to get anything at walmart for it, but I think we could all use a little more of it in our lives.
I think a lot of people in the church are starting to wake up a bit from our slumber, and realizing we've got a lot of work to do. I for one am glad to be a part of it. A year or so ago that may not have been the case in my life, but I think if we really look at it there is a lot of hope on the horizon for God's Kingdom. A lot of work to be done, but a lot of hope for the future if we really want to grab a hold of it.
This was a little on the serious side, but hopefully I'll have an amaryllis update for you by the end of the day too and maybe my thoughts on the future prospects of my beloved Bears. Until then, . . . December 14 Iron Stomach No More . . . ugh.Well, it's been about a week since the last post, but it feels like about a year. Today was my first time out of the house since Sunday afternoon, all due to the "Death Sickness: Part Deuce"; the sequel to the "Death Sickness" which I had my 4th year of college for those of you who may remember. The pictures below will show you a little of my life cycle over the past 4 days, and it wasn't pretty.
For those of you not around those many years ago to remember the original "Death Sickness" (which from hereforth will be known as DS1, and "Death Sickness: Part Deuce" will be known as DS2, to avoid overuse of the "air quotes" . . . sorry did it again), I will give you a little history. Not unlike Jerry Seinfeld, I have taken great pride over the years in my ability to avoid vomiting despite how sick I may be. Until DS1 5 years ago, I had gone approximately 13 years since my last experience screaming at porcelain. I took great pride in that fact until that fateful night when my Iron Stomach let me down around 2:30am in the dorm. I went to bed with some nausea, but nothing some tums couldn't handle I thought. Unfortunately I rolled over in bed that night and that sent things over the edge to the point I could hold it in no longer and Iron Stomach let fly just outside the door of my dorm room in the hallway. (I'm still amazed to this day that my roommate heard or knew nothing of the comotion until the morning.) Anyways, much pride was lost that night, along with much food as my 13 year record went down the drain, quite litterally.
Well, 5 years had passed since DS1. Things seemed well, and despite developing acid reflux over the past few years, Iron Stomach seemed to be making a comeback having made it through more than a few stomach bugs with now incidences. That was until Monday night. At first I thought it may just have been the sketchy taco's we had for supper, but Jenn was fine. So I thought maybe it was the stress of the Bears game on Monday night combined with my precarious position in the Fantasy Football playoffs, but it soon became obvious that wasn't the problem either. Iron Stomach was in for the test of his life, a test that would come to beat him 4 times over the next 8 hours. Iron Stomach met his match and was humiliated by DS2.
Unfortunately, Tuesday was just a blur between bedroom and bathroom. Wednesday offered some hope of deliverance from DS2, but left a great deal of aches and exhaustion in it's wake. And predictably for me, the 20+ hours of sleep accumulated over Tuesday and Wednesday lead to a near sleepless wednesday night/thursday morning. So today, only 1 day removed really from DS2, I sit here a lifeless shell running on 2 hours-ish of sleep. Here's to hoping for better tonight.
Needless to say, Iron Stomach has been defeated and will never again boast of his feats of strength and endurance.
Hopefully, once I am whole again, I will post you some pictures of our now blooming amaryllis and maybe offer a little more hope for my future.  December 06 Ben and Jenn's 2006 AmaryllisWell, what better way to start a brand new blog than to steal an idea from a different blog. If you've been a regular reader of my brother Jon's blog or his amaryllis blog from this past Christmas, than you'll know who you should contact to launch the plagiarism suit against me, but regardless of my fears of legal action, I will press on and give you this update on the amaryllis my parents gave me two weeks ago.
To be perfectly honest, it has grown far quicker than I could have expected. It has grown at a rate that almost equals the rate of amaryllis 2004 which had the "tropical rainforest" type climate to spur on it's exponential growth rate at Davidson Crescent. Amaryllis 2005 was a late bloomer in our significantly cooler house on Sinton. Amaryllis 2006 (I just realized I had been spelling it wrong to this point, and have stolen even the spelling from Jon's blog now to correct it) has sprouted up quickly for some reason, but it has only one flower bud thus far as compared to the three which 2005 gave us. It looks like we'll have much quicker gratification this year, but maybe not as extensive.
Anyways, that's it for stolen blog numero uno. Pictures of amaryllis 2006 are below. As you can see, the longest leaf is about 24" tall so far and the bud is around 12" tall. Just click on the pictures to see a larger view. November 30 Under ConstructionHey there! This will soon be the home of all things Ben. I don't have a lot of free time right now, so I will be putting together my pictures and lists in the next short while and then hopefully maintaining it all, and the blog, with pertinent information concerning my life. If you want me to let you know when it's all done, just leave a comment with your email address and I'll let you know. |
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