Information overload, depth underload

These days we have such an incredible volume of information right at our fingertips, only a touchscreen away. Earlier tonight some friends at camp found a chipmunk. Within 20 minutes I knew everything there is to know about chipmunks. They need a 6x6 ft cage, eat fruits and nuts, teethe at 4 weeks, and it's illegal to keep them as pets. This just scratches the surface about my new chipmunk knowledge.

Today we know more song lyrics than ever. We can quote movies from start to finish (Will Ferrell especially). Our brains are full of A LOT of information. But is it useful information? Do we use our incredibly powerful brains for their best purpose? Sometimes I think that all this information is very distracting. So distracting that we forget to think about what's important, and what we should spend our time focusing on. Add that to a generation that claims to be lost without direction on 'what to do with their lives'.

I think it's self-fulfilling prophecy.

What if you took a step back to ask yourself what's the most important thing? Then take even more time to unpack the thoughts that follow the question. I think this question will evoke many different answers depending on who you are. Some answers might be very detailed, others more broad. Either way, think about where that most important thing will take you.

I worry about this question a lot. I worry that since we only have one chance on this rock, that I'll get to the end of my life and realize I had it all wrong. Maybe I worked too hard and didn't spend enough time enjoying life. Or I did the opposite and lived reckless and irresponsibly.

Lately I've learned something regarding this quandary. My number one priority in life is to glorify and serve God. Whether that's in singing praises or working at an office, the goal doesn't change.

In Luke ch 10, a lawyer asks Jesus how to inherit eternal life. Jesus asks him what the book of the law says. The man's response which Jesus confirms, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself."

I think a lot of us will agree that this is a good passage. I think it needs to be more than a good passage. I hope this thought runs through my brain all day long. Regardless of what I'm doing I want to focus on loving the Lord with all my heart. Because He saved me and cleared my debt of which I couldn't come close to paying.

Loving God isn't going to save my soul and by no means am I good at it. But I think if we are truly affected by the Cross, it will greatly impact our lives. I want to be impacted. Your one thing might be different, but you at least owe it to yourself to stop for a moment and define what it is.

You're right where you need to be

Most of camp staff had the whole week before Easter off for vacation. So basically I re-entered the realm of Spring Break as a 28 year old post-grad. That's right, be jealous.

Last November, myself and 3 friends from Frontier Ranch started planning a road trip of epic proportions. Aleks, Cory, Snow, and I planned to take the west by storm. We quickly penciled in stops to Grand Junction, Zion National Park, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. Honestly that's all we really planned - the rest would be by ear (whatever that's supposed to mean). This gave us 5 long months of anticipation and growing stokedness - the state of being stoked.

Grand Junction was the launch pad. We stayed with Aleks and Snow's old Young Life boss from Kansas. They were incredibly generous to allow 4 guys to surf their couch for a night. Good thing we caught them on the first night. Riding in the car for 9 days with minimal showers does not set us up for success as desirable house guests.

Stop two took us to Zion National Park. One of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. My good friend Matt O'Steen drove over from Vegas to partake in the adventure. We camped for a night, ate steak with our bare hands, and talked about why we were manlier than Bear Grills. It was really windy, so I spent 7 restless hours in the tent convincing myself that each noise wasn't a grizzly coming to introduce me to my maker. Bear Grills does that too, right? Below is a picture of our hike to Angel's Landing. Incredible.

Stop three took us over to O'Steen's condo in Vegas. I'm pretty certain our Vegas experience looked absolutely nothing like any other in the history of Las Vegas. Not one dollar was gambled, we ate in every night, and woke up feeling like champions. It was almost as if we went to a Vegas exhibit and watched all the animals act like idiots. By far the most relaxing three days of the trip. My most stressful decision was whether to read the USA Today or Wall Street journal by the pool. Decision below...

Last and final leg was Los Angeles, specifically Malibu. Malibu has been one of my favorite places to visit over the last few years. My good friends Lockwood and Aubree Holmes are there, and so is perfect surf. Great combination. There's also a church there called Malibu Gathering. It's an incredible example of church the way Christ envisioned, with very healthy community. You will not go to Malibu Gathering and not hear the Gospel. Awesomeness. Over my past several visits I've made good friends with folks from the church, so it was great seeing them too. Picture of my view during Good Friday service...

Finally, I got to spend some time with my cousin James in West Hollywood. We went on an epic hike that overlooked the entire LA coast. It's always great to see him and we always have great conversation and many laughs. I always treasure my time with James.

So the purpose of this post is not to flaunt the most epic road trip/vacation known to man. I've learned two things from this trip.

1. Vacations. are. critical. Especially when you've been working a lot and start to feel burnt out. This vacation was so life giving and I feel so blessed that I got to experience these things.

2. You are exactly where you need to be. It's easy to start thinking the grass is greener when going to see incredible places. The truth is, wherever you are right now is an awesome place where great people live. Chances are, people from Indiana vacation in the city you live (just kidding Cory, Indiana has really green grass). We can't lose sight of that! I'm not saying that you should never move to a different city. What I am saying is that we should take a close survey when thinking about jumping ship, and look at the real reason why we want to move. 

Just a thought... Or a bunch of thoughts rambled together... And on a serious note - visit Indiana if you ever have the chance. Culver is a beaut. Cheers

Check your expectations at the door

If your anything like me, you find yourself affected by other peoples' actions. There are times when others don't 'behave' in the manner you expect. It's as if there are rules of the road that you want society to follow. This makes total sense to have this inner code of morals that we hold people to, but I think we are in for a great letdown if we expect this code to be followed perfectly.

The origin of the 'moral code': I believe we are all made in the image of God and desire perfection. This is engrained in all cultures - from tribal Africa to the metropolis. We often complain about people not acting the 'right' way. We can even look at how children are taught to know 'right from wrong' in early childhood.

Well who created this dance of rights and wrongs? Why is it so consistent across all cultures? If it were survival of the fittest, shouldn't we all be after our best interests?

We should expect everyone to be wholly selfish. But we don't. We desire more from people. As mom and dad say, "I expected more out of you".

Why do I always fall short? Or why do others always fall short, and why are we constantly aware when others don't play by the rules?

I've been reading Tim Keller's Reason for God lately. He has a solid insight on the subject.

Socially, Christians are expected to be morally superior to others. They are expected to live by a higher standard, and it's when they fall short of this standard that non-believers throw up their hands and affirm themselves in their atheism. A lot of times atheist claim hypocrisy as their foundation for disbelief. They have countless stories of how the Church and it's believers are so flawed and don't live by Christianity's core principles.

This argument doesn't work for me. Actually, it only further validates the Gospel message.

The Bible teaches not that we have to live a certain way to achieve salvation. It actually teaches that we as humans are all screwed up, and we cannot possibly live perfectly. Keller highlights that: "Jesus came to forgive and save us through his life and death in our place. God's grace does not come to people who morally outperform others, but to those who admit their failure to perform and who acknowledge their need for a Savior."

He didn't came to save those who don't need a Savior. That's like a Doctor coming to heal the healthy. Jesus came to heal the sick. That's why our churches look more like hospitals and less like hallways of the holy.

Now I also believe that those who are truly impacted by Jesus and the cross will begin to take on the life of Jesus. We will start to mimic His characteristics and personality traits. The Cross shouldn't be a get out of jail free card, or a license to do whatever our sinful hearts desire.

But we can't expect this metamorphosis overnight, nor can we justly hold this expectation over each others' heads. We need to truly believe that we and everyone else are sick. In need of a Savior.

Derek Webb states: If our sin is small, our Savior will be small. But if we truly believe our sin is great, we will see the greatness of our Savior.

Romans 3:23 - all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.

Believe that, and we will find ourselves spending less time pointing out the flaws in others, and more time rejoicing in the beautiful gift of the cross.

And who knows, maybe this will lead to us dying to our nasty characteristics and taking on more appealing ones. Characteristics of Jesus.

It will also lead us to showing grace to others when we are deeply offended by their iniquities...

Through the Cross I can hope to get better at this, cause Lord knows I need a reminder everyday.

Faith that Works

Tonight at Bible study we talked about Faith and Works. We looked at two passages of scripture - one focusing on Faith being the principle of 'The Way', the other focusing on the importance of works.

A lot of people will say that Faith and Works are polar opposites of each other. Maybe even that the two passages we discussed are contradictory. A year ago I would tell you that we are fully justified by faith - faith in the Gospel and that it's by Jesus' death on the Cross that we are reunited with the Father. I would tell you that Works are a way towards legalism and a life of constant judgmental survey.

What I'm learning more and more is that the two are designed to work in unity. A divine marriage of sorts.

I still hold to the promise that we are fully saved by grace through faith. Our faith is a gift that we cannot earn or merit. But what's so important and what I think we so often miss is that faith without works isn't really faith at all. Faith without works is spiritual insurance.

If we are truly impacted by the beauty of the Cross - the beauty and the offensiveness - we wouldn't be able to help but live a life of 'works'. A life totally dedicated and lived to glorify God. A life that makes Him smile.

I also believe that we are to become Christlike. This has always been sort of cliche for me. I claim the truth of our Christlike ascension, but then get on with my day. What in the heck does it mean? Are we to literally heal the lame and feed the masses? I think what this means is that through our faith and spiritual journey, we will actually begin to take on the personality of Christ. Our selfish ways will die to the humility, grace, love, etc of Jesus.

Our hearts will break for what His breaks for. We will truly desire for His Kingdom to come. Our importance will start to lie less in who we are or what we do, and more on how to pour out the love that we've received.

I believe when we are spiritually reborn we become babies. Clumsy, infantile in thought, and helpless. From there we grow into spiritual teenagers, then young adults. The pinnacle of this is Christ. I don't think we can ever reach this pinnacle, but we can most definitely get closer.

Now don't get me wrong, it's not all about surveying where you are in this journey. That actually has nothing to do with it. Self-reflection isn't a bad thing, but it's not THE thing.

The imprisonment of self-reflection is avoided by focusing on the Cross, and letting your cup runneth over. Being truly impacted by the gift at Calvary.

It's really simple. Just focus on the Cross and let everything else follow.

James 1:27 says "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."


The Cross is the cause. James 1:27 is the effect.

So what's your story?

I heard someone reminiscing about a friend who had recently passed away. There were actually several people reminiscing about this friend, who I did not know. They went into great detail about how he had these massive hands, and how they remember getting lost in this guy's bear-hugs. He sounded like a great listener who deeply cared about his friends. It made me wish I had met this guy.

That got me thinking. What would people say if they were reminiscing about me? What would my story be?

My hope is that people would say I lived life to the fullest. Seizing every opportunity to have fun - and to live. Most importantly I would hope people would say, "Man, that guy loved Jesus. You could tell by how he treated the people he was surrounded by".

Words I wouldn't want to be used: self-centered, complainer, or boring.

I don't think we should walk around worrying about what people think about us. This can be consuming and a lot of times I think it can lead to self-fulfilling prophesy. It's a very trapped way to live. There's no freedom there.

Maybe it means we should live by example. This may be watching how a mentor or friend loves on people, or looking at the way Jesus lived.

Paul gives us a pretty good mantra in Colossians. Colossians 3:12 says:

"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience"


In verse 13 he says we should also forgive one another, as we have been forgiven. I think the most important part of verse 12 is that we are holy and beloved. Beloved is one of my favorite words. It totally encompasses who we are in Christ. Totally and fully beloved. The dearest to His heart. Jesus climbed down from his heavenly ladder to show us this. Totally manifested on the Cross.

A lot of times when I talk to people going through a hard time what I hear isn't that their situation or circumstances are tough. What I hear is that they don't understand that they are beloved. They are fully loved and accepted just as they are.

Once we begin to truly believe we are beloved, the compassionate heart will follow. It will pour out and overflow in our daily conversations and interactions. It takes the emphasis off ourselves, and gives us a chance to live outwardly.

This is a lot easier said than done. Especially when we are constantly being lied to about this truth. We are told that we need to work harder and be better people. We get entangled in the world and how we measure up.

That's a bunch of crap. Come as you are - beloved. The rest will follow.

Christ's Passion... for you

For the past 4 months I've been reading Tim Keller's King's Cross. At the rate I'm going I read two pages per day. This has nothing to do with the quality of the book or it being able to keep my attention. My less than speedy reading is chalked up to being busy and lack of time management. Ever time I pick the book up I reel off 10-20 pages.

The cool part of taking this long to read the book is that it seems I've read certain parts at just the right time. At the exact moment that I need to hear a certain truth, this book has delivered. It's no replacement of the Bible, but a good supplement. Check it out.

So today I read a 30-40 page block that walks through Mark's version of the crucifixion. Keller does a fantastic job of stepping through the scripture step-by-step, and he adds commentary that brings so much color and context to the story (not that it needs it).

He starts by talking about the garden of Gethsemane and Jesus' time there. This is where Jesus first feels a glimpse of the separation from the Father  - the same separation that He will feel in full force the following day. Jesus prays, "If it's your will, take this cup from me". Keller adds that the metaphor of cup is historically referred to as God's wrath in the Old Testament. Jesus is starting to feel God's wrath of all mankind in the garden. 

Jesus is putting himself through this excruciating pain for us. In order to bring reconciliation between us and the Father. Keller also refers to how painful this must have felt to Jesus. Think of the most important relationship in your life - maybe a spouse, parent, child, or lifelong friend. Now think about walking around the corner to see this person totally mutilated. Immediate separation. Now think about how Jesus must have felt - His relationship with the father goes back to eternity. He chose to bear our cross and endure our sentence of separation. He did this for you...

There are a lot of other awesome details that Keller highlights and expounds on. I'll jump to the crucifixion to save time, and to hopefully encourage you to read the book...

Fast forward to Jesus on the Cross.

Mark writes that complete darkness fell from the 6th to the 9th hour of the day while Jesus was on the Cross. This is amazing for two reasons. One - complete darkness. He's not talking about a brief eclipse or a dark night. We're talking total darkness. One of the only other times complete darkness is mentioned in scripture is when the Israelites are in Egypt and the plague of darkness occurs. Two - It's believed that this 3 hour period (from noon to 3 PM) is the time of Jesus' full separation from the Father. For three hours He's shouldering the sin of mankind. He steps in to take the punishment that we deserve, only our punishment would last eternity. Imagine the grief and sorrow Jesus would feel if He experienced all of ONE man's lifetime burdens over a three hour period. Now multiply that by all of mankind. That's heavy.

The last amazing detail I'll share is in regards to the Roman Centurion who is overseeing Christ's crucifixion. After Jesus screams 'My God, why have you forsaken me' and breaths his final breath, the Centurion states 'Clearly He is the Son of God'. At face value this isn't all to crazy. But what we don't hear in the scripture is that the Centurion is the first person, other than Jesus, to give Jesus a title of deity. The disciples who lived with Jesus would call Him the Christ, or Messiah. Jewish belief didn't necessarily give the Messiah a deity connotation. Pretty cool huh? Furthermore, think about who the Centurion was. He's a man who has seen countless deaths, and been the facilitator of all of them. He knows death and is familiar with how people die. He's probably a very hard-hearted man who at this point isn't affected by death. He's also Roman, and would only dare give a deity title to Caesar. 

All that being said, from the short time he knew Jesus and experienced His death, he felt he was in the presence of God. And had the guts to call it out.

That's amazing to me. But not nearly as amazing that Jesus went through all of this pain and torture with a stiff lip. For me. To bail me out of a crime I could in no way get out of. Talk about feeling the love. 

This gave me so much peace and rest today. I think I've repeated the above 3 times tonight to other interns and staff. This refreshing perspective has come at a perfect time too. With distractions and frustrations looming, I needed to hear how Jesus loves me. 

And He loves you too.

Bible Reading for Dummies (that's me)

If you're anything like me you read the bible either as preparation for a specific bible study or you use the 'drop and flop' method. Drop and flop is a phenomenon where you read what you first flip to (a very technical and advanced concept).

Drop and flop is great because it can spawn sentences such as 'God pointed me to this scripture today'. It's also great because it's an incredibly easy and non-committal method of reading the bible. BUT -  I think it's only suited for certain people, and I've recently come to find out that I'm not in this category.

I suffer from what some call terrible reading comprehension. To make matters even worse my lack of ability to retain words is most magnified when reading scripture. All this said I probably should have attended the speed reading class my mom signed me up for in high school. Turns out I was way more interested in going to the beach and wakeboarding than sitting in a classroom learning about 'reading in blocks'.

A few months ago we talked about how to read scripture in bible study. At first I was a little taken aback by this topic. Why would a group of people who work for a Christian ministry need to learn how to read the bible? It's like mandatory defensive driving classes for NASCAR drivers. Turns out our discussion that night would drastically change the way I read the bible.

The first discipline we discussed was taking notes while studying God's word. I've found that even if I don't go back and look at my notes, the act of writing down my thoughts and certain verses helped the concepts stick.

Secondly, we talked about doing historical research on the particular book we were studying. I think this was the biggest help for me, as it adds so much more context and relevancy when actually reading the scripture.

Some other tips were to ask/answer the questions 'What was the author trying to convey in this passage?' and 'What does this passage mean specifically to me?'. Again, writing down the responses/answers.

I've also started to answer the following questions when reading a book of the Bible (this may also cover the first principle)...

Who wrote the book?
Where was it written?
Who was it written to?
When was it written?
What was going on historically in the geographic proximity of the story?
Why was the book written?

The first book I tried this out on was Galatians. I think Galatians is a great book to use this for, as it has so much background and storyline that we don't really get from solely reading the scriptures (my opinion).

If drop and flop works great for you - that's awesome. However, you should probably go to the beach and do some wakeboarding to make up for the lost time you spent in speed reading class. But if you find yourself trying to remember what the heck you just read - maybe give the above a shot. It might help.

Thank you Jesus for the Cross. I need to meet You there daily.