If you're anything like me, you find temporary happiness in the latest 'thing'. That could be a new car, new job, new city, etc. You tell your self 'if only I had this job', or 'if I moved away to this cool city' - everything will be complete. The interesting thing here is that after a few weeks the novelty starts to wear off, and you find yourself with a brand new list of 'if onlys'.
One of the big perks of moving to Colorado was the adventure. Aside from spending a year in the mountains and focusing on my relationship with the Lord, I was certain Colorado would be the ticket to overcoming my state of boredom. I mean I'm basically living every pickup truck TV commercial. My hands are getting tough, I wear a rock climbers harness at work, and I carry a pocket knife at all times. I agree, Colorado is the land of milk and honey, BUT - it's not the cure all. At times I find myself right where I left in Jacksonville.
BUT THIS IS THE BEST NEWS EVER!!
My reoccurring boredom and the 'new' losing its novelty points to one thing. The Cross. We are all created with a void, and that void can only be filled by Christ. For whatever reason we constantly try to fill this void with something other than Christ. It never works, and we always find ourselves let down. It's when I seek joy/identity in Christ that I'm sustained. Christ never loses His novelty - I lose focus. The below verse gives me insight as to who I am and what I've been made to do.
1 Peter 2:9 - But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Jesus vs The Economy
Today at church the pastor went through Mark 5. It's in Mark 5 that Jesus drives thousands of demons out of a man. The demons then beg Jesus for permission to enter into a herd of pigs. Jesus obliges, and the demon possessed pigs run down a hill to drown themselves in a lake.
I've recently read this passage on my own, and was frustrated with the part when the pigs died. Not because it was inhumane for the pigs to die, but because these pigs belonged to someone. The passage states that the pigs were two thousand in number. Can you imagine a modern-day farmer losing two thousand pigs in one fell swoop? Now think about how it must have affected the local economy 2000 years ago. Must have been an epic blow to the owner's livelihood as well as the local economy. That would be the equivalent to half of Delta's plane fleet being demolished by a hurricane. The corporation itself, as well as Atlanta, would be in pretty bad shape. Who would allow something like that to happen?
The scripture shows that the local people felt the same way I did about their porky loss. They begged Jesus to leave the area.
Today I realized that I'm missing the point.
When I originally read the passage on my own, I wasn't really affected by the demon possessed man who was healed. My thought was, 'Hmmm, man is healed from two thousand demons.... TWO THOUSAND PIGS WERE KILLED'!
I'm pretty sure heaven's reaction was vastly different. Probably went more like, 'ALLELUIA, A MAN HAS BEEN SAVED! oh yeah, a few pigs caught the brunt-end... But he's healed!!
God is so in love with us that one man's soul is far and away more important than the local economy. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if God values one man's soul over the global economy.
See parable of lost coin, prodigal son, etc...
How do our priorities line up with that? Do we care more about a random person's well-being or our 401(k)?
I'm not trying to sound irrational, nor am I saying we should abandon economy and commerce. Just food for thought.
Fast forward two chapters... Jesus returns to the exact same area He had previously been begged to leave. He heals a deaf man. Four thousand people then flock to Him. Jesus feeds them all with 7 loaves of bread and a few small fish. Talk about a picnic.
You say something about some pigs?
I've recently read this passage on my own, and was frustrated with the part when the pigs died. Not because it was inhumane for the pigs to die, but because these pigs belonged to someone. The passage states that the pigs were two thousand in number. Can you imagine a modern-day farmer losing two thousand pigs in one fell swoop? Now think about how it must have affected the local economy 2000 years ago. Must have been an epic blow to the owner's livelihood as well as the local economy. That would be the equivalent to half of Delta's plane fleet being demolished by a hurricane. The corporation itself, as well as Atlanta, would be in pretty bad shape. Who would allow something like that to happen?
The scripture shows that the local people felt the same way I did about their porky loss. They begged Jesus to leave the area.
Today I realized that I'm missing the point.
When I originally read the passage on my own, I wasn't really affected by the demon possessed man who was healed. My thought was, 'Hmmm, man is healed from two thousand demons.... TWO THOUSAND PIGS WERE KILLED'!
I'm pretty sure heaven's reaction was vastly different. Probably went more like, 'ALLELUIA, A MAN HAS BEEN SAVED! oh yeah, a few pigs caught the brunt-end... But he's healed!!
God is so in love with us that one man's soul is far and away more important than the local economy. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if God values one man's soul over the global economy.
See parable of lost coin, prodigal son, etc...
How do our priorities line up with that? Do we care more about a random person's well-being or our 401(k)?
I'm not trying to sound irrational, nor am I saying we should abandon economy and commerce. Just food for thought.
Fast forward two chapters... Jesus returns to the exact same area He had previously been begged to leave. He heals a deaf man. Four thousand people then flock to Him. Jesus feeds them all with 7 loaves of bread and a few small fish. Talk about a picnic.
You say something about some pigs?
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Grizzly Lake
Today the 3 roommates and I hiked up to a mountain lake called Grizzly Lake. It was about a 45 minute drive to the trail head, and then an hour and 15 minute hike. The drive was up a 4x4 jeep road. The FJ took care of business.
The hike was incredible! 3 miles with over 1200 ft in elevation gain. It seemed like we hiked through several different ecosystems. At the beginning it was a cobblestone stream in the alpine evergreens. We were surrounded by Christmas trees. As we approached the tree line our surroundings turned to large snow covered rocks. Right before we arrived to the lake we were in 8-10 inches of powder, similar to ski terrain.
The lake was amazing. It looked as though God carved out the lake with an ice cream scoop. Grizzly lake is surrounded by 2000 ft cliffs on all sides, with the south end being a stadium of evergreen trees. The south bowl almost looks like a mountain church of sorts, with the lake being the pulpit. There's a snowmelt aisle and evergreen pews. See the picture below...
I'm becoming more and more captivated by the scenery out here. It's much easier to find my mountainside for solitude when everywhere you look is a landscape painting. Solitude is key, especially when you're constantly surrounded by community. You'll notice that Jesus finds his 'mountainside' after being in large crowds for an extended period.
Being out here for only a month has already changed my perspective a lot. Life is simple and God is good.
The hike was incredible! 3 miles with over 1200 ft in elevation gain. It seemed like we hiked through several different ecosystems. At the beginning it was a cobblestone stream in the alpine evergreens. We were surrounded by Christmas trees. As we approached the tree line our surroundings turned to large snow covered rocks. Right before we arrived to the lake we were in 8-10 inches of powder, similar to ski terrain.
The lake was amazing. It looked as though God carved out the lake with an ice cream scoop. Grizzly lake is surrounded by 2000 ft cliffs on all sides, with the south end being a stadium of evergreen trees. The south bowl almost looks like a mountain church of sorts, with the lake being the pulpit. There's a snowmelt aisle and evergreen pews. See the picture below...
I'm becoming more and more captivated by the scenery out here. It's much easier to find my mountainside for solitude when everywhere you look is a landscape painting. Solitude is key, especially when you're constantly surrounded by community. You'll notice that Jesus finds his 'mountainside' after being in large crowds for an extended period.
Being out here for only a month has already changed my perspective a lot. Life is simple and God is good.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Air Force and Jesus
I should first start this post by saying we are all wretched sinners - every single one of us. It's only by God's grace that we are saved. There is nothing we can do in our 'walk' with the Lord to save ourselves from eternal damnation. It's a free gift, and you don't even have to pay shipping and handling. Romans 3:23-24 says,
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Something a lot of Christians struggle with is the free grace of God, but then this expectation of living a life that resembles that of Jesus Christ. Perfection. How does it all fit? Lately I've heard a lot about a grace provoked obedience. Basically somebody does you a HUGE favor. The response to said favor is to treat them well and honor them. You treating that person well didn't purchase the favor, it's simple cause and effect.
<Enter the part where I relate the above to cleaning up after 350 campers>
Discipline drives excellence.
Last week we had 250 freshman from the Air Force Academy. The group is part of the Air Force's Christian outreach program (I'm almost certain it isn't funded by the gov't). The group was great, and you could tell they lived very disciplined lives.
Each Sunday the campers 'help' us clean camp by stripping beds and folding clean sheets/blankets in a specific way. Camp lingo for this phenomenon is 'folding bed packs'. I'm generous when I say we typically have a 2% success rate of camper folded bed packs. This means the camp staff gets to go behind each camper to correctly fold the sheets. We re-fold bed packs in between vacuuming and cleaning bathrooms (see: Warrior Princesses below).
Air Force freshman were greatly different than other groups. First of all, their bed pack success rate was at least 60%. It was absolutely amazing to see how well these guys folded bed packs. We give each camper a page long description of how a bed pack should be folded, so it's not completely straight forward.
Even more amazing than their greater success rate was when one of the Air Force cadets saw us correct his bed pack. The cadet walked up to the intern who fixed his mistake and asked what needed correction. Our intern then showed the cadet how to correctly fold the bed pack. The cadet then unfolded the now correctly folded bed pack and refolded it with his newly found instruction. He will never need to know this skill ever again in his life, but he still wanted to adhere to the level of excellence that's expected of him. Pretty amazing huh? What would it look like if we brought this level of discipline to our faith?
Proverbs 1:1-7 talks a lot about knowledge and wisdom. I think a healthy dose of discipline will greatly help in becoming more like Christ.
1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;
for understanding words of insight;
3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to those who are simple,[a]
knowledge and discretion to the young—
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,
and let the discerning get guidance—
6 for understanding proverbs and parables,
the sayings and riddles of the wise.[b]
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools[c] despise wisdom and instruction.
All of the above is great and we can only receive things like wisdom, insight, prudence, etc by the grace of God. However, I don't think we should expect them by osmosis. This is where the grace-driven obedience comes to play. It's the response to the favor.
But remember, our good deeds are still tainted. Isaiah 64:6 says,
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Something a lot of Christians struggle with is the free grace of God, but then this expectation of living a life that resembles that of Jesus Christ. Perfection. How does it all fit? Lately I've heard a lot about a grace provoked obedience. Basically somebody does you a HUGE favor. The response to said favor is to treat them well and honor them. You treating that person well didn't purchase the favor, it's simple cause and effect.
<Enter the part where I relate the above to cleaning up after 350 campers>
Discipline drives excellence.
Last week we had 250 freshman from the Air Force Academy. The group is part of the Air Force's Christian outreach program (I'm almost certain it isn't funded by the gov't). The group was great, and you could tell they lived very disciplined lives.
Each Sunday the campers 'help' us clean camp by stripping beds and folding clean sheets/blankets in a specific way. Camp lingo for this phenomenon is 'folding bed packs'. I'm generous when I say we typically have a 2% success rate of camper folded bed packs. This means the camp staff gets to go behind each camper to correctly fold the sheets. We re-fold bed packs in between vacuuming and cleaning bathrooms (see: Warrior Princesses below).
Air Force freshman were greatly different than other groups. First of all, their bed pack success rate was at least 60%. It was absolutely amazing to see how well these guys folded bed packs. We give each camper a page long description of how a bed pack should be folded, so it's not completely straight forward.
Even more amazing than their greater success rate was when one of the Air Force cadets saw us correct his bed pack. The cadet walked up to the intern who fixed his mistake and asked what needed correction. Our intern then showed the cadet how to correctly fold the bed pack. The cadet then unfolded the now correctly folded bed pack and refolded it with his newly found instruction. He will never need to know this skill ever again in his life, but he still wanted to adhere to the level of excellence that's expected of him. Pretty amazing huh? What would it look like if we brought this level of discipline to our faith?
Proverbs 1:1-7 talks a lot about knowledge and wisdom. I think a healthy dose of discipline will greatly help in becoming more like Christ.
1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;
for understanding words of insight;
3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
doing what is right and just and fair;
4 for giving prudence to those who are simple,[a]
knowledge and discretion to the young—
5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,
and let the discerning get guidance—
6 for understanding proverbs and parables,
the sayings and riddles of the wise.[b]
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools[c] despise wisdom and instruction.
All of the above is great and we can only receive things like wisdom, insight, prudence, etc by the grace of God. However, I don't think we should expect them by osmosis. This is where the grace-driven obedience comes to play. It's the response to the favor.
But remember, our good deeds are still tainted. Isaiah 64:6 says,
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
Picture from Agnes Vail falls... Yup, it's snowing in October.
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