share

hello all,
it's been a while. i hope this means as much to as it has to me since i learned it...

did you know there are tribes around the world who do not have a word for "mine," but only for "ours." that seemed so foreign to me, and in a way (after thinking about it for a while now) it still does, but it also has become a beautiful idea to me. here in america, it's all about me, me, me.

i have a new car.

that ipod is mine.

that $5 is mine, don't touch it.

mine, mine, mine...

so much of our life revolves around what "i" have and need and want that it becomes the goal of a persons life to acquire as much stuff as they can, so that we may claim it as "mine." and lately, that hasn't been sitting well with me...

it is becoming more and more clear to me that this stuff shouldn't matter, and that what we do have should be tools used to further the kingdom of God. if this is true then why do we even bother to worry about "mineness?" in act 2.42-47 it says that the early believers worked together and shared all they had so that all their needs were met.

how beautiful is that? a group of people sharing whatever they had to so that nobody went without. a very well known story displays the beauty and good that can come from sharing and not worrying about what is "mine." this story is the feeding of the multitude with the bread and the fish. of course, the miracle performed in this story is great, but we can learn so much from the boy who offered the bread and the fish. this boy heard that there was a need for food that day, and rather than going and eating before others could ask him for his food, he offers it to jesus (probably thinking that it would not make much of a difference). but because he saw the need of the community there, the other followers of christ, the "our" christ was able to feed 5000 people.

the things christ would be able ot do if we could just let go of worrying about what is "mine" would be fantastic, but to often that doesn't happen. the idea of "mine" is destroying people (christians especially) everyday. what would happen if we viewed all we had as belonging to the body of Christ. if we as followers of christ do away with this, then who knows what christ could multiply and do with it.

maybe we should be begin to move away from "mineness" and begin the process of learning to view all as "ours" so that none must go without...

paths

i remember as a child going on vacation with my parents and brother. for some reason i was content just sitting there looking out the window, but occasionally i would see something out in front of us a few miles away (usually a rather large bridge that i thought would be some emotional experience to be on top of it) and get really excited. i would look at the road we were on and try to figure out whether or not it would lead us to this wonderful place ahead. my excitement would build and build, but then . . . we would turn and go in a different direction than i wanted to go.

i think we, as christians, get that way about life. the path we are on is long and ever-changing one, and many of us, while on our paths, see something ahead of us and our eyes widen and our spirits lift. we begin to tell others of the future that is rushing towards us (maybe a new job, a job, or what you believe to be gods purpose for you is). we push harder and harder towards a future that we our sure god has in store for us, only to be devastated when the path takes a sharp turn in another direction.

at times like those we like we have missed out, like we did something to cause us to miss gods call for out life, like it was our one shot and we missed it because the path took an unexpected turn. but do we ever stop to think that maybe god puts things in our sights to keep us moving down the path he has laid out for us and trust that he will bring us to our ultimate purpose in life, whether it be what we thought it was or not? the problem with us is that we are arrogant enough to think we can fully understand what god wants to do with us.

this is what i am learning . . .

i am learning that i'm not sure what i'm "supposed" to with my life, but i'm going to keep running toward what god has put in front of me until that changes (and then i run towards what he puts in front of me next).

i am learning that life is a journey, and, when our path takes a sharp turn, it's not the end of it but the beginning of a beautiful new chapter.

you see, our paths are not always straight or easy. sometimes they're uphill and downhill, rocky and dangerous, mucky and mirey, but, regardless of its difficulty . . .

the path you are on will alway take you where you are supposed to go . . .

just curious

so i was wondering, if this week we found a new gospel that resembled the others but didn't include:

the genealogy of jesus
the nativity of jesus
the baptism of jesus
the temptation of jesus
any parables
something resembling the "sermon on the mount"
any exorcisms
the transfiguration of jesus
the triumphal entry into jerusalem
the institution the eucharist
the kiss of judas
if the words "faith", "repent", "forgiveness", "gospel", or "compassion" did not appear in it
if there was no mention of "eternal sin"
the lord's prayer

would you consider it as a legitimate gospel that gave us more insight into the life of christ? would you consider letting it be added to the cannon of scripture? why or why not?

...im just curious

pray

breathe in me, holy spirit
that my thoughts may be holy
act in me, holy spirit
that my works may be holy
draw me, holy spirit
that i may love what is holy
strengthen me, holy spirit
to defend what is holy
gaurd me now, holy spirit
so that i may always be holy
-prayer of st. augustine

take some time to soak that in.

pray it.

meditate on it.

believe it.

humanity

there is a line of thought that has been circulating in the modern evangelical church for some time now that doesn't sit well with me. much of what churches do today is focused on "saving someone's soul". many churches think this way because the line of thought mentioned above is a skewed dichotomy of humanity. many have abandoned the "unity of humanity" for a gnostic-like view (gnostics hold that matter is evil, and spiritual things are good).

let me explain myself. a huge amount of Christians have this ridiculous idea that only the spiritual is good and all matter is evil (you can see this reflected in much of the churches language i.e. escaping to heaven, "saving souls", etc.), that the soul is worth saving but the body isn't. many have accepted this philosophy without even taking the time to findout what scripture has to say on the matter. after taking the time to find out what scripture says about this we'll see that simply "saving someone's soul" is not biblical or holistic.

many read the beginning of Genesis simply as how thing happened in the beginning, but, sadly, much of the time we don't stop to see the beautiful intentionality of the author. i specifically would like us to look at the creation of adam. it is in these verses that we can learn so much about what it looks likes to "save" someone.

in Genesis 2:4-7 we find god creating adam. the text tells us that god made adam from the dust (dirt) of the earth, that we were made from the stuff of earth. the author of Genesis is telling us that we have an affinity with the earth, that we are earth bound, that god took inanimate earth stuff, which he had already declared good, and began to fashion it into his image. the idea of man as a only a "spiritual" being that has no affinity with the world is simply not biblical.

shortly afterwards, the text tells us that god breath life into adams nostrils, and "he became a living creature"(ESV). god fashioned an inanimate, image bearing thing and then breathed life into it, and this is where many get confused. many view this as god "giving" adam a soul, but adam wasn't given a soul. adam was ultimately made with the breath of god, and adam wasn't given a soul, he was made a soul. it is that we find the beauty of this passage. the beauty is that the body and soul are one. we don't have a soul, we are a soul. people don't have a soul, they are a soul.

it is that mentioned above that makes christ's ministry of healing the sick much more meaningful. believing that the body and soul are really one makes is difficult to just "save a persons soul", doesn't it? the thing is that we cannot simply save the soul becuase it is one with the body. we cannot save some someone spiritually without also saving this physically. the body and soul are not a dichotomy, but a unity. to save one we must also save the other.

what we must learn is that getting someone to pray a prayer and sit in a pew once a week is not saving them! the problem is we have been offering extasy, not transformation. biblical outreach is telling people about jesus while you are offering a hand up, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, or loving the orphan. Christ went about healing the body and the soul as one, offering people a hand out of the situations that they were in. that is saving someone biblically and holistically.

maybe "saving" is much different than we thought.

maybe "saving" someone is much more than just getting someone to pray a prayer.

maybe it's much more beautiful...

so i had to read a book for "Modern World" this week called Mrs. Dalloway. i don't know what it is about this book, but i think all should run to the nearest bookstore, buy this book, and read it. just thought i would throw that out there. hope you guys enjoy.

dreams

i have to be honest and say that i am guilty of something. it is something that i think all of us do at some point in our lives, if we are a part of some great movement of revolution. choosing to place my faith in christ and join this revolution of love is the best decision that i have ever made, but, on the other side, falling so in love with my dreams that i began to leave christ out of the equation is the worst decision that i could have ever made.

jonathan wilson-hartgrove said, "it is very east to fall in love with the great things, whether we are revolutionaries or church strategists. but we must never fall in love with our vision or five-year plan. we must never fall in love with the 'revolution' or 'movement'. we can easily become so genuinely driven by our vision for church growth, community or social justice that we forget the little things, like caring for those among us."

it is a dangerous thing to fall in love with the dream and let it eclipse the love you have for christ. we all have our dreams and aspirations, but, as followers of christ, we must aknowledge that it was christ who gave us those dreams to begin with. it is east to let your heart slip away from what is most important. it is easy to love your dreams of building that homeless shelter so much that you neglect the homeless you pass by every day. it is easy to love your dreams of going to another country to love and teach the gospel so much that you forget that you are to do it right now where you are. it is easy to fall in love with the revolution.

dietrich bonhoeffer points out in his book Life Together that it is the one who loves his dream of communty that destroys it, and it is the one who loves those around them, here and now, that realizes that dream and brings it about. you see, it is when the dream becomes the object of our love and devotion, leaving christ out of the picture, that we are actually destroying the dream that means so much us.

i understand that we must begin to work and look towards that dream here and now, but it is here and now that we must begin to live and realize that very same dream. it is where we are right now that we must begin to live out that dream that christ has given us. we must make the dream real and tangible, and remember that it is because of christ are seeking to make these dreams a reality.

i am guilty of this, and i'm not proud of it. my love for my dreams eclisped the soul reason for my dream. i hate that i let it happen, but i'm grateful to have realized it now.

let us keep our christ-given dreams, christ-centered.

let us realize that it is by live out our dreams here and now that we realize our dream, and by loving it that we destroy it.

let us love christ more than the dreams he has given us...

things i have been learning

so this was requested by my buddy jeremy on his blog. so here are some things that i have been learning:

that life is hardly ever easy...

that a little bit of love can save the day.

that christ didn't call me to be a good american...but his disciple.

that what i thought i was going to do with my life is not at all what im heading towards now.

that i miss home much more than i ever have in my life.

that i really want to be done with school, but figure i should pay attention because i know too many who regret not payin enough attention.

that every year can't be a good year for my favorite sports teams.

that "things" don't matter...and that there is no point in spending a ridiculous amount of money on clothes for a brand name (who probably use sweat shops)...even if it is magic...

that i can be comfortable in my masculinity and still LOVE twilight.

that i can't wait to be in china for five weeks!

there is probably more but, i can't really think of much right now. hope all is well with you guys.

grace and peace

capacity

capacity- the legal ability to engage in certain acts.

we'll get back to that eventually, but to start with i would like to turn your attention to Luke 14:25-26. this passage was pointed out to me tonight at our sunday night worship service, and hopefully i can do it justice.

in this passage we find a crowd gathered around jesus, and him saying something rather troubling. jesus tells all those around him that they cannot follow him unless they "hate" everyone they hold dear, including their own life. i know that it isn't just me that is bothered by jesus telling that us that. what does that mean? how could jesus say that about the ones i love? now when luke wrote "hate", jesus didn't literally mean hate. it was just a rabbinic and semetic saying of the jews...kind of like us saying we want to kill someone when we are mad at them. we are just exagerating to get the point accross, because we don't really want to "kill" them. aside from that i think there is more to this passage than what we read on surface level.

to start with lets look at the phrase "if anyone comes to me." the original greek is "ei tis erketai pros mei" which is translated literally as "if any come towards me". the word "pros" is the same word used in john's gospel to describe the "word's" relationship with "God", only in john it is translated "with" ("the word was 'with' God"). so if we want to contemporize what jesus is really saying we could say, "if anyone wants to be with me (or go where i go) then you must hate everything dear to you in comparison to how you feel about me or he cannot be my disciple." and that word "cannot" brings me to my next point.

the word "cannot" is the greek verb "dunamai" which is literally translate "he is not able". most of the time when we read this verse we associate the word "cannot" with desire. we read ths verse like it says, "he doesn't really want to be my disciple", but in all actuallity we should read it, "he is not capable of being my disciple." desire is to want to do something, and capacity is to have the "legal ability" to do something. there is a huge difference there! what jesus says at the end of verse 26 has nothing to do with desire, and everything to do with capacity!

what jesus is telling us in this verse is that if we want to be with him and go where he goes, then everything we love here must fail in comparision to how much we love christ, otherwise...we are completely incapable of being his disciple. we all have things that we need to drop, leave behind, and never look back at, because if we don't then it hinders our compacity to even be a disciple of christ. following christ is not cheap, it's not easy, and it doesn't fix everything in your life. what following christ is, is costly, tough, hard, but, most importantly, it is everything we have wanted and more.

so what's hindering your capacity?...