Part 1 of 3: The Beginning of the Beginning

(All images in this blog post gathered from Google Image Search)

Born into the world like any other human being, He lay there in the straw that starry night. Upon His arrival, blurred visions clouded His undeveloped, just opened eyes. Reaching for Him, He felt the warm, comforting grasp of His mother's arms and He realized all will be okay. But there was something different about this baby boy that made Him very much unlike any other human being. He was part man and part God. There isn't a more beautiful story of a beginning to anything. It's quite poetic, historical, and jaw dropping all in one.

 I wonder if He knew that His real Father was above instantly at birth, or did that come later on in a dream/vision/direct contact of sorts? Either way this is the beginning of the story of the Savior of this world named Jesus. Yes this is a real story. If you can believe that George Washington was our first president based on historical texts out of books bound the same way the Bible is bound, then you can believe in Jesus. None of you were there for Washington's inauguration as none of you were there during Jesus's time so it takes faith to believe in each account. So what's the difference? What's so special about Jesus that makes Him different from Washington or Honest Abe?

The story of Jesus has changed the world. Period. The story of Gandhi is a great one. It is a good story and lesson on non-violence and how to win a war without fighting but instead standing firm on what you believe in. I encourage all of you to go and watch the movie Gandhi. Its a great movie and he was a great man. But that was it, he was just a great man and not a god, just a man. Another one is Muhammed. Yes, although a "prophet", he also was no god, but a man. So what makes Jesus different than everyone else in the history of this world? He claimed to be one with God the Father. That is what started this whole debacle right at, to right over, 2,000 years ago. Let's look at a brief summary of the importance of this week in history shall we? This is a loose schedule and some scholars argue its one way and some argue another, but all in all this is pretty accurate.

Day One- This was known as Palm Sunday. This is the day that Jesus arrived into the city of Jerusalem for the Jewish festival known as Passover. He fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 that stated loosely that Jesus would arrive on a donkey into the city.

Day Two- Jesus gets angry and turns over the tables in the temple. During Passover, as like every single holiday of America today, the Jewish people market the Passover to make a prophet by offering currency exchange as well as selling animals for the Jews to sacrifice to God during these days. As He should, Jesus enters into the temple very angry turning over merchant tables and obviously frustrated makes this statement. "The Scriptures declare, 'My Temple will be a house of prayer,' but you have turned it into a den of thieves." (Luke 19:46). This obviously caught some attention.

Day Three- Mainly Jesus travels to the Mount of Olives to share several famous parables to His disciples. Also it is believed that this day was the one in which Judas started his negotiations with the Sanhedrin to betray Jesus.

Day Four- Interesting day here. The Bible doesn't say much about this day really. Many scholars speculate that Jesus remained silent on this day because He was rather exhausted. Many believed He spent this day with His disciples in the town of Bethany right near Jerusalem. This is where Lazurus, whom Jesus raised from the dead, and his two sisters Mary and Martha resided. This day is nicknamed as "Silent Wednesday".

Day Five- This is the day the infamous Passover feast takes place between Jesus and His followers. Here Jesus demonstrates how they should remember Him and also shares the news that this will be His last meal with His disciples but that they not need be afraid for what's ahead. This is also called the Lord's Supper, or Communion. Much more can be written about the significance of this meal, but for your sake and in the interest of promptness, we will leave it there for now. Jesus leaves this scene and heads to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus makes His prayer and plea to the Father above, and also this is when Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss before His arrest. Peter tells Jesus he will never betray Him but in the late hours of the night and into the early hours of the morning, while Jesus is being judged by the High Priest and the rest of the council, Peter does deny Christ three times.

For now, since this is still Thursday (welll, pretty much haha) and "Good Friday" isn't until tomorrow, I will stop the timeline here. Let's reflect shortly on these events. These events were prophesied about in the Old Testament before they even occurred mostly. Days 1-4 are significant mainly because they all have lessons that we can learn from them. Yes they are significant in the interest of history as of what they lead up to and what they offer in themselves as the story of Jesus, but also think about what we can get from each of these days.

Day 1: Look at the prophecies of the Old Testament and see how they are all fulfilled in the New Testament. That's humanly improbable, but that's why it took someone not human to fulfill them.
Day 2: What can we learn from Jesus's acts displayed in the temple? Why did He get so mad? And what can we learn from this event to apply to our everyday lives? Hey sometimes, its okay to get a little frustrated.
Day 3: What's so important about being silent and resting like He did? Should He have rested? This day was not as much significant for Jerusalem I bet but rather Bethany where I'm sure many came to know Christ in this town.
Day 4: Okay, so I eat a little nasty cracker and drink lukewarm grape juice out of a plastic cup no one ever knows what to do with when its over. So, why is this SO significant to Christians? This is one of the ceremonies that no matter how contemporary the church, it sticks? Why was this feast and this moment so life changing? And what does it all mean for us?

I hate giving questions in my blog posts unless they are rhetorical  But these days are just so packed with information I cannot possibly relay the meaning to all of this to you and especially when, as long as the facts are correct, many of you can get out of this story so many different things on so many different personal levels. Maybe your struggling from talking too much and going overboard and just haven't taken that time to be silent for a day like Jesus did. Maybe your sweat is piling up about some unknown issue like Jesus felt on that day in the Garden. Or maybe you needed some more understanding and this will encourage you to read more going forward. Either way, I hope some people got something out of this post. It will probably be my longest one yet! As you may recall from the title, this is only Part 1 of a series of 3 posts with Easter being the final one on Sunday. I will finish the chronology then and hopefully offer some more interesting information from my noodle on those two posts because I know this one was rather dry and factual, but essential still. Watch for Part 2 tomorrow!

You'll Never Stop Loving Us, No Matter How Far We Run

Photo Credit: http://mindfulbalance.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/running-away-2.jpg

     It isn't just our choice, we don't wake up and choose it, and for sure we don't want to live our lives this way but it is our inherent nature to turn away from God. Our souls and inner beings are naturally evil. I don't mean supervillan evil but instead worldly evil. We don't naturally turn to God but instead turn away from Him daily. Living in this success, money and power driven culture we are taught that the absence of God is okay. We don't need Him to function daily which is why in our schedules there seems to be an absence of Him. Think of it as running a race. The finish line is there, but we are constantly running the opposite direction away from God naturally and we pile so much stuff on our plates it makes it seem okay that God isn't there.


When we wake up and start our day the world is on our minds for the most of us. Here's your average adult schedule:

6: Wake up
6:15: Really wake up
7-8: Get ready for work/breakfast/kids/be at work
8-9 to 5-6: Work
5-8ish: Supper/Kids/Getting home/sports/chores/homework
Around 9ish-Slowly start the zombie relaxed mode and into me time. Some don't get me time because some are on the move straight until bed.

Okay so that's tentative and sloppy and it's different with everyone but can't you see some reflection of your schedule in that mix? I know I can. What's so disheartening is that within the schedule, where did I make room for God?

I know it is a lot to ask to try and add an additional outlet to our busy schedules but I mean if we are Christians, God has to be in there somewhere. We have to make room for God. When we get home or even when we wake up. At SOME point, we have to make room for Him. If God sent His son, a human being just like you and me, who suffered offering up His life for the sake to save our petty, undeserving human souls then we can't even give Him 15 minutes? Has America grabbed us and brainwashed us so much that God isn't a part of our schedule anymore? Yeah, His ministry is my life but I am not perfect and never claimed to be. I mess up and there are some days where I guess I believe I don't have time, or don't make time rather, for God and I promise you those days are a lot less fulfilling then the days I do choose Him. I think it makes sense though. Even though as I mentioned earlier our nature is to run away from God, when we choose God, it makes Him smile and He blesses us with that sense of fulfillment. I think God is saying, "I choose you everyday because you don't understand my love for you, and when you choose me, I share it with you." That right there is the most beautiful depiction in our whole universe. I snatched the title of this post from one of Chris Tomlin/Passion's new album songs called "God's Great Dance Floor". The line is simply what the post title says it is. Its amazing that no matter how many days we wake up and make no time for Him, how many times we turn against God and run our own way (which, people, our own way is the wrong way) that He still opens His arms and NEVER stops loving us. How many people do you know that would still love you constantly even when on a daily basis you stab them in the back? The answer is 0. Just think about that right there. That is a comforting and amazing view of God and his unfailing love for us when we for sure deserve nothing like that due to how many times we turn our backs on Him.

End of Post Prayer:
Thank you God that your judgement isn't like that of ours because if you weren't God, you would've been done with us humans a LONG time ago. Thank you so much for putting up with my backstabbing, sinning and constant failure. Thank you God that you never stop loving me, no matter how far I run.

Not Our Calling, Our Commandment

     

     How will the world change? We know the world around us isn't exactly in tip top shape. Granted the world has never been in tip top shape and most likely never will be. Why is that? It is because we are sitting back and complaining instead of actually doing anything about it. The world is on a downhill slope towards decay and devastation. The group that needs to be leading this revolution of thought and change is the group that is doing the worst job at it. The Christians. Yep that's right, you and me. In Matthew, Jesus gives us a calling as some would say but it is actually a commandment. Let me reiterate the Great Commission for those of you which it has slipped your mind:

^"18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”" -Matthew 28:18-20

Okay lets examine a few key elements of these verses.

Verse 18
   
     We know by reading verse 18 that Jesus has been given all of the authority in heaven and on earth. This means that pretty much whatever he is fixing to say will be said with authority. What is given with authority? Commands. So, let us then move onto verse 19-20 understanding that out of the word of God's mouth pours authority and that we should stay tuned because whatever is coming up next is of the greatest importance.

Verses 19 & 20

     I like how it starts off with the word "Therefore". What that means is that whatever I said is very important, but here is what I want you to get. It is almost a transition word that connects one establishing themselves to then something of grand importance following. Like for example "I am the principal of this school, therefore I am letting school out 30 minutes early." So with that being said the next word is the most important of the whole Great Commission in my humble opinion: "Go". It doesn't mean. "Ehhh well I will examine all of my options and see if I feel like actually 'going' and making disciples" or "Well I mean that's for certain people but not for me so I will let the next guy do it". That makes me sick to be honest with you. There is nowhere in the Great Commission that excludes some people and includes others. Yes Jesus doesn't say the words "all humans', but like most things that Jesus says He doesn't only mean that it is for the select few. It commands ALL of us to "Go" without any exception. God has granted everyone a spiritual gift to not just sit on but actually use for winning souls. We are all commanded to baptize them in the name of our Father, and to teach them everything that Jesus has commanded us. With us doing this He will be with us always and forever.

    Am I perfect? Nope. Do I need to be out there winning souls right now? Do I need to make that the sole priority of the vapor of a life I live? Absolutely yes. If you aren't a Christian then you don't have to worry about this. Although if that is of something of interest to you, I will be willing to talk to you whenever and wherever. If you believe something different, I will listen too. I don't judge. I treat the Christian and the Atheist the same. And we should, but that's another blog post for another time. Point is that if you have opened your eyes and your heart to see that Jesus is your Savior and made Him Lord of your life, and also believe that someone else will do the work instead of you, that is not an accurate depiction of the Gospel. Every person who brings Christ into their lives and follows Him not only is commanded to go, but should feel happy and joyful about going and doing so.

    How will the world know that God is good if we don't outreach to our broken world? A select handful of Christians can't do it. A Christian is not someone who lights a fire with their dangerous tongue and professes their love for Jesus in the next sentence. (A common Facebook occurrence I might add). A true Christian is one who accepts the radical grace exhibited by Christ, who feels the yearning to experience and partake in extravagant worship, and do so all for the glory of God alone and wants to do that until their last fighting breath. Let's be these Christians God commands us to be. Let's get out our dusty Bibles, stop living the Christian life that we think may be suitable enough just for us to get by or to "slide on in". Let's break the mentality of the next guy doing it because that never works in any situation, and let's ALL get out there and GO ourselves and spread the Gospel of Jesus. The world cannot afford it any other way.

The Christmas Story

This is an actual manger of that time. Not made like we depict them, but a clay feeding trough our Savior was placed in.

Some of this is pulled from Louie Giglio's sermon tonight at PCC. Some from me.

Do you realize what we got for Christmas those thousand years ago? Man was forced to live under strict laws. The deliverance of a baby released our need for pressure and struggle and gave us freedom and a child named Emmanuel.

I know my life is a mess honestly. I don't have things right or completely figured out and honestly never will. I know a lot of you are on the same page as me too. Its amazing to think though that God knew the mess we would go through even back then when Jesus was born into a manger. God didn't choose the Hilton, a Tabernacle or temple of sorts to birth Jesus, he chose a manger. Why? Because God knew and understood the mess we were in and He didn't mind saying He understood by making the Savior of the planet be born into a mess either. That wasn't clean or sanitary but are our lives honestly clean or sanitary either? We put up with a lot of mess everyday and that's what God was trying to say by birthing Jesus into what we can relate to. He made an infant baby of immaculate importance fit right into what we are used to.

So just remember this on this Christmas. Whatever mess your going through in your life, God is bigger than that. He doesn't want us to make our lives perfect and then turn to Him, He wants us to admit we are imperfect and turn to Him before we try and figure things out on our own. You know Joseph tried to figure things out on his own with Mary before the Angel of the Lord appeared to set things straight. Joe was calling up his buddy Bill and saying look, I don't know what to do with this woman, she is pregnant and I am an upstanding man and I just think I need to separate myself from her quietly as to not humiliate her. Then the Angel of the Lord came in and basically told Joseph that what he was thinking was wrong and that by a mere whisper the savior of the world was placed into his young lady's stomach, a virgin still, to be birthed and his name will be called Jesus. I bet Joseph apologized for the phone call to Bill and hushed up real quick after that visit! It's when we are like Joseph we get in trouble. It is when we try to figure out everything on our own and have all the answers God steps in and says "Woah, don't you realize there are no answers outside of me?" You have to follow God and things may seem messed up right now, but when you may be crying, someone a house over may be getting saved. So just remember God is at work in your life even if you don't see it. If things aren't clear to you right now, don't fret like Joseph, just wait it out and with prayer all things will be revealed and God will reward those who humble themselves and pray. Remember this on this Christmas day.

Jealousy....Among Other Things Too

Pulled from Google Image Search: Jealousy

So this blog post will be short sweet and to the point...
(main ideas pulled from Louie Gigilio's message tonight, but not everything)

You know that song.. "Jealousy, turning saints into the sea..."

Well that is such a true song in our instance as humans. Jealousy can turn the utmost saint into a sinking ship of wrongful emotions. Everyone knows that feeling. Its that feeling when you see your significant other talking to someone else, even if it is purely innocent, or maybe isn't. I don't believe I need to describe what the feeling of jealousy...well...feels like. We have all felt it in some aspect of our journey down the road of life.

But what people don't get is that God is jealous for you too!

Ehh?.....

Yeah I know, its really hard to think about. It really doesn't make a whole lot of philosophical sense until you really think about it. God created you and you are His. We are called to live a life for Christ and put him first in every walk of our lives. He knows this, He spoke to the authors of the book of His which tells us this good news. BUT...there's always a but!

The flesh>God. The flesh tempts us more than God does because that is just what living in the Here and Now does to us. It sets us up for failure. I'm telling you the world can offer some great things in the Here and Now! Drinking, sex, lust, anger, possessions, and the list can go on and on, but there will come a time when everything will be stripped away, and what will you have left? The thing is that God calls us not to live in the Here and Now but in the Now and Forever. He wants us to see that the world can only offer so much, science can only answer so many questions and only offer so much fulfillment until we have to embrace that fact there is something beyond this world, and someONE beyond this consuming disappointing world of ours.

So relating that back to jealousy. When the world offers us this Here and Now package and we pursue that direction, we are turning our backs on God. God wants us, He wants to love us and for us to be in a relationship with Him, and when we turn away from Him, when we metaphorically "sleep with the other woman[fleshly, worldly thing]" then we let God down. He is a jealous God too. He created us and wants us to love Him out of our own free will. He doesn't have us on strings, we can go be with the devil whenever we want to. But He loves us and wants us as His and when we forsake Him, He is jealous for us and wants us back. Just like that feeling in a relationship, that feeling of betrayal, any time we choose something outside of God, He feels that!!!

So as Christians we need to not be so concerned about the Do Not's but be more concerned about the Do's. Like when Jesus comes back and we stand before God and we say:

"Hey God! Look what I didn't do! I didn't murder anyone! I didn't steal anything! I didn't commit adultery! [Laundry list of things...]"
" Thats great and all son....but I am more concerned of what you did DO then what you DIDNT do. I am more concerned about what you did with Me in your life. You know that one thing that I was pushing you towards your whole life? And how you got caught up in the Do Nots of being a Christian and not the Do's of following Me. That's what matters more."

And that's crazy when you think about it like that but its so true! People don't need to look at us as Christians and think that we claim all of these do nots but do them anyways! That's called sin, so yes we do those things and that's just how it is. But instead people need to say look at what that follower of God IS DOING!

So relating back to jealousy finally. God is jealous for you. He loves you and He created you and He wants you to see that He is the only thing that can fill your cup completely to the top. To live a life of "Do's" for Him is what He desires. And He gets jealous when we turn to the Here and Now and "sleep with the other woman". He wants us to see for ourselves and make our own decisions but when those decisions are apart from Him, He frowns because He is jealous for his creation!

Be Careful Where Your Pendulum Swings

From Google Images

There are two sides to every believer. Let's use the symbolism of a pendulum to look at both sides.

The Far Left Side of the Pendulum Swing.

         On this side are the Law extremists. This is the side where the DO NOTTERS sit happily and they love telling you exactly what you cannot do as a Christian. Your NOT supposed to do this, or NOT supposed to do that as a Christian. If you DO this or if you DO that you are sure to burn in hell! If you ever mess up and say a cuss word, your going to HELL! If you have a tattoo, your GOING TO HELL! I have this extremely long laundry list of things you cannot do, and I will judge you if you do them and if you do, then your going to hell! Your life needs to be perfect ALL OF THE TIME!!! These are the people of what we do not like which is what we call "Legalism". Nobody likes all that legalism. You can't watch these movies, you can't listen to that music, you can't wear that kind of makeup its too much, you can't drive that kind of car. And these people love boasting about how they came into their relationship with God and that everyone else's coming forth needs to be just like theirs, magical and full of me showing off MY list of "Can't Do's" that I didn't ever do.

....See those people before? Haven't we all?

But also, the far right side can be just as dangerous.

The Far Right Side of the Pendulum Swing.

          This side can be just as dangerous as the other side. This side consists of the Grace extremists. Yes it is true that God sent his only son Jesus to die for our sins, so that by his grace (n.-a special favor or privilege) that He sent His son so we can live in the faith (a belief with a strong conviction) that God provided us with. Okay yes that is right but also these people who are the extremists of this case believe that they have a "license to sin". Whatever I do is justified because I am saved, Jesus will forgive me, all is okay so I will keep on doing it. These are the people that say they are Christians, they believe it fully, but their lives do not reflect their beliefs. And if your life does not reflect your beliefs, then aren't you wasting your time proclaiming you believe them?


What to do?

It is living in the tension of the two that is what is required of us. I could explain it first but I will just lay out a verse that does it much better than I can and then explain the verse.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,which God prepared in advance for us to do" -Ephesians 2:8-10

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-"
         Okay, we like that. We see that and we know that. We know that by a special favor or sacrifice sent from God that we can be saved, and through a special and strong conviction in what the History Book and God himself says, we can be saved. And that this salvation of sorts is from none other than God. It is a gift from him. Alcohol, drugs, sex, Oprah, Obama, Romney, Kim Kardashian, or any other idol cannot do it, it is a gift from God. We get that, okay, next.

"not by works, so that no one can boast."

        I love this part of the verse. So many people boast about the works that they did or do in their lives. Some say I ran across the Sahara desert to feed every child in India, look at meeee! Loooook at meeee! ME ME ME! People who are like this love boasting about their good works. Its funny though because God says right there that it is not about how much you have done, so that no one can boast, the promise is what you do through God.

"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus"

       PREACH ON!

"to do good works. Which God prepared in advance for us to do."

        Gulp....uh oh. But I thought it wasn't about good works? Well, it is about works that you do in God, the works in His name yes, but it is not about BOASTING in those works. You are no better than your neighbor so telling your neighbor that you are will only make your neighbor despise you. We all sin and that is just it. We will never be perfect but we try our hardest to glorify the name of God in our everyday lives. It is so hard but we are called to do it. God did this for us, we are His creation, we can live our lives for Him. It is the hardest thing to do in today's society, oh we know that, but we are still called to do it. So we have to just try our best is all we can do. We are not called to boast about our works, just do them in the name of God alone. We are not to boast about how we came to God and what he did or how magical it was because some people's coming forth to God could actually be scary and very life altering and maybe not so magical for them. Whether magical or not, it is still beautiful so don't be scared to share it, just do not boast loud about yourself because when you do that God frowns upon it and trust me, so does everyone around you. In this world today it is a battlefield and all we can do is try our best to live by the Word and by God, and if we really do that, if we really try, God will smile down on us, if we are humble about it though and do not boast.

A Bondservant: What is it?

http://braulerson.blogspot.com/2009/04/slave-to-christ.html

A "doulos", or bondservant is a servant who serves without wages, or out of his or her own free will. A little history. Back in the common time of bondservants, individuals would approach a home and decide they want to serve that house and its family for the rest of their life without receiving wages, but just because. For whatever reason, a family debt owed, the spirit of volunteering, or some other reason unknown, a family, man, or woman even would just decide to become a slave to the household out of their own choice. So to make the agreement a little more permanent, the owner of the house would take the man, woman or family and hold their head up to the door of their house and pierce their ear with some sort of ornament piercing that represented that they belonged to that home. So, how does that relate to us at all?

James 1:1

"James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings."

Let's just look at this piece of scripture from James. It describes the ordinary man named James, the half-brother of Jesus, as a bond servant of Christ. This means that James was called out to be a servant of Christ. He decided with his own will to pierce his ear to the door of God. He decided to whole heartedly follow his half-brother Jesus, after the revelation that He was God. This was during the Roman oppression time period, that made all of the tribes scatter because of how strict the rule was. James still stood up and took the role he was divinely called to do. He was called to be that bond servant. He was called to pierce his ear to the door of heaven and live his life as a servant, in times of extreme pressure and hardships, of Christ and to follow Him on his own free will.

That is what we are called to do. We are called to be a bond servant like James was. We can't just "believe" in God. Those people that say:

"Oh yeah, I believe in God. Oh yeah, the Bible's great, its really cool. Yeah I believe in the cross, and I believe in Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Yeah I believe it, I do, I really do believe..."

Well congratulations! You took the first step, now go scatter and live that belief out. Jesus calls us to live in a love relationship with Him. It is more then just believing it is living. And to live in God, to live in that life walking with Jesus is exactly what we are called to do whole heartedly, and on our own free will. God did not create us as a slave forced to follow Him. We have free will to choose to serve Him or not. But...if we take that initiative. If we choose the first step to believe in Him, it is then our duty as believers to become followers. We are called to be that bond servant. Here is my prayer and maybe yours too:

" Lord I want to serve your house. I want to be the light of the world that you called me to be. I am ready to have myself 'pierced' with your word on your lips and your fire in my heart. I want to serve your house like you have called me to, for the rest of my life here on earth and forever in my heavenly home as well."

Its a hard prayer but if we choose this road, it has to be our prayer. If it isn't, if we choose not to live what we believe, then why even believe in something you won't live by? Just don't go around proclaiming it if you don't live it. Don't waste your time. We have to be a bond servant for Christ and it may be and feel near impossible and you better believe it is hard to do, but it is a necessary goal in our Christian walk. So, join me in trying to make that a reality? I know I won't regret it when I get to that point. Hopefully you won't either.