Jeremy Britton

2009-07-20T14:03:00.000-07:00

This is a way old school picture... but hey, a kind of fun one. I don't know if anybody ever even looks at this blog because I haven't been on it in forever, but yeah, essentially I have taken a break from blogging... for now.

I will be getting back into it soon though, so yeah, that should be fun. A few reasons why I haven't been blogging:

1. I believe God has called me into a different season these past 6 months and has been changing me ALOT... essentially, I am finally now living as the real Jeremy as He is showing me what true sanctification means.

2. My camera has been broken and blogging isn't very much fun without pictures... not to mention that this season has been very uneventful, so yeah, not much to share.

3. My computer is a wreck and I don't have the internet in my new apartment.

So yeah, some pretty good reasons, not that I have any "fans" but it's kind of funny that my last blog was like 6 months ago as I was about to begin staffing at the Emmaus School of Biblical Studies.

I am now NOT doing that, which is ok, God had something else... like 'being still and knowing that He is'... so that's what I've been doing. I will soon share more of what's going on in my life.

Love ya'll.

Psalms - Teaching my first SBS book

2009-01-14T11:04:00.001-08:00

So I just finished teaching the book of Psalms at ESBS... my first book taught here. It was a lot of fun and I felt really comfortable teaching it. I wanted to write something about each book I teach to share with ya'll my overall and closing thoughts.

Psalms is a beautiful book of people's journal entries, shared with the world that we might see how to live in right relationship with God... living in humility, honesty, repentance, and trust as we try to relate to the creator of our souls. For myself this is difficult, especially as I grow older and more experienced... having to face my lacking more and more every day. Life isn't easy, there are very real things that I face every day that would bring me great joy as well as great frustration and sorrow. In the face of circumstances and doubts and fears and hopes and everything imbetween... who is God and who am I? Psalms brings perspective back to the reality of God as our loving Creator and dares us to live in that reality. "The steadfast love of the Lord endures forever".... what if that really is true? Well, it is... despite what I want to believe or have a hard time seeing or whatever...

God really is good, He really is King over all creation, He really does love us (look at the cross), He will bring us into His deliverance ultimately if we are trusting in Him. There is more to life than circumstances... there is more to life than brokenness... there is God reaching out to a fallen humanity trying to restore our souls. Yeah, it was amazing having the chance to teach the Psalms to the students here at ESBS... I believe you are challenged more as a teacher than as a student... I had to really wrestle through whether I believe God is good and that he does love me... and you know what... yeah, I buy it... especially when I look at the cross.

Song you might want to check out, I have been listening to it a lot as I was studying the Psalms:
Jon Foreman's "Your Love is Strong"

Saying Goodbye to Montana

2009-01-13T09:18:00.000-08:00

So this is way overdo... but I finally am getting around to updating this blog thing. These are pictures of some of my dear friends from Montana who I had to say goodbye to after returning to the YWAM base in Lakeside, MT to debrief from my trip overseas. It snowed like a few feet the second night I was there and was 20 degrees below zero for most of the time I was there... really sweet considering all I had were shorts and t-shirts for Mexico and Costa Rica. I dearly miss these people, they are absolutely amazing... people who were with me for a solid year of my life wrestling together with God for His glory.

Last week in Costa Rica

2008-12-26T12:10:00.000-08:00

So these are the last set of pictures I have from our last week of ministry in Costa Rica. These are my friends whom I already sorely miss.

Debriefing... relaxing at Jaco Beach, Costa Rica

2008-12-12T16:52:00.000-08:00

After our teaching commitments came to an end we had the opportunity to just relax a little bit as a team after all our hard work. We went to a beach on the Pacific Coast called Jaco... pronounced "haco". It was a beautiful refreshing time... I went on a long walk down the beach all afternoon and got some great pictures I thought I would share so here they are.

A quick adventure in Heredia, Costa Rica

2008-12-09T17:59:00.000-08:00

So Friday and Saturday I went with two of my new friends I made here in Costa Rica to the other YWAM base in Costa Rica... in the town of Heredia. They were having a fundraiser picnic for the DTS class there this fall who are about to go on outreach. My friend Paola lives in Heredia so her brother Alvaro picked us up and took myself and my friend Ruth up for Friday evening and Saturday to spend the day there. It was an awesome time.

Friday night Paola and Ruth and I walked down to town and took a ton of pictures of the amazing flowers and sun as it was setting at the end of a gorgeous day. We had a fun dinner and evening of just walking around town and enjoying each other. Saturday morning I had the chance to play with Paola´s niece some and then we went to the Heredia base and had a blast. I got to spend some time with the Base Director there Terry... he has some awesome vision for the base and wants to start an SBS there. I also got to spend some time talking with some of the DTS students about their futures and I think some of them are excited about perhaps doing SBS next so that was awesome. I also had the chance to see my friend Carla again and her new boyfriend Ian so that was really great too. It was one of my favorite experiences from here on outreach, and between Paola and I we have some great pictures to remember it by.

Talamanca - Costa Rica = THE FLOOD

2008-11-27T20:52:00.000-08:00

This last week we went to the southeast region of Costa Rica near the Panama border, a region called Talamanca... to a tiny indigenous village called Bambu. We went there to teach oral communicators God´s word for a week or so, doing some seminars to help them know how to study God´s word on their own. This was super exciting, the place was beautiful, and yeah... this is what we as Titus have been trained and equipped to do - so bring it on rainforest!

The first day there our host Alex took us on an amazing trip through the rainforest... crossed a river into Panama and got to just walk through jungle and wade through rivers. It was an awesome day, a beautiful day.

Then... it started raining... and for the next 9 days there was no end to the rain. Seriously it felt like we need to build another ark because the river was rising so quickly. The river actually flooded its banks for the worst flood Costa Rica has seen in more than 35 years. Tuesday the rain began... Tuesday night there was a 6.5 earthquake in Panama somewhere... and by Saturday the river had risen almost 10 feet even though it was like a few hundred meters wide. Yeah, so... all of our ministry was canceled and we sat inside a house on higher ground watching a natural disaster for almost 10 days... welcome to outreach. Honestly, it was a rough time... a hard time... because we wanted to be doing ministry... not trying to complain... but it was tough. The hardest thing about it wasn´t safety... or food... even though we ate tuna and rice for a few days before the roads were restored because the market ran out of food supplying all 3000 people in the immediate area - the hardest thing was feeling absolutely useless while being on a trip where you want to be used by God in the short time you have.

So yeah, we just got back to San Jose... my rainforest experience was interesting to say the least. Now we´re trying to patch together that last week and a half of our outreach since these 2 weeks have been washed away in the flood.

Please be praying for the last week of our outreach... that we would have some teaching time and that we would recouperate well seeing how the last week and a half were rather hard (I think I have giardia now because of the water filters being messed up by the flood too). Also be praying for the 8000 or so people around the river near Bambu who lost all of their crops in the flood and now are looking at around a year to restore what was lost. Also be praying for the YWAM base there in Talamanca because the house on the river is being torn down... they will save as much of the material as they can and hopefully rebuild on higher ground.

(PS = 2 other posts today also before this... check them out too)

Las Tablas... Costa Rica

2008-11-27T20:42:00.001-08:00

These are the children we worked with the first week here in Costa Rica. We also preached a few evening sermons at a church in San Jose here... but predominantly we worked with these children. These children live in the absolute barrio (ghetto) of San Jose... the poorest of the poor districts... where all of the drug lords are... the absolute slums. These children are most definitely classified as "Children at Risk". We had the chance to sing songs with them, play some games, tell some bible stories, and color and play with them. It was amazing, these kids are so broken... perhaps my favorite part of the whole week was just sitting with them as they colored... they would scooch close to you so as to have your physical presence right next to them... you could sense their desperation for some sort of love or security. These kids need intercession and it was a humbling experience to simply try to love them as much as we could while we could. These children absolutely captivated my heart... there were a few in particular that I would take home with me in a heartbeat if it were at all a possibility.

Please pray for these children... don´t just look at the faces and not care... these kids are special to God... and should be special to us.

Last Week in Baja... sorry it took a while

2008-11-27T20:35:00.000-08:00

So I had been meaning to post these pictures of our last week in Baja and these are them... the captions tell the story mostly.

We ended up taking a bus up to the border and walked across the border back into the U.S.A. so some of our pictures are from there. We spent a night in San Diego before flying out to Costa Rica with my friend Eric Poon from high school. Praise God for Eric, he really was a blessing to us in helping us out. While with Eric he took us on a few errands to get some things before flying off to Costa Rica... including a Wal-Mart run where we met Barbie... Sarah dared me to take a picture with her. Hey, you only live once right... there are many stories to go along with the pictures but for the sake of getting updated with some posts I will move on.

Children at Risk

2008-11-11T19:38:00.000-08:00

So today I had the chance to teach 7 little children about who God is... WOW!!!

These children are considered "children at risk" because they live in the slums, their parents make hardly any money and are probably involved in drugs and other wickedness, and they will probably not receive much of an education. Yeah, today I had the chance to speak the truth of God's love to 7 little children who have... well... really... nothing. They don't have any hope outside of the love of Christ. He alone can give life to them, they certainly won't find it elsewhere.

Today I spent the morning with these precious children in the slums of Costa Rica, in utter filth and poverty... and you know what makes me sad the most. I really don't feel like I care. My heart is not absolutely broken. Yeah, they're cute... yes, I want their situation to be better... BUT, there's something within me that is willing to simply accept that this is their lot in life. This is what breaks my heart. I wish I could have pictures of them, perhaps that would break OUR hearts more... but really, shouldn't it break my heart that I am so blessed and these poor children have... nothing.

This is what God is showing me today... he wants me to love what he loves.

Having a nice car... well... is nice... but really, shouldn't I care more about these children?

Having the finer things in life isn't inherently bad... but... shouldn't I want these children to have some sort of joy in the midst of utter darkness?

Is it enough that I entertain them for a few hours and feel better about myself for being a good person?

This is what I am challenged with... what is right? What does God say is of value?

AND... the real question is... am I going to stop talking about doing something... and actually DO something?

So... please be praying for Maria (7) and her brother Dilar (3), and for Esther (8), and for Antonio and Johnny (both 5), and for the two 8 year old twin girls that were so cute I forgot their names. They are desperate for God's help... they have nothing, but they can have Jesus... the living savior who can bring redemption to their dark and hope-deprived future.

Our Adventure for the Day!!!

2008-11-07T23:42:00.000-08:00

So... we left Baja... and I have some more pictures I will put up from there shortly. Recently we have had a bit of trouble getting hooked up with a place in San Diego to crash and get a ride to the airport from tomorrow (Saturday). Nothing was really working out, our contact Jonathan was having a hard time working some things out with his work... so yeah, we were praying a bunh for some help. So I thought to myself... I have an old friend from high school named Eric that I have recently been in touch with through Facebook. So I sent Eric a message asking him if he could help us out and... booyah grandma!!!... we have a place to crash in sunny San Diego and a ride to the airport. The only tricky part was getting to the border and across it.

SO... today... we drove two and a half hours back up the Baja from San Quintin to Ensanada with our friends Jonathan and Yvette... our awesome contacts who we will deeply miss. Then we hopped on a Mexican bus for two hours from Ensanada to the border crossing in Tijuana. Then we walked about a mile with our 18 pieces of luggage to the border crossing and through it. Then we got aboard a trolly on the other side of the border and rode it for an hour into downtown San Diego where my friend Eric from high school picked us up. Did I mention that I hadn't seen Eric in more than ten years... not since we both graduated from high school. Since then God has captured Eric and brought him into His salvation through Jesus and now Eric works for an awesome church in San Diego here.

SO... yeah, it was a long day... but beautiful because Eric has hooked us up to stay at his house and took us to have dinner at In-N-Out with some of his buddies. The trip today was quite an adventure I thought I would share with ya'll. Tomorrow we depart to Costa Rica to begin the second half of our adventure... so please be praying that God would equip us for our teachings and prepare the hearts of the people we will be teaching. Much love ya'll

(p.s. I wanted to give a shout out to Eric's church because he has helped us out so much and it sounds like an awesome place doing some awesome things in the city of San Diego)

His church is called the Rock... the website is...

www.therocksanddiego.org

Las Playas del Baja

2008-10-31T17:14:00.001-07:00

I dont actually know if that translated properly... I probablemente messed something up in that simple 4 word title. No worries... which I now know how to say in Espanol now... "nimodo". So, yeah, we have been to the beach a few times over the past 3 weeks. It has been extremely nice to take some time on days off and get to the coast... to rest, to play, and to watch the sun set over the Pacific. I have missed West Coast sunsets for about 6 years now... so it is awesome to get to see them again. These are just a few of our pictures from the past 3 weeks hanging out at the "playas". These beaches have great boogie boarding, which I am able to do courtesy of a friend at FFHM who let me borrow his board. They also have TONS of seashells... giant Pismo clams are the size of your hand and there are literally a gazillion sand dollars at "sand dollar" beach.

I love all of you... God is doing mighty things, this has been a wonderful experience teaching into and experiencing another culture. 1 more week here and they we are off to Costa Rica for a month to teach Gods word there.
p.s. please check out the previous post if you missed it...

The Bible Students... and Foundation For His Ministry

2008-10-31T16:59:00.000-07:00

So this is the Christo Por Su Mundo Institute de Biblica. These are the students we taught the first two weeks here... these are amazing people who are going to change Latin America through their faith in Christ and willingness to serve others that they might experience the life abundantly that God has for them. I consider myself thoroughly honored to have had the chance to speak truth into their lives... it has been an amazing and humbling experience spending time with radical people like these. I was able to spend a great deal of time with them both in class as well as outside of class at meals and visiting them in their studies during the evening. I will most assuredly miss them.

These are more pictures of FFHM... Foundation For His Ministry. This is an amazing place where God is doing a mighty work for the community here and throughout Baja. I certainly hope I will be able to return here again... I plan on it. I would encourage all of you to check out their website and watch the video that I put up 2 posts ago. I will miss this facility... mostly because of the people and the children here... it was an AMAZING blessing to get to spend 3 weeks doing Gods work here in Vicente Guerrero, Baja Norte.

Finally... some pictures from Baja... our time here has been awesome

2008-10-25T09:55:00.003-07:00

So I finally had a chance to get to a good internet connection to put some pictures from these past few weeks online. These are pictures from our drive down here to the mission... from some of our teaching... and some of our fun. We have many other pictures and have been recording most of our lectures so I will try to get some of that stuff published soon also.

The past few weeks have been filled with a lot of teaching... I taught 1st Thessalonians for 10 hours last week and have taught the book of Philemon every evening this week, so about 6 hours @ 1 1/2 hours each evening. Wednesday I got to teach what we call Bible Overview at a family's house... so I explained God's story through the Old Testament in about an hour. That is perhaps my favorite teaching, to explain how God has moved through history calling a people to show his mercy to. Yesterday I taught the book of Jonah for 4 hours as our last lecture at a Bible Institute here. I have become quite fond of the students in that school... I eat almost all of my meals with the students, have played soccer with some of them, and have been thoroughly humbled and blessed to get to teach these people who are going to be changing Mexico for the sake of Christ. God is going to use these men and women mightily to bring restoration to broken hearts here.

So these are some of my pictures, it is absolutely beautiful here... the people being the most amazing part of the trip by far.

Arriving in BAJA

2008-10-19T16:42:00.000-07:00

Well, we are in Baja Mexico right now... in a small town called Vicente Guerrero just north of a town called San Quintin. We are at an amazing Christian facility that was birthed out of an orphanage... the ministry is called Foundation For His Ministry.

http://www.ffhm.org/

They have a bible school here, a hospital, more than 70 children in the orphanage, the largest fire department in central Baja, as well as many other ministries. It is a really neat place.

We are working with the Bible Institute here. The students here don't have to pay tuition and are essentially missionaries in training. They are all individually selected for their character and God's calling in their lives. Each one of them is a native indigenous Mexican from one of the more than 170 or so idigenous peoples from Mexico. They are here at this facility to be trained for two years and equipped to go back into their native communities to evangelize and disciple their peoples. They all speak their own dialect as well as Spanish... so many of their former students here are now in their native communities as missionaries and pastors, some even hoping to translate the Bible into their own language. Many of the graduates from the school face extraordinarily harsh persecution when they return home to their communities... we have already heard many stories of people being killed for their faith after leaving the Bible Institute.

SO... yeah, if you want to pray for us here that would be great. There are two different classes here... 1st year ("1st Grade") and 2nd year ("2nd Grade"). I am helping teach 1st & 2nd Thessalonians to the 2nd graders through the Inductive Method over the 1st two weeks. We teach 4 hours, from 9am-1pm Tues-Fri. This first week I tought the 2nd grade class 1st Thessalonians... tought for 10 hours. This week we will begin teaching a group of 8 or so community pastors during the evenings. I will be teaching them Bible Overview for 3 days, 6 hours total... then someone else will teach them the Inductive Method through Philemon the 2nd week. I will get to spend Friday of this week also teaching the book of Jonah to the 2nd grade class to finish our time with them. The 4th week we are here in Baja we will move south about 15 miles to teach another group of pastors Bible Overview and the Inductive Method through James... well, that' what they requested. So yeah, pray that we will be able to rest and prepare well. The translator thing is already driving me crazy but I am getting used to it quickly. Pray that the students here get the method we are teaching them to the extent where they can apply it in their own studies and perhaps understand it simply enough to teach it to others.

You can also pray for groups here helping with the orphanage. There are teams here doing evangelism in the community as well as working with children here for weeks at a time... groups from California churches and youth groups. Right now there are about 100 people here on mission trips.

Yeah, this has been a great time... internet access is a bit rough, I will try to get pictures up when I can... but it might not actually happen. Love you all

Jeremy

My last week in Montana

2008-10-19T16:39:00.000-07:00

So this past week was about wrapping up our training. I got to visit with the youth group kids from Christian Center church that I worked with all last year while in SBS. Some of them asked me to come bowling with them Friday before I took off... so these pictures are from my time Wednesday night with them as well as bowling Friday. Friday I took some of my friends from YWAM also so that they could meet my friends from the church. I love bowling, it was absolutely amazing!!

2008-10-07T21:41:00.000-07:00

(this is our Titus Project school, staff and students)

Over the past few weeks I have learned a ton from the Titus Project here... perhaps the most important thing I have learned is how vital I am to the body of Christ as an individual. I not only am important to God... clearly seen by God's great love poured out for me at the Cross through Jesus' blood... but I also am valuable to him as his son in the world we live in. This world is hurting and I have the opportunity to bring light into the darkness... life into the pain... freedom where there is so much bondage. Even being here the past few weeks has been eye opening to see how much life God is able to bring to others through me. I have been graced to pray with people, encourage people, challenge younger students here, and simply give people hugs and a handshake when they are in a new place where they are asking desperately whether or not there is acceptance. This is how Christ desires me to live... as a light to those I am around... and the beautiful thing about God's grace is that he is doing it. I - I am not doing it... but Jesus is doing it. He is using me to love people as I live in the reality of sins forgiven. I am loved... Jesus has loved me mightily... and he asks me to love others. These concepts are so simple but I realize that I, as well as most people, fail to live them out. The beautiful thing about God's economy is that if I do love people... tangibly living selfishly for them in all sorts of aspects of life... then they will feel loved and be free to love in return.

So yeah, this has just been on my heart. We all have the opportunity to love... to love and be loved. The question is whether we are willing to take the initiative to serve others first and pour ourselves out selflessly to treat others the way we would like to be treated. I realize very clearly that when I live to be a blessing to others, I see life in a very different perspective as I see others being blessed and seeing light in the midst of darkness. We can be light to people in a dark world if we would but dare to love. This is what our world is desperate for... what I am desperate for... what you are desperate for... to feel accepted. Well... I am no longer waiting for others to make it happen for myself, I am going to make it happen for others and see what a blessing I can be. I love you all, please... please... dare to take initiative in this world so desperate for love and acceptance and light in darkness and life in the midst of pain. We're all squirrels trying to get ours... if we would but look up and see we are all in the same boat things might make more sense as we live less selfishly. This has been something that is challenging me... yet has been blessing me as I see the fruits of stepping outside of my little world to be a blessing to others.

(This is our team that will be going to Mexico & Costa Rica... Garrett & Sarah in front... Shoshanah and me)

Glacier National Park - Finally made it to Logan Pass

2008-10-05T08:56:00.000-07:00

This past year I never made it up to Logan Pass at Glacier... because the "Going to the Sun" road was closed all year. This year the SBS took a trip up to the center of the park and I wanted to go. Myself and 8 others ended up going on a 14 mile hike through the middle of the park and climbed a ridge to an amazing view point. It was quite a hike but it was a gorgeous day and well worth it. It was literally a dream come true... one of the best days of my life, these pictures fail to capture the majesty of this place.

Titus week 1

2008-10-04T19:21:00.001-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted anything yet... been trying but the computer situation is a bit difficult here... but these are some pictures from the first week of Titus project here. These are some of my new friends. The guy in the yellow shirt is my one of my roommates for my few weeks here in Montana and has become a dear friend already. His name is Daniel. The guy in the pink shirt is named Jacob... he is our other roommate and is also an amazing guy.

These pictures are from us preparing our teachings as well as an evening in which we talked about our required reading book "7 Laws of the Learner" by Bruce Wilkinson. There are also some pictures of me in a kitchen... where I was making homemade ice cream for the SBS here in Montana. So yeah... I will put up some pictures from my amazing hiking trip last Saturday to Glacier National Park hopefully right after this.

By the way... plug for "7 Laws of the Learner"... every preacher and teacher and discipler should read this book... it is seriously amazing!

My week with the fam...

2008-09-18T22:19:00.000-07:00

This is me and my 11 year old step-sister Anita in my dad's swimming pool. This past week I got to spend some R&R with the family as well as visit some old friends in Cali. It was an awesome time... beautiful weather mixed with some good meals and a lot of sharing what God is doing in my life and where he is leading me into next.

After getting out of the pool. Any time I get to be home is special so Dad tries to take advantage of photo-ops... something I am kind of good at avoiding.

Another fringe benefit of getting to be home is spending time in the hot tub... which my back and the rest of my body absolutely loves.

So... yeah... my dad loves these goofy tank tops and my sister made me put one on so I would look like a goober. LOL.

All in all my time this past week in Sacramento was an absolute blast. I got to spend some great time sharing with my church what God is leading me into with Titus project and really had some special time with some of my good friends who now live in California. I also got to share a bit with some young men and women that I've known since they were but wee little tykes and now are growing up and are in college groups at my home church. It was a great time... some of you were really generous in encouraging me and even contributing financially to what God is leading me into staffing ESBS and doing Titus project through YWAM so I sincerely thank you. God did some really neat things in my family this week too... we're all trying to figure this mess of life out but God is redeemer and is doing mighty things, I am so thankful that he gives me a glimpse into his will to restore those I love.

Thoughts on... GRACE

2008-09-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

So I have been home for a few days now and am still wrestling with just simply resting in God's grace. I might sound scattered but this is where I am so yeah, just trying to be real. I am super stoked to have the opportunity to go on Titus Project... the outreach I am to be doing until Christmas. At the same time though I have been wrestling with how God could love a broken and imperfect man like myself. I was reading through the book "The Shack" and still haven't had the chance to get to it and finish it (on my list of things to do). As I was reading it God was stirring in me some major things about his heart of love and grace to me. I cannot help but think of the Psalms now when I think about who God is and who I am to him... the line "the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases..." This line is repeated countless times through the Psalms and now I am understanding more and more just why. The REALITY... which has become probably my favorite word... is that God loves me and nothing, absolutely nothing, can change that because of Christ's blood poured out for me. This is something that I mentally acknowledge but in my heart there is still so much I fail to believe. SO yeah, this is my thought that I felt like I needed to share. There is nothing that will make Jesus let go of me... like in this picture... I am not holding on to him so much as he has a firm grasp on me... Romans 8 blows my mind every time I read it, which makes me realize I need to read it right now.

This past week has been utterly unbelievable in my life. I got to spend a great day with my mentor before leaving to California. I got to have Chik-Fil-A and spend a day doing some work with my mom. I had the chance to swim and play with my step-sister Anita. I got to share the testimony of God's grace over my life for the past few years with the church I grew up in... and the opportunity to thank them for how they have invested in my life and encouraged me. I had the chance to see my best friend Rob who I love so much... as well as visit my friend Jennifer Angley from NC who lives now in SF, CA. God is so gracious... he is absolutely redeeming my friend Jen and answering prayers in her life... I had the chance to talk with her about God's redemption of her life over 3 hours of eating Sushi. My friend Rob and his wife Erin are going to have a baby in February and are going to be amazing parents. Last night I had the chance to love my sister and be a shoulder for her to cry on through a hard time. God is so faithful... he is so good at what he does, redemption. There are many areas of my life that I am hard on myself about... yet God is working his redemption in my life and the lives of others because that's what he does and that is who HE is. That is REALITY... in the midst of a world that is desperate for grace... he is alive and working. Whether I can see his hand in the moment or not... oh how he loves us... his grace is indeed beautiful and amazing and altogether what you and I are desperate for...

ESBS '08 Dupont State Forest trip

2008-09-10T07:33:00.000-07:00

This Sunday we took our ESBS on a trip to Dupont State Forest... which is about an hour away from here. This is where most of the waterfalls from the movie "The Last of the Mohicans" are located... where they filmed a good portion of the movie. I stumbled on this place a few years ago when I was on a solo adventure and now it has become a favorite place for many of our outings here at Lurecrest. So yeah... these are our pictures from this weekend... we had a blast. I will miss the students... but am looking forward to the adventures God has ahead for me... and I look forward to returning this winter to enjoy teaching and many more adventures with the students

The Shack

2008-09-09T07:20:00.000-07:00

So I have yet to finish this book called "The Shack" written by William P. Young... and it is absolutely blowing my mind. It pretty much hits me exactly where I have been for the last few weeks and really for the majority of my life. This past year studying God's word has blown my mind in seeing who He really is and how He really loves humanity. I am still trying to come to grips with the reality of God's love over me... that somehow I am of unbelievable value to him. I have such a hard time receiving that love. I guess the reality is that I don't really love myself in a lot of ways (just being honest here). This book is a beautiful perspective on the relationship God desires for us to have through him... how Jesus makes it all possible... and how the only way we can live in the freedom God offers us is through his working in us. This book will blow your mind... it is indeed for everyone... and yeah, please read it. It might just save your life... it is really the heart of the Bible in a nutshell in many ways. So yeah, when I finish it I will right another post... but please, please, read it.

Happy Birthday Melissa!!!

2008-09-01T12:07:00.000-07:00

The 29th was my sister Melissa's birthday. Again I have failed... being a few days late on giving her some love... so this is my weak attempt to bless her. Love you girl... I thought I would throw some pictures out of her and I as something fun for her.

Much love sis!!! Hope you had a great birthday... I look forward to seeing you soon!!!

Your bro,
Jeremy

ESBS 08-09... our first week... bring it on...

2008-08-28T12:45:00.000-07:00

So these are some pictures of my first week as a Bible teacher. This has been a fun week... getting the students into the word and teaching them the Inductive Method of Bible Study. It's already been a lot of fun... this is the family I will be learning God's word with for the next year.

Mom's Birthday!!!

2008-08-21T05:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Mom...

Yesterday was my mom's birthday so I just want to give here a shout-out... love you!!!

A.W. Tozer... perspective on what God is doing in me right now...

2008-08-18T16:24:00.000-07:00

"Self is the opaque veil that hides the Face of God from us. It can be removed only in spiritual experience, never by mere instruction. As well try to instruct leprosy out of our system. There must be a work of God in destruction before we are free. We must invite the cross to do its deadly work within us.

Let us remember: when we talk of the rending of the veil we are speaking in a figure, and the thought of it is poetical, almost pleasant; but in actuality there is nothing pleasant about it. In human experience that veil is made of living spiritual tissue; it is composed of the sentient, quivering stuff of which our whole beings consist, and to touch it is to touch us where we feel pain. To tear it away is to injure us, to hurt us and make us bleed. To say otherwise is to make the cross no cross and death no death at all. It is never fun to die. To rip through the dear and tender stuff of which life is made can never be anything but deeply painful. Yet that is what the cross did to Jesus and it is what the cross would do to every man to set him free.

Let us beware of tinkering with our inner life in hope ourselves to rend the veil. God must do everything for us. Our part is to yield and trust. We must confess, forsake, repudiate the self-life, and then reckon it crucified. But we must be careful to distinguish lazy 'acceptance' from the real work of God. We must insist upon the work being done. We dare not rest content with a neat doctrine of self-crucifixion. That is to imitate Saul and spare the best of the sheep and the oxen.

Insist that the work be done in very truth and it will be done. The cross is rough, and it is deadly, but it is effective. It does not keep its victim hanging there forever. There comes a moment when its work is finished and the suffering victim dies. After that is resurrection glory and power, and the pain is forgotten for joy that the veil is taken away and we have entered in actual spiritual experience the Presence of the living God."

This reality caught me quite strongly last night... that God is destroying things within me... my own self... my flesh. As Tozer puts it... the cross is deadly, but effective. I want what God offers... it is my desperate desire to truly be set free. Galatians 5.1 'It is for freedom that Christ has set us free'. If I do indeed dare to seek the life and peace and rest and joy... the genuine article that God offers us so freely by the grace found IN Christ... it will be a painful process. BUT... the present afflictions are nothing compared to the glory set before us (2 Cor 4.16-18)

Let us dare to be destroyed that we might be rebuilt as God so graciously desires... truly free!

Jeremy

(A.W. Tozer, "The Pursuit of God", pg. 44-45)

My trip home from Montana

2008-08-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

These are the pictures from my trip across the states... 4000 miles, Montana to Texas to North Carolina. It was great seeing all my family and others who were so gracious to let me crash with them on the way. I wish I had more pictures... I do... the trip was so wonderful... but these are some of the best pictures from the trip... sorry it took a while. I finally got my room set up so now I can get back updated with this thing.

Love you all...

(you can click on the slideshow box itself and go to the site where they are hosted from if you want to steal some for yourselves... which I would recommend because the pictures of the Tetons are wicked-awesome)

Sorry... been off for a while

2008-08-05T13:43:00.000-07:00

I will be putting some new stuff... I just got back into NC and my computer just crashed so I will be getting some pictures up soon from my trip and from what's going on here in NC. Love all of you

Jeremy

Glacier... Going to the Sun Road

2008-07-04T11:12:00.000-07:00

So I finally got to drive up the road in Glacier that is essentially a cliff for like 20 miles. I went with a few of my really good friends this last weekend... Anna Joy Adkins and the Lehmans, Jonathan and Elizabeth. Unfortunately the road was not fully open to the top at Logan Pass so we got about 3 miles away and then had to turn back. Fortunately though the view from where we were was breathtaking... again... pictures barely show off how spectacular it was. We also saw a few other places at the park since I was the only one who had been there before. On our driving around and looking for adventure we also saw two bull moose... they were huge... only about 40 yards away from us. Yeah, I am so stoked I got to see some moose... I feared I would finish this year and not have seen any... but I got to see 2!

Some pics from the year and this last week

2008-07-01T10:26:00.000-07:00

These pics are a bit modge-podged but for the most part are just some really good pics that I got from some of the other students. They aren't a complete showing of course of these last few weeks but are some good pics of some of my really good friends. Yeah, I wish I had a picture of everyone from our school but got some really good ones here nonetheless.

Graduating SBS

2008-06-30T12:25:00.000-07:00

This last week has been a whirlwind... but I have officially graduated SBS. This year was awesome getting to go through God's word. It was a blessing to see that God's plan for me is to walk in the reality of his word... to live according to his word in my life. It was also a huge blessing and an honor to get to live with such amazing people... to get to see God's word transforming their lives as he has transformed my life.

So this has been my last week just to recap before it all becomes lost and I move onto some posts about what's going on now. After turning in my last book I decided I was burnt out on staring at my computer all day every day so I've abandoned this thing for the last week... praise God!

This was my last week in SBS...

Sunday June 22 = We had our graduation dinner where each student got some words of affirmation... my three words were "passionate, generous, kind"

Wednesday June 25 = Our final exam in the morning... then a whole afternoon of playing at the lake as a school. We had a boat and got to go tubing... and also played a bunch of board games and stuff just at the lakefront. The water was still freezing but it was an awesome day of fun. That evening we had a night to reminisce about the past year and just encourage each other. A few people played some lovely songs and others just shared what God spoke to them.

Thursday June 26 = Graduation night... a lot of people's families came into town and we had a really nice formal graduation with worship and our school director Sean Ellis shared words over each of us as students. Myself and another student Hans were honored to get up before the audience and share what God had revealed to us so that was a huge honor. Sean spoke honoring words over all of us... mine were just words honoring me for my diligence in doing my work as I somehow finished top 3 in our class of 44 students. He also spoke words of encouragement to how I had spent much time in prayer for our class and was just a source of encouragement to the other students to be excellent for Christ. Yeah, his words were a great honor. That evening we had a nice reception afterwards with lots of great food... and one of the ladies who I have worked with with the youth group came to be my family... Nan. She is the mother of one of the students at the youth group in town I have worked with and she and I have led a small group for students there... so it was fun to have her come and be a blessing to me since I didn't have any family there.

Friday June 27 = One of our students, Michael Packard got married the day after we graduated so we just had an absolute blast together as most people stayed for the wedding.

So this last week was a big week of just spending time together. Now... Monday the 30th of June... most everyone has left save a few of us. This past weekend has just been one full of tears and goodbyes as many of us will likely not be seeing each other again. It is hard to say that this has been the best year of my life... mostly because I have been thoroughly blessed with some amazing years... but truly... yeah... not only because of God's word... but also because of these people... this year has been such an amazing time. I consider myself so utterly blessed for this time in my life... thank you Jesus.

(Each student got a picture from the staff to represent who they are... everyone had amazing and beautiful pictures... this was the one they chose for me... I love it!)

Ecclesiastes

2008-06-22T15:16:00.000-07:00

Ecclesiastes 11.8
“So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all…”

Timeless Truth = God wants man to enjoy his life… to find joy in the blessings of life & soak life up

So this book is super harsh about the things of the world… constantly proclaiming that nothing in life is worth while… but this is solely without God. In God everything has purpose… this is the heart of Solomon’s word here… and the beautiful thing about this word is that God desires life for those who are his. He has given creation to man to enjoy… to enjoy to its fullest… walking not in sin… but rather in the fullness of life that comes from being in right relationship with him. This is the beauty of what God has given man… life and light and love is what he offers… and he wants me to enjoy it to its fullest. The little things in life are the very things that are treasures that he desires me to see… for in Him I can experience joy in this life… even in this harsh fallen world.

To practically apply this I am going to steal an idea from our teacher… just because… yeah, I liked it and though it is unoriginal, I love the idea and think it is about time I did something like this. He has a “don’t cry for me” journal or something that he keeps up… so that if he was to pass away people would see that he has no regrets in his life and doesn’t want people to feel for him because he lived life to its fullest. So… I am going to go ahead and make a “don’t cry for me” journal. This will be a small portion of it… I’ll have to get it started by taking a bit more time than I have right now… but this would be my “don’t cry for me” because I got to do SBS.

I have spent 1 year in God’s word… hearing his word spoken to me… don’t cry for me.
I have spent 6 days a week digging into the core of who my Savior and LORD is… don’t cry for me.
My living God spoke mightily to me that he loves me… don’t cry for me.
I am forgiven and my God loves me enough to purge the evil from my life even if it hurts… don’t cry for me.
I have been blessed to spend 9 months in close quarters with some of the most amazing people God has ever created… don’t cry for me.
I have had the opportunity to worship my God in spirit & truth… through song, through academics, through prayer, through being humbled, through giving… don’t cry for me.
I have experienced the love of a family that is not of my blood… don’t cry for me.
I have shed tears of desperation that were heard and responded to by the one true lover of my soul… don’t cry for me.
I have began a great journey of seeing that my life is not mine but God’s to use as he will… don’t cry for me.
I have made friendships that will last a lifetime… don’t cry for me.
I have seen people set free from spiritual bondage by the living God… don’t cry for me.
I have seen youth taken from death to life… eyes brightened by the REALITY of God’s love and salvation… don’t cry for me.
I have heard God’s voice, seen God’s face, felt God’s touch… seen God’s light… been taken from death to life and given love unfailing… don’t cry for me.

Job

2008-06-20T08:20:00.000-07:00

Job 13.5 ‘Oh that you would keep silent, and it would be your wisdom!’

Loving people means selflessness for their best interest… to listen is to love.

There’s a lot of application in this beautiful book… kind of hard to soak it all in actually. This truth has been something that I have seen over the last few years in my life and it’s definitely one I constantly want to strive towards growing in. I learned this lesson very vividly a few years ago when one of my friends got totally angry with me because I wouldn’t listen. The funny thing is that I wonder how well I have been living this out since I have seen it… and I realize that this truth really does play such a vital role in the relationships I have with those I love. I realize in this book of Job that the problem wasn’t so much whether the friends of Job were speaking truth or not, though many times their truth was faulty, but rather the problem was that they were failing to be selfless… failing to love Job through his issue. They saw love as fixing his problem… they saw love as giving them something of themselves that they thought was of value… they saw love as knowing the answer and MAKING Job see their answer. I long to be a light to the people I interact with… I want more than anything for people to see Jesus and his love. I don’t want them to see me… I don’t have any answers for them in and of myself. I have Jesus, and he surely is the answer… but I must be careful to portray him in a light of selflessness and love. I see here that when people are hurting I must be careful as to how I love them… slow to anger… patient… kind… humble… enduring… the list in 1 Corinthians 13 is a beautiful ideal as to how love is walked out and it is precisely what would have been of help to Job. Job needed friends who would lead him to truth… and in his dark hour… the only thing that would do that was simple silence. In my life am I willing to endure silence for the sake of loving my friends… am I willing to simply shut up and listen… am I willing to intercede for them in quietness before God instead of telling them how to fix their problems. The real issue behind all this is whether I trust that God loves his children more than I do… because if he does I don’t have to feel pressured to do something extraordinarily to solve their problems. This isn’t a freedom to shirk responsibility… but a freedom to love people appropriately in selflessness and humility before God Almighty.

I am not precisely sure how I can apply this truth other than learning how to be a better listener. Something that has been on my heart all this year is simply talking less and being more willing to let others speak and to hear them out. I realize more and more that it is wise to be careful of my words… and in relationships especially it is important. Yeah, practical application of this truth will be an every day thing that I can only do through the Holy Spirit helping me see clearly that I cannot be people’s hero. Jesus is the savior people need in times of distress… he is willing and able to deliver those who are hopeless… which is all of us, without him. So… I will be a speaker of truth to all mankind… and now I see that I also must be a listener, that His love might shine on those He loves.

(so the other main point in the book of Job... the root of all wisdom... seeing the reality of who God is... so I threw this video that portrays the REALITY of who God is... the one true living ALMIGHTY Creator of EVERYTHING)

Matthew

2008-06-20T08:14:00.000-07:00

Matthew 5.3-11 ‘Blessed are the poor… who mourn… meek… merciful… pure in heart… peacemakers… persecuted…’

Timeless Truth = God’s way… his kingdom… is entirely different than man’s. “I see things upside down”

I just finished a conversation with a friend and we were speaking of how God’s kingdom… Jesus’ kingdom of righteousness… is diametrically opposed to that which man desires. This reality is extraordinarily apparent to me as I read through the Beatitudes… as I see Jesus teaching about forgiveness… about humility like a child… about loving enemies… about abandoning one’s life for the sake of gaining the real thing. This truth is hitting me as I go through this text. Even in lecture… I see very clearly that all that Jesus brought was a fulfillment of the shadow that God made before his coming. The world in which I live is a shadow of the glory to come… just as the Law and Prophets were but a shadow of how Jesus would come to bring complete restoration and redemption to fallen man by ushering forth a kingdom of sins forgiven. He offers eternal life to those who would be doers of his word… and his word is different than that which man desires to live by. I have in my mind a picture of what justice looks like. I have in my mind a picture of what freedom looks like. I have in my mind a picture of what should be righteous or good… and God comes in an says that he has something entirely different but altogether superior and good and free and just and beautiful. I want what he wants… I want to walk humbly that I might partake of the glorious gift that he offers by his grace. I trust in what he has… I don’t know what it’s going to be but I want it. This truth blows me away… and I want to walk in it. I have been trying to walk this out for the sake of finding his glory. As I read these beatitudes I am challenged to check whether I am walking these out or whether I am trying to find life and peace and rest and joy in their opposites.

I want to be blessed… I want the genuine article… so yeah, I want to be found as these. I want to be poor and contrite in heart before my Maker. I want to mourn with those who mourn and rejoice when it is time to rejoice. I want to be meek before not only the one true sovereign living God, my God… but also to be meek before man in comparing myself. I want to be merciful… to dare to trust that God can bring redemption and restoration through forgiveness and not through revenge. I want to be pure in my heart… I am desperately hungry and thirsty for righteousness because I am a fallen man with no hope in my own righteousness. I want to be a peacemaker… for I long to see the day when those I love find peace and rest and joy… I long for the day when those I don’t know, those I don’t love, find peace and rest and joy. I have a hard time saying that I want to be persecuted for righteousness’ sake… but really… yes, I do… if it means that people will see the life that Jesus has offered… for eternity hangs in the balance. So yeah, Jesus, continue to wreck my face on this one. I want to spend some time in God’s word this summer going back over all that I have learned in SBS and developing good quiet time and study habits. I have taken some strides to discipline myself this year but for my practical studies I want to go through the Beatitudes again this summer. This is my application of this reality. I want to be rooted in these words… perhaps even try to memorize these things… chapters 5,6, & 7 of Matthew. Jesus, change me to see how you do… for I see things upside down.

My favorite musician Derek Webb has a song called “What is not love” that addresses how we see things upside down.

The lines of the song are essentially a confession…

What looks like failure is success
And what looks like poverty is riches
When what is true looks more like a knife
It looks like you're killing me
But you're saving my life

But I give myself to what looks like love
And I sell myself for what feels like love
And I pay to get what is not love
And all just because I see things upside down
What looks like weakness can do anything

And what looks like foolishness is understanding
When what is powerful has not come to fight
It looks like you're going to war
But you lay down your life

What looks like torture is a time to rejoice
What sounds like thunder is a comforting voice
When what is beautiful looks broken and crushed
And I say I don't know you
But you say it's finished
When what is beautiful looks broken and crushed
And I say I don't know you
But you say it's finished

Malachi

2008-06-15T17:52:00.000-07:00

Relationships are not designed to meet selfish needs… selflessness makes healthy relationships

So, this seems like a simple thing but really… I have noticed that this is a hard one for me to live out. While I see the imperative in God’s word to love others… I often fail to deal well when I feel left out of being loved in return… I often see my relationships as having a purpose to meet my needs. I wonder if I love people for the sake of loving and blessing them… or if it’s for the sake of getting what I need out of people. This truth came from a section in Malachi which speaks against divorce… a passage where it is clear that God’s heart for marriage was not for selfish gain. At first this passage struck me about my desire for a wife… for I need to examine my intentions in desiring the blessing a wife is. Do I want this for my own personal gain… for I see a lot of awesome blessings as the benefit of being married. In the midst of seeing the blessing it is to be married I was challenged to think to myself exactly what my motivation is in this desire… which triggered me to think of what my relationships with other people are all about. This truth should just affect committed marriage relationships… but also all relationships that I have. I want my relationships with my friends, with my family, with my eventual wife and children… to be healthy and Godly… and the only way I can contribute to making this happen is by being completely selfless. It is interesting to see through God’s word that my relationship is all about him… and then now I was humbled yesterday and today to realize that the relationships I have with others are not supposed to be about me either. I guess I have understood this before… and I might even walk it out at certain points… I learned much about this while studying psychology in college. I guess this truth just hit me like a ton of bricks these last few days because I have been wrestling through some things regarding this year and taking a bit of inventory on my life this year. The reality is that all things considered I believe I could say I am getting better at loving people… and this is encouraging to me. The thing that irks me though is that I feel rather lonely a great deal of the time… even forgotten or not cared about by others. Whether this is the reality or not is in many ways inconsequential… for in this simple truth I realize that I need to stop looking for others to meet my needs and look to Christ. His grace is sufficient… and by walking in the freedom he has given I can receive the truth of others’ love for me. When I am looking for something from others I realize that I get blinded to the ever present reality that God’s love is all that truly matters. Yeah… so this has awoken something inside me that I still don’t really understand… but I want to. I see very clearly that selfishness on my part as I look at relationships I have will be my ruin. I must love freely and selflessly if I desire to be a light to those I love… and I can do this as I trust in God’s word to faithfully speak his life to me… through other people or through his means… his grace will be enough.

To practically apply this I really want to make sure that I base my relationships from now on not on what people do for me… or what I get out of the relationships… but just in selflessness. This has made me take a step back also in how I desire a woman or a wife. It’s actually rather humbling… to realize that I must be careful not to think some woman is going to be able to be what God alone can be to me. I know this truth… I have heard it and learned it before… but it is elusive to me nonetheless. I want to do things right… and I sincerely pray that God will help me remember this truth every day of my life. I honestly feel like I have walked this out fairly well in a lot of ways… but regardless of all that I see the imperative to truly be a selfless servant toward others. I have been reading a few books that talk about sacrificing for the sake of others and it is affirming what I hear God speaking in this truth. True change and life and light will only come into this world as I lay myself down for the sake of others. So yeah… God, help me see this and live it out. By the way Mark… I gave you a few bucks on your café account so you can get yourself a coffee… love you bro.

(these are our new SBS hoodies we got this year... they say "Primary Observation = I dominated SBS 08" and then have a tree that says "Stand Firmly Rooted" and have the verse Ephesians 3.14-19 which speaks of being rooted and grounded in the love of Christ.)

Snowing in June...

2008-06-11T09:02:00.001-07:00

Yep... just wanted to share that with everybody... it snowed on June 10th 2008 in Montana where i am doing my SBS. I never thought I would ever be in a place where it snowed in June... pretty amazing. This California kid has seen it all I guess...

Zechariah

2008-06-09T09:01:00.000-07:00

Messianic Predictions

Throughout the book of Zechariah the entire point of God’s word to his people is that they have a glorious future ahead of them as they are found in Him. He has disciplined them harshly… but it is now time to move on learn from the mistakes of their fathers. God offers them life and death… and in his Messiah there is a glorious hope that seems truly too good to be true. The prophecies about this servant will be fulfilled… as surely as God has proven himself for the last thousand plus years to his people Israel. They doubted him before and paid dearly… and now he offers them a glorious hope that they can tangibly welcome… a Savior who will deliver them into a glorious day of sins forgiven and victory over all that would harm them. The hope that is set before them is found in this Messiah… who will suffer for the sake of their glory… who will usher in a new day of security and triumph. God loves his people… he is jealous for Zion… and the fullness of his desire to restore humanity to Eden will be made manifest in the coming of the Messiah. He will remove the iniquity of man in one day… holding every man in righteousness before God as they are forgiven in him. He will be a King to rule over all the earth… establishing a glorious kingdom in which the worship of Yahweh will be paramount. It will be a time of comfort… it will be a time of gathering the nations so that God will reign as shepherd, providing faithfully his love poured out in justice and peace. This servant will be a humble and merciful peacemaker… restoring man not by violence but by overwhelming the spiritual forces to bring and end to evil in humanity. The wicked will be devoured… the evil within creation purged… and all that will remain will be set apart to worship Yahweh… the holy ones of humanity worshiping their Maker in a glorious day of light and rejoicing. This is what will come through the Messiah… living water will pour from his throne… God’s purpose will be completed as his name is glorified through all earth b/c of his Messiah.

To the original reader these prophecies showed a hope worth hanging onto… they desperately desired this redemption from the Messiah to come. They would wonder when these things were to come to pass… realizing the hope and glory that come through God’s promised Messiah. They saw God promised a beautiful end… and they would hold on… desiring the fruits of God’s love and redemption.

Today we see that this is Jesus the Christ… the Messiah. The word has become flesh and the reality for us now is that God has brought his life and light to the world as he said he would. What he offers is beautiful… we can look at God’s word in Zechariah and in the other prophets and see that God fulfilled his words… he spoke of the future and Jesus fulfilled it. The reality for us is that the blessings that come in trusting in Christ are here offered… living water… security in his covenant of blood… sins forgiven… he offers genuine hope and life of eternal restoration with the Father. The kingdom is here… the kingdom is now… yet today the world lives as if it lost… believers live as if they are without. No, Christ has come… he has brought life and light to the world. It is here… as surely as God’s word has come true his mercy and life is indeed here… all that is left to do is to believe and walk in the life he offers.

Daniel

2008-06-06T08:27:00.000-07:00

Character of Daniel

Daniel is just a flat out stud. This guy did pretty much everything right in God’s eyes. He started with nothing… in fact he had every reason to turn out as a pagan God-hating man. He was taken from everything that he knew… his family… his culture… his God… and placed in a society that spent all of its energy to complete destroy his former identity and make him a robot of the king. He didn’t even come from a God-fearing family or people… for Judah was an evil nation at the time he was taken. Something inside of him though loved God’s Law and feared Yahweh alone above all else. He was a teenager being brainwashed yet he saw that the moment he stopped fearing Yahweh was them moment he was altogether lost. Everything he did was for the glory of God… he feared not man… yet he was humble and prudent enough to exercise wisdom in how to interact with those who despised him. He challenged authority without attacking it… he dared to step into situations that looked utterly desperate and trusted in Yahweh for salvation. He was altogether humble… knowing full well his place in the order of creation as God’s subject to glorify his Maker to all people. He was merciful to those who were technically his enemies… valuing their lives every bit as much as his own. He developed loving relationships with those who exercised authority over him by doing all of his worth with absolute excellence… for he did everything to the glory of God… not for his own sake or the sake of those who ruled over him in human authority. He didn’t change the way he worshipped God based on man… fearing Yahweh even more than hands of men who would seek to kill him for the way he stood for God’s glory. The most beautiful thing about Daniel is that he was truly holy as God was holy… set apart. In his being set apart and excellent in everything he found God’s favor amongst even the men that failed to honor God as Maker. He was a witness for God’s glory and a beautiful witness at that. He was a light for the sake of God’s glory because he lived to honor Yahweh in ALL that he did. He didn’t have to fear man… he didn’t have to promote himself… he didn’t have any needs… he didn’t have to protect himself… he didn’t have to proclaim God’s glory through his words… for his actions spoke loudly and boldly of the glory of Yahweh as the one true living God, maker of heaven and earth and ruler of all man.

The OR would see that Daniel was a man blessed by God and would see that it was because of his humble understanding that all of life was to glorify Yahweh. It was clear as day to them too… his life would challenge them to see what God offered them as they obeyed his Law above all else. Daniel had what they wanted… and the beautiful thing is that God offers it to them too if they would but fear him alone as Daniel did. Life is available for them… Daniel wasn’t an exception to God’s mercy… he was the standard that God desired for all humanity. He was a light to the nations… he was a blessed man… he experienced God’s salvation. They too could partake of the blessing upon Daniel… if they would but choose life in obedience to the covenant relationship they had with Yahweh.

Today the character of Daniel is still the standard… unfortunately not lived up to by most believers in Christ… but the standard nonetheless. Daniel did not live a radical or extraordinary life for Christ. He lived what should be the norm… a life of simple and humble obedience to God’s heart & God’s Law. Any individual can be Daniel… any individual can change the world… and individual can live unashamedly for the glory of Yahweh... the Heavenly Father of the true Savior Jesus Christ. Daniel was a light as God desired. This is what will change the world… what will bring nations to life… souls desiring the glory of God. Man doesn’t know what’s best… God does… and we can learn from Daniel’s example… seeing that as we walk glorifying our Maker… we will indeed as a world find life and be restored to Eden. This is not just some idealistic hope that is impossible… it is the reality that God offers those who would dare to live for him.

Ezekiel

2008-06-03T10:23:00.000-07:00

God’s Communication

God speaks very plainly to his people in exile throughout the book of exile. He shows clear images that would grasp the attention of those he wishes to lead to repentance. He uses Ezekiel as a sign to show the impending doom that is to be upon them as they walk in sin. He proclaims time and time again that he is the LORD… the one true living Maker of heaven and earth who alone is to be feared. He proclaims after every word that his purpose in speaking to them is that they might know that he is life… speaking almost 80 times that this is so that they will know that Yahweh is sovereign God. He proclaims multiple times that he desires life for man… speaking that his word is a call to repentance. His word of destruction and justice brought upon sin is so that man will have a hope of life and restoration. His word of a promised restoration is his kindness and steadfast love that is to lead his people to repentance. God speaks in many ways the same message through Ezekiel… he offers life… he doesn’t enjoy bringing his wrath… but he must… so choose life. This is the message he is speaking… choose life, not death.

For the original readers this message would take them back to see that God is speaking so mightily to them. They have been foolish and now would realize that God’s word was right before their eyes. God was clearly communicating to them through his prophets… God was remaining faithful to his people by speaking to them… warning them that they must not walk in the sin they were enslaved to. They failed to listen… they ignored God’s word of warning. He offers restoration to them if they would be listen… if they would turn from the lies they had fallen into and give God a chance. God proved that his word was REALITY… his word was fulfilled… he is the TRUE God. In him they are offered life… and this is just the way it is. God spoke to them… and is still speaking to them… they would realize that it is time to listen.

Today God is still speaking mightily to all humanity. He has proclaimed his word in the scriptures. He fulfilled his word about Jesus and he lays before mankind a beautiful hope for salvation and everlasting life. He proclaims his timeless heart that none would perish but that all would find life in him. God is not up in heaven wishing to bring his wrath upon anyone… but the reality is that man has failed to heed his abundant warnings to listen to his call to repentance. He speaks loudly through his written word. He speaks loudly through nature… he speaks loudly through the pain and anguish in the world. The problem today is that we too are unwilling to listen. We are unwilling to heed his the written scriptures and live according to God’s Law. We are unwilling to stop all our busyness and take time to just get away with God. We are dying in today’s culture because we have ignored God’s voice. It’s not that God is failing to communicate… it’s that man fails to listen.

*This picture is the vision of God's glory that Ezekiel saw... God was speaking clearly through this abstract picture that he is mighty... he holds all power in his hands...

Jeremiah

2008-05-31T08:10:00.000-07:00

God just wants us to be real with him… He made man for genuine relationship w/ him

This year has been something else… I am so thankful for the opportunity that I have had to just delve into God’s word and pull truth after truth after truth out of it. The hardest part is that I feel like I am drinking from a fire hose… having so many different things that I am learning without the time enough to really meditate on it. In the midst of all this the thing I fear the most is that I would be working so hard to be excellent and getting God’s word that I would lose sight of the fact that what I have with Yahweh through Jesus’ blood is relationship. In Jeremiah I see a man who was able to just be real with God about his emotions… who had no fear to glorify God with his actions and no hesitation to simply be real with all of his emotions. My flesh would lead me to be a perfectionist and the sad reality of this is that I often feel like I have to be perfectly happy and content with all that comes up in my life. I often wonder if there is something wrong with me in how I lament so often with God. I see in my flesh this feeling of discontentment and “woe is me” attitude. While I don’t see God being pleased with that I do see that God wants us to wrestle through things with him, for he is patient to love us through the things we don’t understand. This blesses me… because I surely don’t understand a lot of things… and all I want is to have the freedom to be understood and to just be… well… me. God is cool with this and it blesses my heart to see the reality that God just wants relationship with me. I see in Jeremiah’s laments and even in the book of Lamentations that God wants to be a part of man’s life and can deal with the mess. He says that he alone can heal… and that is why I am so thankful for Christ’s blood. I need healing… big time… all the time. I needed salvation and he has given it freely by his blood. In the Christology passage in Colossians 1.20, paraphrasing Eugene Peterson here… “all of the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe are restored into vibrant harmonies through the blood of Christ poured out on the cross”. This to me shows that God is in the business of restoration and I need it. I don’t know how to get there without just being honest with my Maker… my Savior. Jesus says that we are friends of God through his blood in John 15.15-16… and I am honest with my friends… living in open and real relationships with them.

I don’t know how to really apply this other than just continuing to walk in relationship with God. I have come to appreciate so much just the quiet times that I have with my living Savior. I now see in Jeremiah a man who was intimate with his Maker and I am thankful that Christ is here with me every moment… walking in relationship with me.

Lamentations

2008-05-30T16:34:00.000-07:00

My Closing thoughts on Lamentations

As I read through Lamentations I see Jeremiah trying to paint a picture so God’s people will understand more clearly who they are and who God is. This is the entire point of this writing… to bring God’s people to see that they are not God… to show them that they are hopeless without him. This is something that has become increasingly powerful in my mind especially lately. I have been working with a youth group here in town and I see more clearly every Wednesday evening how utterly lost this world is. These kids are good kids… but they are blinded to the reality that they are hungry and thirsty and desperate for God. I see more and more clearly that they are utterly hopeless every moment that they look for life apart from God. I am so thankful for what God has given me… and I am broken at the thought of people being without the genuine article of life that God offers. God has offered us living water through Christ… he has offered us all the blessings of the kingdom of God NOW. Yet… we choose less. I see this in the high school kids… I see this in the church today… I see this in my own life… the temptation to settle for less than what God says is best. It’s not that everything is bad… there are good things that I desire… but am I going to seek life in those things or in what God desires as best for me? I don’t know much… but I know that I want what God has… and I will not settle for less. If he has living water then I want it. If he has REAL… GENUINE… life… then I want it. This is what I see in Lamentations… a man broken that his people have traded the truth of God for a lie. They chose selfishness and sin, which brought death… instead of what God offered in his righteous ways, which is pure life.
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
"See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey… then you shall & God will bless you. But if your heart turns away… you shall surely perish. I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days…”
This is what I see as I read through Lamentations. God offers life and death… Judah chose death… I am not going to make the mistake Judah chose. It seems like such a simple decision but I am humbled at how often I choose sin instead of righteousness. This also breaks my heart… and I see it in this book… that I am a fallen human and for some reason sin seems attractive to me. I would rather have death… that’s the bottom line… for my flesh will do everything it can to make me walk in sin… to think that sin is attractive. Sin sucks… there is no life in it… period. We as humans are absolute morons to think that sin brings any sort of joy or rest or happiness. Selfishness is sin… hate is sin… and these two things pretty much are the cause of all pain and suffering in this world. So… the hell with them. I want love… I want selfishness… I want to walk in God’s ways… because you know what… in God’s ways there is life, the genuine article.

God offers restoration, redemption, rest, security, joy, peace, hope… eternal life… REAL… TRUE… GENUINE… life. He has come and brought life and love and light to a world of darkness in Christ. I want that. I want the real stuff. I am tired of what sin offers… I don’t want death… I don’t want all the crap… I don’t want what sucks. I want God… I want what he wants… he wants life for me… and I want life for me. All these equations make it seem so simple… thank you Jesus that it is simple. The beautiful thing that I see in Lamentations is that God wants this for me. This is what I have seen throughout God’s word. He wants life for us… he is working relentlessly to restore us… by his awesome grace that we in no way deserve he is working to rid this world of sin and restore us to himself in righteousness. This is why Christ came… this is why he wants us to walk in his commandments… this is why we dare not look at the cross and think anything less than of God’s steadfast love. He has restored us who find ourselves in Christ…

HALLELUJAH… what a SAVIOR… we were dead in our sins and he has made us ALIVE!!!

Habakkuk

2008-05-23T07:42:00.000-07:00

Faith

Habakkuk the prophet learned a great deal about trust through his interaction with the Lord in this book. He spoke directly to the Lord… asking him some difficult questions and expectant of answers. Perhaps this is the first thing to be learned about faith… that God was willing to answer the questions of Habakkuk because he cried out to him alone… he sought Yahweh for salvation and deliverance and was unwilling to just accept what was happening without being in relationship with God. Habakkuk didn’t doubt God was alive and active… he just didn’t understand and was desperate for God’s hand. The second thing that is quite clear in Habakkuk is that as soon as God spoke he was attentive and patient. He acknowledged who God was and was willing to be patient for God’s word to come to fruition. He realized he didn’t have to force God’s hand… that God truly was alive in his life and his gratitude for God’s sovereignty was displayed as he simply let God be God. As he saw more and more of who God truly was he simply took a step back and dared to believe in God’s awesome deliverance despite the disastrous circumstances in his life. He realized and rejoiced in the reality of God’s mighty hand to save those who belong to him. He didn’t give up because he saw whom he believed. This is the greater reality that pervaded Habakkuk’s life… once he had a clear glimpse of his Maker he understood his place in relationship to him. He understood that God really does hold the world in his hand… that he truly is Maker… Deliverer… Judge… Savior… Consuming Fire… the ONE TRUE ALMIGHTY GOD over ALL creation. He also very clearly saw that he was good despite the circumstances that Habakkuk and God’s people were going through. He understood that somehow & some way God will ultimately make things all come together for the good of those who love him… those who are found in him.

The sad reality is that this is not where Judah was… they failed to see who God was and as a result they had absolutely no belief in the reality of who he was. Unfortunately for them their lack of faith did not change who God was… he remained the same despite their ignorance of his being the overriding REALITY in all creation. That’s the crazy thing that they didn’t see but Habakkuk saw. They placed their faith in that which was temporal… idols and sin. Habakkuk saw what was eternal… GOD… and he realized that his only hope was in placing all he had on God. Judah ultimately paid the price for their foolishness… for failing to trust in God for their deliverance.

Today it is sad to say, but our culture is the same. We have chosen not to trust in God… to live in ignorance of his being the overwhelming REALITY in all that exists. This world is not contingent on what we believe but we live like it is. The world is contingent upon who God is… and we are suffering because our mindset has been so warped to think that we can make God who we want him to be. We fail to see as Habakkuk did… that he OWNS it all. He made it all… he can unmake it all at any moment. We have chosen ignorance… thinking it bliss… when the TRUTH is that this world is fallen and broken and utterly desperate for God without even knowing it. We need God’s hand… yet we reject it. We are hungry and thirsty for the bread of life… for his living water… yet we don’t even know it and would rather walk around in the deception that the temporal things of this world can somehow fulfill us.
Luke 18:7-8
‘And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’

(This picture is a few years old... but a waterfall I went to on a hike in Arizona... a place called Havasu Canyon. This was probably the most vivid example of living water I have ever experienced. This place was a true oasis. In the middle of the desert outside the Grand Canyon this place springs up... it was the clearest most beautiful water I had ever seen... especially after hiking 10 miles without the hint of any water...)

Obadiah

2008-05-20T15:05:00.000-07:00

Obadiah v.15 “as you have done, it shall be done to you..."

Timeless Truth = You reap what you sow…

It’s funny to think about this verse… because it seems to be in a context of judgment… that in doing evil you will bring upon your own self evil. While I am not too afraid of necessarily reaping harsh consequences to my behavior… and I say this altogether humbly… I just am not afraid of God’s wrath b/c of Christ’s mercy in my life. What I am challenged by though is that I am seeing more and more all the things that I can be sowing into. It’s funny to think about how I want to see the world changed. Yes… I want to see the world changed. I want every person on this planet to have peace and rest and joy. And yes, I will gladly boast that I know how that can happen… through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ… my Savior. He is life for everyone and I will surely boast in him… hopefully in all humility… but also hopefully with all zeal. This is where I want to be… sowing into people’s lives. I see this truth playing out a bit differently than the context it is in but nonetheless I see it as a principle that works on the positive side as well as the harsh side. I see in every aspect of my life how every moment I can choose either to sow into God’s kingdom or how to sow into my own selfishness. I see how I can do what I can to love others… and I see how I can be deceived into thinking that what I want is what is “best”. This softens my heart… for I have been given so much, in all humility again, I have been given great blessings and great gifts in Christ… and I am seeing more and more that all I have is his… and I desire all the more to use it for his kingdom.

This challenges me with my finances… to be generous. This challenges me in my time… to invest it wisely in rest and in pouring myself out for others. This challenges me in my relationships… to have fierce and deep conversations with all I meet. This challenges me in love… daring to pour myself out for the sake of all people equally. This challenges me in the way of my desires… to be willing to sacrifice myself for the sake of loving people to see Christ. This challenges me in the way of my devotions with the LORD… to see that every moment spent with him is loving others and blessing my wonderful Savior. Most importantly this challenges me to really examine how I relate to that which is eternal… God and people. What do I do to others… how do I love others… do I love others well… do they see Christ in me… do they experience his love and light when they leave me. I could care less what they think of me… I could care less about what I get out of it… I just want them to experience His life. I trust that my reward is in heaven w/ Christ. Oh, that he would be glorified in my life… which means I reap into what he reaped into… people. Yeah… I am so thankful to be reminded how vital it is for me to simply… be… HIS.

(this is a video of a panoramic shot of Many Glacier... giving a bit better idea of what our view was as we hiked)

Zephaniah

2008-05-19T20:42:00.000-07:00

Zephaniah 3.17 “Fear not, O Zion… I will gather you… I will save… I will restore your fortunes before your eyes… ”

God does not relent… he will not relent… in bringing his justice… in restoring man

So this year our school has had a worship song that has kind of become our theme song… called “You won’t Relent”. It has captured the minds of our entire school b/c it is the reality of God’s love over us… that he is working powerfully to save us… his children. The song is a beautiful song that sums up God’s heart towards us in this powerful chorus line about how he won’t let go of us… then the rest of the song is how we are called to respond. This is what has rocked me in this book… God’s relentless pursuit of restoring his paradise, Eden. This is God’s heart for man… that sin and evil would no longer exist. The harsh reality of it though is that those who are under the law of sin and death will perish with it. I know that this is not who I am… for as I respond in gratitude and trust I have nothing but the hope of taking part in God’s restoration of creation. This is the song… I have just been meditating on it recently… daring to ask myself if I really grasp the gravity of God’s relentless pursuit to restore me and this world to what he desires.

“You won’t Relent”

You won't relent until You have it all
My heart is Yours

I'll set You as a seal upon my heart
As a seal upon my arm
For there is love that is as strong as death
Jealousy demanding as the grave
Many waters cannot quench this love

Come be the fire inside of me
Come be the flame upon my heart
Come be the fire inside of me
Until You and I are one

I am so thankful that God has shown himself relentless in pursuing me… that he is relentless in pursuing mankind to show them the reality of his justice against sin and his relentless calls to repentance. What challenges me is to ask whether I am willing to live my life relentlessly for him. He is going to have his way… he is God… not me. I have been spending the last few years trying to make big decisions that are surrendered to his will… and I am so thankful that he has been guiding me in that way. What I see more clearly now is that I must relentlessly abandon myself to him in every tiny aspect of my life… whether I feel like it or not. I want those words “My heart is yours” to mean so much more than just being thankful… for I am his. I have been bought with a price… & I see now that life is found in the overwhelming reality that he owns me and can do with me what he pleases. This is where I am seeing I must now live… belonging to him and abandoned to his will. Perhaps that’s why I love this song so much.

Many Glacier

2008-05-18T17:07:00.000-07:00

So this week we had a little bit smaller load of work... so I talked with my friend Sam about trying to go to the other side of Glacier National Park... the East Side. The hard part about going there is that it is a 2 1/2 hour drive around the entire park to get there and it gets a lot more snow and usually isn't open until later. This week we have utterly beautiful weather and the forecast was for 80+ degree weather so we went for it. We ended up having the most beautiful day and found an amazing hike even though we couldn't get to our final location because of the threat of avalanches. These are the pictures from our trip... some are from an area called St. Mary's Lake... which we stopped at just to see... but the area where we hiked was called Many Glacier. So my friends who were with me were Sam from SBS, who is also a NC boy... and one of our new friends, a friend of one of the other students... a girl named Aja from Canada.

Micah

2008-05-15T17:47:00.000-07:00

Justice

This book could easily be referred to as God’s courtroom because the entire heart of the message through Micah is that God is coming down to bring HIS justice to his creation. In his nation this was written at a time of great sin caused by idolatry… sins of social injustice that would be hard to imagine if there wasn’t such harsh injustice prevalent in the world today. The overriding message of this book is that God is prosecutor, jury, and judge. The reality presented in Micah is that not only will man be judged at the Day of the LORD… all are judged right now… constantly under God’s Law. ALL humanity is under the hand of God’s judgment… and he will have justice… he will make sure that righteousness rules over creation… for this was his intent from the beginning and he is God and he will have his will done on earth. God’s desire for justice is a scary thought for those who are walking in sin but for those who are being oppressed… the faithful who love God and have sought after righteousness… this bringing of justice is deliverance and salvation. This is the double-edged sword of justice… when judgment is over a person they are desperate for mercy… and when a person is walking in righteousness judgment upon their enemies is deliverance and mercy is that deliverance. God will have his justice… he will make things right… the question is whether or not people will be found righteous & blameless in his sight… or whether they will be found utterly guilty for walking in sin and wickedness.

For Judah this message of God’s impending justice was a harsh word for an evil nation. They had turned wholly from the LORD to idolatry and corruption and injustice. They had utterly disregarded God’s Law… his desire that ALL peoples should be provided for and blessed. They wickedly perverted justice for the sake of personal gain… the rich grew richer at the expense of the poor. As God brought his courtroom before them they could not say a word in their defense… they were guilty as charged for the sins they knew not to commit. For this God brought his hand of punishment upon them… prophesying over them destruction and devastation… that their iniquities would lead them into exile. Now we can look back and see that God did all that he said he would but Judah would have simply seen God’s word and realized they had messed up and were going to be punished for it. The beautiful part of God’s justice is that it is mercy for the faithful… for those who love God and walk in righteousness. So… even this harsh discipline was a call to repentance… a call to seek his mercy for grace… that they would be together found in his steadfast love and restored to him in deliverance.

Today God’s rule still governs humanity… he will ultimately judge and his now standing over his creation as judge. Not much has changed… we still are stupid and walk in our sin instead of seeking after his righteousness. God’s words to us mean nothing… just as God’s words to his people Judah meant nothing to them.

Micah 6.8

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you… but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

God has shown us what he loves… and what will come to humanity when he ultimately judges. Those who are found in sin will only find death and his wrath… while those who are faithful and seek righteousness have this hope…

Matthew 5.3-10 (The Sermon on the Mount)

5.3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…”
5.4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted…”
5.5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth…”
5.6 “Blessed are those who hunger & thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied…”
5.7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy…”
5.8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God…”
5.9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God…”
5.10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…”

Today we see things upside down… we see selfish gain and personal pleasure as blessing when in all reality we are willing to sell our souls for them… we live in sin thinking that there is life and hope in it alone. The truth couldn’t be any more different… we have traded the truth of God for a lie. God will purge this world of all evil and only the faithful will remain. While this is scary because all are sinful and evil before God’s eyes… in Christ there is hope for the hopeless… he is our righteousness… and in his gift of mercy there is an ever present righteousness imputed to those who walk with God. This is not a free ticket to simply say some prayer and then be saved… it is the overwhelming reality to those who are found faithful to God through the merits of Christ. God will bring his justice… those not found in Christ will bear the weight of their iniquities… while those found in Christ, the faithful, have a promise of eternal life and a hope of glory that is assured in Him.

Isaiah

2008-05-13T15:37:00.000-07:00

Isaiah 12.2 “…I will trust, & will not be afraid; for the LORD God is my strength and my song, & he has become my salvation”

Yahweh is the One True God Almighty over all creation…

God the Father

Holy One of Israel
Holy God
The King
The Most High
Maker
LORD of hosts
Mighty One of Israel
The Rock of your refuge
The God of Israel
Lord GOD of Hosts
The Majestic One
LORD God of Israel
Teacher

An everlasting rock

Rock of Israel
God of David
The living God
The everlasting God
The Holy One
The Creator
The LORD your God
The first & last = I am he
Redeemer
King of Jacob
Your King
Rock

The One high & lifted up
The God of truth
Creator of Israel
Savior

Jesus the Christ (Messiah)

Branch of the LORD
Immanuel (God with us)
A great light…
Wonderful Counselor
Mighty God
Everlasting Father
Prince of Peace
Shoot from stump of Jesse
Root of Jesse
My servant
His Holy One
My chosen
Man of sorrows
Your light
The Righteous One

Who we are in Christ

My Delight is in Her
Married
The Holy People
The Redeemed of the LORD
Sought Out
A City Not Forsaken

This rocked me this week to just see who God says he is and then to see who he says Christ is… and then to see who God says that we are because of God’s redemption in our lives. This is REALITY… according to God’s word. If these words are true… which they are… then how do I live my life? I live it with a reckless abandon… yeah… with no fear… because I know whom I have believed. My God is none less than the One True Living God… the Maker of heaven & earth. He delights in me… he has redeemed me… he sees me as Holy because of Christ’s work of redemption. This is freedom for me… to see who God is and see who I am because of it. How could I say anything less than Hallelujah every moment of every day. My hope is as secure as God is over the universe… praise God… seriously… I just want to live in the TRUTH… seeing who I am because of who my God and my Savior is.

Jonah

2008-05-08T07:51:00.000-07:00

Jonah 4.11 “…should not I pity…”

God is not to be manipulated… he will do his will despite our opinions of what’s best

The entire story of Jonah gets me in this one simple fact that is evident throughout the text. Jonah was disobedient because he didn’t like what God was going to do for his sworn enemy. As I think about what this meant for Jonah I realize again this truth that my opinion of what is best is not necessarily what God’s opinion is. Do I think that I can trick God into doing what I think is best? Do I live in anger against God for the ways in which he does his will here on this earth… constantly angry at his mercy shown to certain people and not to others? This is a crucial issue today in the lives of many believers and I have to be humble and say that I wrestle with this too. I cannot escape the fact that I often times would rather God do something different than what he has chosen to bring about. I guess this is the core of our fallen nature… we think we know what’s best… especially when we cannot understand at all the difficulties of life that we are faced with. As we were going through this book yesterday, I was humbled at the thought that I would question what God is doing in my life and in the lives of others. I realized a while ago that even though my desires may be good they can oppose what God says is best… what God is actually doing. I don’t know if any of this really makes sense to me in all totality but the core issue that I must face every moment of every day is whether or not I will abandon myself to trust him as GOD over my life. Will I dare to let go of my will and ask him what he wants and then be willing to accept what comes? Do I try to manipulate God to do what I think he should do… and then do I get angry when things don’t come out the way I wanted them to? This is the core issue behind trust… really accepting what God offers with a heart of rest and peace. I don’t know if I do this well but I want to. I am seeing more and more clearly that he does indeed love us… that he does indeed know what is best for us. I want to dare to believe this… despite my doubts and fears and even the desires I have that are good. I want to abandon myself to trusting his goodness… especially as I look at the cross… how he has proved his great and merciful love to us. Why wouldn’t I trust such a wonderful Savior… such an amazing Creator… such a Redeemer… for that is who Jesus is… that is who my God is.

I don’t know how to practically apply this except to continually rest in the reality of his grace… trusting him as I pray to show me what he wants… to ask boldly and confidently for him to do his will… trusting that whatever is coming in my life is under his great and awesome grasp.

Joel

2008-05-05T14:43:00.000-07:00

Day of the LORD

This book deals a harsh word to a people who have lost sight of fearing God. They have allowed themselves to fall away from the covenant they had with Yahweh… it isn’t described what their sin is… the imperative here is that their hearts are no longer God’s. This is the issue… not some specific sin… but rather that they have failed to acknowledge that Yahweh is their source of all life. Joel uses this picture of the day of the LORD to show very clearly that there is not time with which to waste in seeking Yahweh and glorifying him. The day of the LORD is proclaimed to be near… not because the world is coming to an end… but because the time to honor Yahweh as God over all creation is the immediate. This picture of a day of judgment is simply an object with which Judah is to see God’s hand over creation. The day of the LORD is used in a few different ways… all of which serve the purpose to show God’s people that if they find themselves in him they will have abundant life and the beautiful blessings that Yahweh alone offers. The day of the LORD is used as a day of judgment upon them to show them that they must seek him now… for if they don’t seek him with their hearts in humble reverence… they will find only death. The day is then flipped back into a picture of blessing for them if they are found in him… for if their hearts are his they have nothing to fear and only blessings upon blessing to enjoy. This is who God is… he proclaims that they can no him… now is the time at hand to walk with God… for in him… now… there is hope and life… without him there is only death and hopelessness.

For Judah this was accentuated by the harsh circumstances that were upon them in their immediate present. Determining how the book is interpreted the situation at hand for this nation of God’s people was utterly dire. They saw very clearly that the consequence of turning from God were far too fierce than what they would be able to endure or survive. They had reaped the just ends of their sin and saw very clearly that Yahweh alone was to be feared. This word of blessing and mercy though would take them aback to see that they have a gracious and merciful Savior in Yahweh, their God. He alone is God… he alone can save… and he is both willing and able. This is who they have in their corner… and if their hearts are seeking him they have absolutely nothing to fear at the day of the LORD.

Today this truth remains the same… though we are in a time more than 2700 years later than the time Joel wrote this… today is the day to seek God’s mercy and grace. The reality is that the day of the LORD is now… well… unless we just want the crappy life that comes from not walking with God. For those who don’t know God… those who want what the world offers… the sad truth is that the day of the LORD could be any moment. Judgment is knocking at everyone’s door and death comes in the blink of an eye to all. Those who claim to know Christ must stand aback in humility and reverence for God… living every moment not for ourselves but for the reality that tomorrow might be our last. The day of the LORD is at hand… Jesus might not be coming back tomorrow… but that doesn’t mean that we won’t be face to face with him tomorrow. If the fear of the LORD really is the beginning of all wisdom then we would be wise to live as if today might be our last… humbly glorifying our creator that we will meet… to either be welcomed home or condemned justly.

Hosea

2008-05-03T08:51:00.000-07:00

Hosea 14.1 “Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God… you stumbled because of your iniquity… ”

God desires to redeem those who are lost to him… none are outside his hand…

This truth really hit me in class the other day… that I so often fail to see that God’s heart is restoration for all who are lost. I get caught up in my own personal issues and fail to acknowledge the greater reality… that those who do not have Christ face the eternal ramifications of their sin without mercy. This is the greater reality in the world we live in… it is the overriding theme of God’s word and I see it as so encouraging in my life. Those who are found in Jesus have righteousness before God and will be forever restored with him… gaining eternal life through his blood.

1 John 5.12 “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life…”

The flipside of this that I often forget, and I am broken hearted at my lack of living in this truth, is that those who do not have Jesus’ blood as their forgiveness and righteousness… are, well, literally toast. It’s not that God isn’t merciful… he is… that’s the whole point. Jesus sacrificed his son so that none would be lost outside of him… but people must glorify him as the Son of God and believe in him as Savior. Sadly enough I often fail to recognize the gravity of this… for this is truth. I am distraught at how I fail to care though… for those I love who do not have Christ’s forgiveness over them. This wrecks me actually… as I think of all who are in my family that don’t know Jesus. Those who don’t know Jesus are under God’s wrath… it’s that simple… there is no mercy for them because they have rejected God’s mercy in Jesus. God loves them… surely… it is so apparent… that’s what the cross means… God’s love and forgiveness and mercy. But those who reject the cross and spurn God’s son have… well… nothing… and honestly they deserve it every bit as much as I do. I deserve death but God has spared me… that’s TRUTH. Yeah… so this breaks my heart… to see that there are those who don’t know him and realize that I don’t do anything about it. God loves them… he desires them to know him… they are not outside of his mercy… BUT… they must choose him… they must accept his forgiveness and bow their knee to trust in Jesus Christ as God’s Son and their only hope for Salvation.

In many ways this is my practical application because many in my family will read this and hopefully this REALITY will change their hearts to seek God’s face and know him… or at least… I hope that it will awaken myself and them to the desperate need that we have for Christ as individuals… and the desperate circumstance that those we love are in. This is no light thing… and that’s what I am confessing to… that I have not treated it with the gravity it demands. The other practical thing I am going to be doing is praying daily for those I love to be awakened to God’s great mercy that they are lost without.

Michaela's Hollywood 21st Birthday Party

2008-04-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

This week was Michaela's 21st birthday... so this last Sunday we had a crazy big birthday party for her and everyone dressed up like celebrities. I chose to go as Joe Dirt because I thought it would be funny... he was a character in a rather less reputable comedy movie quite a few years back. I thought it would be funny... and it was... even though I felt rather gross as the most redneck character of all time throughout the party. No worries... these are some pictures of my friends in our outfits.

Amos

2008-04-28T12:27:00.000-07:00

Social Injustice

In a time of prosperity and peace Amos hits the scene as God’s mouthpiece… speaking harsh words of inescapable wrath because of their indignation of those who are without. Israel at this time had restored its borders, had peace from all sides, had more wealth than they knew what to do with, and ultimately saw themselves as blessed by the gods. The harsh reality is that God did not see them as they did… for God saw their oppression and abandonment of the poor and needy and his wrath was kindled in severe fury because of it. They thought that the blessings upon their nation were because they were doing something right… while in God’s eyes they couldn’t have been more wrong. The continual word against Israel is that they have trampled the poor, sold the righteous for money, and destroyed the needy. They had gained their wealth through oppression… the rich grew richer while the poor grew poorer. This God held against them in the fullness of his fury… abandoning them to exile with no hope of return… his word against them was complete annihilation of his former people. They failed to keep the 2nd most important commandment which was rooted in the first… they failed to love their neighbor. This is where they failed… this is what God hated… this brought the full force of his wrath. God loves his people and sees in them his own image… Israel essentially destroyed those who God valued and God was going to bring his justice and his righteousness upon Israel for their sin.

For Israel who heard these words the reality was that they were hardened against God’s voice and were more than blinded by their materialism. Those with resources only wanted more and those without were continually oppressed. The disparity between the wealthy and the needy mattered not to those who could have brought change… and this is why God’s wrath was going to come without question. They had already chosen to be hardened to the needs of those who were lacking… in fact they simply oppressed them more by taxing them and selling them like slaves. The righteous remnant in Israel, if there even were any, would realize that these words were falling on deaf ears and see that God’s heart burns in jealousy over the people who are lacking.

Today this word from God should have special significance… for there are many suffering and dying in this world due to poverty and other social injustices. The reality today is that these are not small injustices but complete atrocities that simply should not be. In wealthier nations the disparity between the wealthy and the poor is appalling… as the wealthy spend money without hesitation… walking right by the homeless lying on the street. Those with resources put a minimal amount of investment, if any, into the needs of those who have nothing. In many ways western society has fallen into materialism so heavily that we are so deceived by our own greed and selfishness that we can see an injustice and in a moment be completely distracted by something else that we “need” or “desire” or are “entertained” by. Today God’s word against the severe injustices in this world would remain the same as they were spoken by Amos…

Amos 5.15 “Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice…”

This is the harsh reality today... materialism IS evil when others die every day while we chose to spend $20 dollars on a 50th T-shirt that we will wear once every two months... because that money could have saved 20 people from dying of thirst this year. Our world today, unfortunately, has fallen into the same materialistic and selfish form of thinking which carries with it the harsh weight of social injustice. This is truth = people need help and today there are more than enough resources to go around… but we just don’t care enough to do anything to make things right. This is the greater reality… that everything has a cost… and today there are too many suffering this cost unjustly because of the selfishness of many.

(International Justice Mission is one of a vast many organizations who are trying to make a difference against the world of social injustice... please... check out their website along with Blood Water Missons... I have seen these ministries at work and read much about them... they are a few organizations that we can literally help make a difference with... there are links to both on the right hand column in my links portion.)

Esther

2008-04-24T06:48:00.001-07:00

The Invisible hand of God

One of the most interesting things about the book of Esther is that God is nowhere mentioned within the text… nor is it ever actually spoken that the people within it ever prayed to him or sought his face. As the story behind Esther unfolds though it is quite clear that this is a miraculous event that could only be explained by the hand of God. At this point in Israel’s history the Jews were in exile in Persia… wondering where God was… and most likely assuming that he had abandoned them. They saw that God was disciplining his people because of their sin and realized that he had just come to the point where he abandoned them to the doom they deserved… thinking they had finally worn out God’s mercy and caused him to cease his steadfast love for them. What they would come to see in the book of Esther is that God is working mightily in their midst… even if he isn’t speaking through prophets… even if they ignore him. God is orchestrating the events within the life of the King of Persia for their sake. He raises Esther up from absolutely nothing to place her as Queen of the most powerful Empire in the known world. Esther is granted unmerited favor even as she walks completely contrary to the law of the day… for as she steps out in faith she finds herself delivered from certain death. God’s hand upon her also leads the nation of Israel into a moment of great joy as they find salvation in the darkest of times. This text makes no claim that God’s hand was upon his people, whereas others such as Nehemiah and Ezra boldly proclaim God’s hand in the midst of his people. Nonetheless it is quite apparent that this story is about God’s sovereign hand bringing forth redemption and salvation for his people, bringing light in the midst of great darkness. His nation was about to be utterly destroyed, they faced complete annihilation… yet God delivered, for he had not abandoned them even in this time of exile.

The original readers were those rebuilding the city of Jerusalem… the remnant sent home from exile to rebuild God’s nation. They were entering into a period of great silence… where God would no longer speak for hundreds of years before Christ would come. As they sought God, as the temple was rebuilt but God’s glory did not come down… this story of Esther would show them very clearly that even when they cannot see or hear or feel God’s presence… he indeed is there with them. This is the greater reality which is not tangible to them… he is there, they can trust his steadfast love for them truly NEVER ceases… they can rest in the peace that he is working mightily for their sake.

For the contemporary audience this truth resounds like a thunder bolt in the midst of a noisy world in which God’s voice seems to have no chance in being heard. In the midst of all the blessings of the present it is quite clear that people are yearning to know where God is. The reality is that he is right here… he is alive… he hasn’t left, he hasn’t abandoned his creation. God has spoken his presence in the Holy Spirit… has proven that his son Jesus is alive and working as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. God knows the hearts of his people… he is working for those who belong to him in every moment. The greater reality that God’s people can find rest in is that God truly does work all things together for the good of those who love him (Romans 8.28). This truth in no way is just wishful thinking… for it is the very word of God to his people… and here in Esther it is seen as clear as day. Today we might not be able to necessarily see or feel or touch or hear God… but it in way lessons the great reality that he is present with us, working that which is best on our behalf. Do we dare to trust that he has what is best… do we live in this great reality?

Nehemiah

2008-04-24T06:46:00.000-07:00

Rebuilding the walls… everyone worked, shifts of half working / half fighting.

Unity is God’s heart for his people… the body of Christ must fight and build together

I don’t know if I just butchered the timeless truth I was trying to illustrate but what I was trying to show was that God’s heart for his people is that they would stand together in unity. I want this to be my heart and God is doing this in my life. I have been praying a lot lately for my brothers and sisters… standing in intercession for my fellow students on this school and I see so much how important this truth is. I cannot do things on my own, I need my brothers and sisters… desperately. I need them to build me up… & I need to build them up if I desire to see God’s kingdom truly come mightily here on earth. Every ounce of energy I pour into myself in following Christ is good for my brethren. Every ounce of energy that I pour out building my brothers and sisters reciprocally blesses myself as well as the rest of the body of Christ. We must work together if we are to live in the blessings of God… for I see that I cannot just walk on my own… I need others to help me. When I stop living in fellowship I am not only hurting myself but I am also destroying the body of Christ by weakening my link in the body… and in so doing I deprive the body of Christ of my gifts and talents. God’s heart is for me to pour myself out for him… to build up his body… which blesses everyone, myself included, in the process.

One of my heart’s cries for this quarter is to really spend my energy in fellowship and prayer with my brothers and sisters here on the base. I am excited to just speak truth into their life… I am praying that my brothers and sisters will pour into me their words of life that I need them to speak over me. Yeah, I want them to be encouraged by the truth of God’s love for them… that they belong to him as children. Perhaps an easy way to do this would be to simply, well, now that I think about it, I think I will just practically try to pray with somebody different every day. I can do that… just ask someone to pray for them and then do it… that’s easy enough… that’s a good place to start… so that’s what I’ll do. Yep, okay, well, from this point out I will be getting into one person’s life a day… nothing big, nothing fancy… just praying together. I can initiate that… wow, I’m excited.

Ezra

2008-04-22T06:58:00.003-07:00

Character of God (in the book of Ezra)

Ezra as author portrays God in this book of his as the ultimate Hero that Israel has desperately needed. In all humility, Ezra sees the things that are worked out for the sake of Israel as the invisible hand of God acting in all sovereignty over the people of Israel who belong to him. The impossible nature of what is happening in the lives of his nation Israel can only be explained by the steadfast love of Yahweh over their lives. The most powerful nation of the world is overthrown by the next superpower… Persia, who makes the boldest and most unknown move any empire has ever done… they send the nations home with riches and wealth to rebuild their own identities… expecting loyalty to Persia to rule and govern. This is literally unbelievable and could only be explained by God’s hand… especially considering the reality that Jeremiah and Isaiah both prophesied about it coming to fruition, Isaiah speaking of a leader named Cyrus who would deliver the people of Israel… and yep… that’s what happened. God sends his people home, empowers them with good leadership to govern the nation, rocks their world in the face of their sin to repent and turn to him… and in the end… has brought restoration to the temple, the nation, and completely redeemed their hearts back to him. This is who God is… acting in his sovereign and steadfast love to bring about redemption for his people Israel. Even as they fall into sin and away from Yahweh, he is faithful to send his prophets and leaders to guide them and bring them back to himself in genuine repentance. They were sent into exile b/c of their sin, the deserved it… & they didn’t deserve to be released… but God in his steadfast love for his people mercifully released them and blessed them abundantly with protection and resources to be rebuilt as his nation under his Law.

The OR is forced to look at who God is and choose whether they will serve him with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength… to walk with him in righteousness… with on compromises. They can choose him and live… or… turn away and face his justice and he brings about the consequences of their sin. This is the reality for the OR, and Ezra is showing them how faithful God has been in hopes that they would look to him for life… for they have no hope apart from him. God has given them a second chance… a chance to live… they must look at who he is and choose to walk with him or not.

The situation is the same today… God has proven himself steadfast to love those who would call on him in the name of Jesus. He is not a genie to be abused… he is not to be manipulated for what we want. He is God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth, he rules over ALL creation. He has given us a second chance… forgiveness from sins that cannot be taken away… in Christ. Do we choose to walk with him in unrighteousness, uncompromising in wanting what he offers… or not?

Song of Solomon

2008-04-22T06:50:00.000-07:00

Equality within relationships

Throughout this beautiful love song there are many themes to be traced but perhaps one of the most epic… is the way in which both the bride and groom have input into the relationship and neither is given a place above the other in any way. They are truly two becoming one… together united for mutual benefit as each is fed by the others’ love – submission, sacrifice, initiation, affirmation, humility, patience, commitment, and boldness. This song is an absolutely beautiful picture of what God desires marriage to be… a relationship where each person finds identity and value not in the other person… but because of the other person completing them before God.
Genesis 2.23-24 “‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.’
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh”
This theme is quite apparent throughout this book… especially as it is emphasized multiple times that each belongs to the other… “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine”. These words were truth to this couple and God shows in this song that his deep desire for marriage relationships is that they would be restored to the state in which he first created man and woman. Woman was given as a blessing to complete man, and woman finds herself equally alone without man.

In the times when this book was written Israel was quite the patriarchal society. Women were seen as property and polygamy was culturally acceptable and common. This seems like it would just be harsh on women but the reality is that men were missing out because of it also. Men thought that having power meant life for them… where God sees things very differently. This is the reality for these people… that God says what they think is good isn’t. Women are to be equal with men… not just to be used by them as they desire. The problem is that women are designed to complete men just as men are designed to complete women… two are to become one and are to act in this unity. This couple in the Song of Solomon found what God truly desired and the blessing they were to each other is more than just hopeless romanticism… it is a reality that God offers for all. Israel would see this and realize the stark contrast it is to the way in which many of them live and have to reckon what they think of it. The reality though is that the fall has corrupted what God had in mind for the marriage relationship… God offers more than what they have settled for if they would simply dare to believe that God knows what is best.

Today the situation looks differently but the reality of disunity within marriage relationships is every bit as prevalent. The divorce rate is obscenely high not because commitment is an issue but because marriages aren’t what God desires them to be. There are walls between husband and wife… there is communication lacking… for there are two separate entities acting where there should be one. When people get married today they are in it for what they can get out of it… failing to realize that they are actually dying to themselves to make a new united entity… 2 becoming 1. The reality that what is best for the couple is best for each is thrown out the window as each individual still thinks that they want what they alone desire. This is the issue… this truth speaks straight into the selfishness that husbands and wives are living in today in this present culture. God intended this marriage relationship to be a beautiful gift… and while challenging in a sense it is given to be a priceless gift to bring joy and holiness as 2 becoming 1 brings completion and security and value to individuals who will never find value in and of themselves.

Psalms

2008-03-26T14:23:00.000-07:00

Hallelujah, What a Savior I have!
Hallelujah, Jesus, you have redeemed me! Who is like you?!

In the midst of my pride, my weakness, my desires - I glorify your name
In the ever present face of my fears, doubts, & hopes unfulfilled,
you, Jesus, will be exalted in my heart, soul, & mind... in my every word & deed

You know my heart far greater than even I do
You see my longings and comfort me with the steadfast truth of your love
You have proven yourself so wonderfully faithful... your kindness is ever on display in my life
You alone have what I desire... what I truly seek... & you freely give your living water
You are light in the midst of my blindness, the darkness that would eclipse me
Your words are life to me... speak, for I long to listen

My heart yearns for you; my king, my friend, my savior, my Jesus
I am ever & always desperate for your touch
I want what you alone offer, I want you!
I choose you! I am yours! You saved me!
Worthy are you, Jesus!... of all that is within me
Be glorified in my life... yes, break me
Hallelujah, my savior lives! Yes, you are worthy!

I am yours, how humble I am before you, you saved me!
I am yours, how boldly I walk as your son, you saved me!
I am yours!!! Hallelujah!!!

Thank you, my Jesus, for your love, for your blood...

(This is a psalm I wrote after the assignment for Psalms we did a week ago... I dare you to take one of your days off and read through the entire book of Psalms throughout your day - preferably outside somewhere... just meditating on the Psalms for a day was one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced)

1 & 2 Samuel

2008-03-22T17:54:00.000-07:00

Timeless Truth = Friends don’t let those they love fail - they fight for each other

This week the stories within this book have challenged me to realize how vital the relationships I have with my brothers are. I see my desperate need for a shield-bearer… for a Jonathan in my life… for a Joab to punch me in the face with the truth when I am confused and not living as God desires. This week this truth has especially become real to me as one of the guys here in the school has been praying with me every morning before breakfast over some things I have been wrestling with in my life for a long time. He offered to pray with me every morning this last weekend and we have both woke up @ 6:30 to pray together. Yeah… I have been utterly humbled by this selfless act my friend offered… humbled by his love and sacrifice and each morning it blows me away how faithful he has been to fight with me this battle. As I see the men in this book I cannot help but realize how absolutely crucial brothers and friends are… and it challenges me to make sacrifices in my life for the sake of those whom I say that I love. The last few years have challenged my heart... desiring to genuinely LOVE those I claim to care for. I have had opportunities to speak hard truths into those I love and to just be there for them when they needed someone. I have tried to make myself available and have been so blessed in giving and receiving the love of my friends… holding them accountable that they would be who they desire to be… that I would be the man I desire to be.

This week I have been so thoroughly blessed by my friend praying with me… and honestly I want to say that I should have something bigger than this but this week it has just been good to let myself receive this love from my brother. In allowing myself to accept his encouragement I have seen so much how I long to bless others… I have been so regenerated whereas last week I was just growing tired and frustrated. I long to give this for others… even this week I have been trying to get in touch with some of my good friends to bear their burdens together. I want to get in the middle of the mess of my friends that they might walk in truth and the freedom Christ has given them. I want to be teachable, available, accountable, and responsible to my friends… that they would know the blessing of carrying me… and yeah, I want to carry my brothers. No man is an island… we need each other… desperately need each other… that we might be who we long to be. I am so very thankful that I am not alone... and I so desperately long to make sure others know that they aren't... now to live like it!

Judges

2008-03-15T13:36:00.000-07:00

Judges Chapter 19-21

Timeless Truth = Sin Sucks!!!

Well, yeah, there is absolutely nothing attractive about sin, I nod my head to this but have failed to really believe it. A few weeks ago I was at my church and one of the youth leaders was talking to the high school students about how he is indeed attracted by sin but that it is not what is best for him as God’s son. I was shocked to realize my disdain at the statement… for I have come to see and really understand in my heart how utterly unattractive sin is. I hate sin. I don’t at all like it. My flesh is attracted to it… but I sure hate it… yeah, it is altogether worthless in my eyes. I am amazed to realize that I see this reality… not only nodding consent to it… but really truly believing it. I can say with all confidence that I hate sin. I hate my own sin, I hate the sin of others, I hate the sin of the nations… there is absolutely nothing good that comes out of sin. I see the consequences of sin… not only in my own life but also in the lives of those I care about and those I don’t know who God lovse… and it makes me absolutely sick. Sin brings only more evil… the consequences of sin are bondage, oppression, pain, insecurity, division, and death. This is the REALITY of sin and I am getting a further revelation of the TRUTH about how terrible it is. Yeah, I hate sin… I don’t believe I can ever say that it is attractive to me… and for that I am so thankful.

I am not sure how to practically apply this other than that I do not want to sin anymore. I dare not be deceived into thinking that I am going to be perfect for the rest of my life… but I surely want to fight all the more harder against it. I am realizing that confession of my sin is one of the other crucial ways to fight against it… so yeah, I will continue to unashamedly confess my sin… giving it no power in my life. Most importantly though I want to be zealous about hating sin… being a voice against it… speaking the truth that it only brings oppression and death. I will do this in love, for I do not know how condoning sin or even proclaiming its attractiveness is a good thing.

(This is Samson destroying the temple of the Philistines' false god Dagon... killing himself in the process after he was given to the Philistines by Delilah's deception... his sin cost him his life)

Joshua

2008-03-10T07:46:00.000-07:00

'Be Strong & Courageous'

This theme is repeated multiple times throughout the conquest of Canaan… often times to Joshua that he might lead the armies of Israel without fear into the battles that God is fighting for them. The reality that God is speaking over Israel is that they have absolutely nothing to be afraid of, for their confidence is in God himself. They have the God… the Faithful one, the One True God, the Almighty One… on their side. Who can stand against them if he is for them? God wants Israel, and Joshua especially as their leader, to realize that he is living and active in their lives to make sure that his promises come true for his people. This theme is a timeless truth that God is speaking into Israel as they fight to possess the land promised them… a truth that brings change to the way they view who God is, who they are, and their destiny among other peoples. Their bent was to fear man… and God says that he alone is to be feared… he is on their side fighting for them so they have nothing to worry about for man is utterly weak before the LORD God. As they indeed saw God’s hand of victory on their behalf they would have grown even more and more confident… uplifted by the reality that God fights for them. He proves to them time and time again that they truly do have nothing to fear… that they can dare to be strong and courageous because of his real presence in their lives.

Israel heard these words and still would have had a fear within them as they faced making conquest on the land. They would have thought back though to how they had been in the wilderness for forty years because of their disbelief in God’s provision. They were disciplined because they didn’t trust, because they feared man rather than being strong and courageous. This boldness is trust… it is stepping out in faith that God is real & true to his word for the sake of his people. Joshua saw this as he examined what happened to Israel and his mentor Moses… that there is nothing to fear when God fights for you. He would think back to the way God had delivered and provided for Israel with a mighty hand and realize that the confidence they have in the LORD their God is legitimate. He is not just blowing smoke up their butt, his promises aren’t faulty… he truly is fighting for them and will continue to show his steadfast love and faithfulness to them… for they are his people. Joshua would realize that God’s glory is on the line, and if there is one thing he understands about God, it’s that he will make sure that he receives all glory and honor and praise.

For today’s church the truth in this theme remains yet can always be lived in more. The church today has nothing to fear… for Christ has come and brought love and light and life. The Messiah, Jesus himself, has brought ultimate salvation and victory over our greatest enemy… sin and death itself. In Revelation 1.17&18 Jesus himself says, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” This is the reality… this is our Lord who fights for us. Be strong and courageous… yeah, what is there to be afraid of if we have been given victory over death. We will indeed go home with Jesus if we belong to him. Our confidence rests securely in his provision in our life. Paul writes later in Romans 8:31&37, “If God is for us, who can be against us?… in all these things we are more than conquerors through him(Jesus) who loved us.” This is the greater reality for us today… we have absolutely nothing to fear in Christ. On the contrary we ought to be bold and courageous, our confidence in Christ… who is utterly alive and active in our lives. Today’s church can choose to walk in fear… we can choose to not trust God… or we can walk boldly in God’s ways… seeking what he wants… knowing that we have a hope that does not and will not fail. Yeah, we have a confidence that knows no bounds… we are God’s children. As John said in 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” Christ’s love was perfect… he would have us be bold… he would have us dare to trust him… he would have us rest on the promise of eternal life that he has given. He would have us dare to see the world changed for his sake by relentlessly abandoning our fears and doubts that he would be glorified and exalted through our unashamed confidence and boldness.

(This picture is from a few summers ago but I love it... it makes me laugh, and yes, I am still that huge)

Deuteronomy 2

2008-03-06T14:19:00.000-08:00

"Remember!"

The entire book of Deuteronomy carries with it a weight of calling Israel to take heed to the words of the covenant spoken over them. In restating the Covenant over Israel God wants his people to see that the consequences of forgetting his Law are dire. God calls them to remember his word in their lives… to write it on their hearts… to never forget… to lay up the words of God in their hearts and minds and souls. God is the one true God and life and death is contingent on whether Israel lives in the reality of who He is. They are God’s people and he has life for them… life and death for them is contingent upon the Truth of who they are according to who God is. Everything… absolutely everything… depends on Israel walking in TRUTH… according to what God desires for them. This is life and death, heaven and hell… this is the greater reality amidst the distractions and normalcy of life and immediate circumstances.

For Israel they would see the gravity of these words being spoken by Moses with all emotion. They know what has happened to their Fathers… they had seen first hand God’s wrath and power against Egypt and the nations that they have already conquered. They know God’s mighty hand… they have witnessed it. They don’t want to make the same mistakes their father’s made and indeed do remember what they have been brought out of. While many of them might not necessarily remember exactly what went on in Egypt and in the wilderness too terribly well they would know from their fathers… and they certainly knew the wilderness. The knew that God meant serious business and saw every day the cloud over the tabernacle… God’s glorious presence in their immediate midst. They knew they did not want to forget that God was the one true God with almighty power to utterly blot out whatever he desires. They got it… they realized the imperative for their own selves and for future generations of Israel to walk in right relationship with the LORD their God. They saw the weight of God being worthy of glory. They saw that he was to be worshipped and honored, they knew to fear God and would hold to the warnings… they would surely do all they could to remember.

For the church today it seems like we have lost sight of the REALITY of who God is. We nod our head to the stories of the Old Testament and go to church and feel good about ourselves. We read God’s word looking for a few good verses to make us feel better about ourselves or laugh at. We journal the good things in our life but fail to realize the gravity of what God hates and what he loves because we are too busy looking at ourselves and our future. We are far too busy with the present and the future to ever look back at where we have come from. This is a sad reality… that only one out of every ten Christians has ever read the entirety of their bible. We do not know where we have come from and we really don’t seem to care. For the church today life and death, heaven and hell… is still contingent on TRUTH. How can we know truth if we do not know where we have come from… if we fail to even desire to remember where we have come from. The REALITY for today’s church is that each and every believer was a hell bound, death deserving, wicked to the core, altogether enemy of God, sinner… This is TRUTH. The beautiful thing about remembering is that it brings great gratitude when we look at who we are now. Now… every Christian is alive in Christ, and will indeed be home with God for eternity with him. This is the REALITY that God’s people live in. Today’s church must look at who we were that we might know the gravity and REALITY of who we indeed are. In remembering we will see the life we have been given… we will see the wonder of all that we have to be thankful for… and we will desire life for others.

Deuteronomy

2008-03-04T12:29:00.000-08:00

Deuteronomy 33:26-29
“There is none like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help, through the skies in his majesty. The eternal God is your dwelling place… Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, the shield of your help, & the sword of your triumph!"

Timeless Truth = Remember who you WERE and know who you ARE

This week has been a huge blessing as I have realized that I have been looking at who I was and failing to realize who I am. The thing that God has been wrecking me with this week is the reality of my identity… that I am not who I formerly was… a slave to sin. This is who I was, but it is not who I am. I must remember who I was but I must be careful to see myself not as my old self but as who I am now in Christ. This has been hard for me as we have gone through the Pentateuch… for I am seeing more and more that I want to love what God loves and despise that which he despises. I want to live this out and not just talk about it anymore… but when I look inward I see that I fail to really truly live this out as much as I would like. I see my sin and weakness and wonder how God could be pleased with a person like me who so often is lacking. In this truth I see that I must see very clearly who I am… that I am not my sin… that I am redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. This isn’t just some cheap sentence to say over myself… this is the absolute REALITY. When God sees me he sees RIGHTEOUS SON… not “lacking sinner”… because of Jesus’ blood poured out on the cross to redeem me as his son. This is TRUTH. As I see who I was the beauty of the TRUTH is all the more precious and life-giving… for I see more and more how worthy of praise God truly is. It was not cheap what Jesus did… it was not some small thing that God would redeem me from the pit of emptiness, saving my soul from eternal death. I see in Deuteronomy the reality of who God is as Deliverer, as Savior, as Provider, as Rock, as Jealous, as Shepherd, as Lover, as Judge, as Just, as Consuming Fire, as Redeemer, as Promise Keeper. God is all of these things over me because of what Jesus has done. Jesus has finished the work of atonement for my sake… that I now live in righteous relationship.
1 Peter 2:10
“Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not
received mercy, but now you have received mercy”
This is who I am… I have been given eternal life in Christ. I once was lost but now am found. I once was dead but now… I AM ALIVE. My hope is in Christ… and this hope is assured.

I don’t know how to apply this necessarily to my life, except that I will no longer look at who I am as sinful. I am going to dwell for a while on a scripture my friend Sam showed me this week.
Micah 7:8-9
“Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me.
“I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my
cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his
vindication."
The reality of who I am before God is blameless and spotless and pure and for that I will rejoice. Yeah, even in worship times this week and throughout my day I have been thoroughly blessed to just rejoice in who God is. Hallelujah, what a Savior I have… Hosanna in the Highest… Christ has come and brought life and light and in him there is no darkness or death. Christ is REALITY… God looks upon me and sees his SON… I AM NOT GUILTY… I have absolutely NOTHING TO FEAR… for God loves me. This will be my song… and I will not stop singing ever.

Gratitude

2008-02-25T19:51:00.000-08:00

February 22, 2008

God,

Thank you. Thank you for saving me. I once was blind but now I see... I once was lost but now I am found. I once was not yours but now I am... thank you. I once was lost without hope... now I have mercy in you Jesus. Thank you Holy Spirit for showing me my dear sweet savior Jesus. Thank you Father that you see me as your son... through the life giving blood of Jesus. Thank you Jesus for shedding your blood in my place, for dying the death I deserved and for giving me the life of righteousness... eternal life... that you had merited. Thank you that you are interceding for me right now at the Father's right hand. Thank you Holy Spirit for breaking my heart to see what the Father's heart breaks over... for dwelling in me that I would be transformed and sanctified into holiness. Thank you Holy Spirit for restoring right relationship with me and the Father as you open my eyes up to the truth - to Jesus. Thank you Jesus for saving me. Thank you Father that you are faithful and steadfast in your love and mercy to help me see and live in reality. I want what you offer... thank you that what you have for me is what truly is best.

Thank you for your patience and mercy with me and all of my lacking; my impatience... doubts... fears... wrestling... stubbornness... and pride. Thank you that you wrestle with me and reveal that you are enjoying our relationship. Thank you that you are alive and present in my life though I fail to recognize you as often as I should. Thank you that you are REALITY... and that the reality of your love and presence in my life as your son... the TRUTH... is not contingent upon me.

Thank you for being my God.
Jeremy

(This was something I learned from the book of Numbers as we were at a retreat in the mountains this weekend... the problem the Israelites ran into was that they were ungrateful... they failed to realize how blessed they had been by God)

Glacier in February

2008-02-23T19:40:00.000-08:00

So yesterday our school was on retreat about 10 miles away from Glacier National Park at a retreat center. It was an awesome time of fellowship and fun... and yesterday afternoon we had about five hours to do whatever we wanted. I wanted to go to Glacier... and some of my friends were up for it also. These are some of our pictures from our time there, it was a sunny day like none other... probably the most beautiful winter day I have ever experienced. It was a little bit of heaven, that's for sure. It was about 50 degrees or so in the sun and we were in the sun a bunch... other than needing snow shoes and sinking up to my waste every tenth step the afternoon was amazing... we probably went about 7 miles in the few hours we were there. The pictures unfortunately just do not do justice the beauty of this place.

Numbers

2008-02-21T07:45:00.002-08:00

Complaining and God's Response

Well, this theme is easy enough to see in this book, for it is the cause of all of the Israelites troubles. They just can’t seem to be grateful for the deliverance they have received… nor can they exercise any patience to trust in God’s promise actually coming true. The first generation of Israelites here cash in their entry into the Promised Land for the sake of grumbling about what they have. They are tired of eating manna… so God lets them eat it for another forty years. They think that Egypt was better than being out in the middle of no where, so God lets them wander a little longer… like forty years longer. God’s answer to the Israelites complaining and doubt of his provision is essentially… ok, have it your way. The harsh reality of not having things God’s way is that he is angry at their distrust and thus brings upon them his wrath. The root issue of Israel’s problems was their own deception… the complaining was just an outward expression of distrust in God’s provision that was deep within them. God had delivered these people from harsh oppression and slavery and they acted like Egypt was better. God had destroyed Pharaoh and his army with the power of the Red Sea and they feared nations in Canaan as being too powerful. God had delivered them water from rocks and rained food down from heaven and they were discontent with taste. God shows that he does not take lightly to his people rejecting his good gifts and good promises in distrust and hatred. The Israelites were more afraid of the people in Canaan than they were of God Almighty, the Creator himself. They had lost sight of the reality of who God is and thus were complaining. They had lost sight of how God had come into their presence in the form of a cloud that would strike down anyone who touched Mount Sinai. God is life-giver and can take it away just as fast… but this they lost sight of and complained out of a loss of reverence for the maker of the universe who was in their very presence. They failed to see that their heart attitude behind their complaining was that they despised what God had given them. They rejected what God offered them and thus God’s anger burned hot against them. These wasn’t just light grumbling… these rebellions were full fledged mutinies against God’s ordained decisions of how Israel was going to be ran. The people thought they knew what was best for them and in doing so declared God’s plan for them to be less than what was best. God defended his honor and proclaimed a need for repentance time and time again as he executes his righteous wrath upon the people of Israel. God’s response is discipline… harsh discipline… tens of thousands of Israelites died in God’s discipline… entire families were literally wiped off the face of the earth because of their disobedience. God desires trust in his people, he desires obedience… and he shows here his hatred for anything less than what he asks. He is indeed merciful and steadfast in his love, yet he demands his honor and will not be disrespected by those who are merely his creation.

Wow, this is a heavy hitting reality for me… knowing how often I fail to see the true blessings of God in my life. I look so much more often to what I am lacking than to what I have been given. The truth is that I have nothing good that isn’t a gift of God. This summer I realized a bit of how much I have to be grateful for when I hurt my knee, but even that seems like something insignificant compared to what God really wants me to be grateful for. The deeper issue here is contentment and trust I think. This is what I see… and I am beginning to realize that what I really want is what God wants. This reality has been so true in my prayer life and even as I examine what I feel God is calling me into. I am seeing all the more clearly that I want what God wants. God wanted the Israelites to all enter into the promised land and then gave them simple instructions to do so… yet they chose to disregard that which was best. I see now how desperately I want what God wants and to not settle for less. God help me see what you want… help me be grateful for all that I have been given. I am grateful, destroy everything within me that would keep me from trusting and resting in what you have given.

Leviticus

2008-02-20T15:22:00.001-08:00

Leviticus 26:1-46

Timeless Truth = God’s way is best… obedience brings blessing… there is nothing at all appealing about sin for it only brings death and broken relationship with God. Just do what is right and everything is gravy!

This truth seems to be rather simple but its amazing how I see it so clearly this week especially. I guess this is the basis of Christianity yet somehow I feel like most Christians fail to see it or walk around just plain ignorant of it. I see how I want to do things my way, I don’t want to surrender myself to God’s will and be patient with his provision. In fact the opposite is quite true. I want to take things into my own hands and make things work out the way that I think is best because I believe that by doing so I will get what I want. The reality is that I have a flesh and I am deceived quite easily by sin, and the grand result of this often times is that I would walk contrary to God and thus miss his blessings. While I am his child and his grace is overwhelming even amidst my mistakes I see this truth at work as a call to really truly line my life up in accordance with God’s word. I realize that often times I would think that God's call to holiness was just some lofty ideal that he set out before people two thousand years ago when the world wasn’t as crazy. The reality is that the world was every bit as twisted and perverted then as it is now… and God’s call to holy living is just as demanding in my life as it was for the people before Christ ever even came. The beautiful part of this truth is the promise of God’s blessing. God says that to walk in holiness before him is to place myself in a place to receive his beautiful blessings. To walk contrary to God’s commands is to place myself in a place where he must discipline me that I would find life in him. This is the most amazing part of God’s call to holiness… that walking in holiness really truly is best. Today I feel like I often just nod my head to this statement but the capital R – reality is that yeah, God knows what is best and he says holiness is far and away the way to go. Why would I stand in complete opposition to the words of the creator of this universe as to what is best? Yeah, I am done being stupid and liking sin… I see now that there is nothing at all desirable about it… it is only a deceptive bondage that seems to bring joy but only brings death.

Exodus

2008-02-15T09:48:00.000-08:00

Exodus 34:6,7

‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation’

Timeless Truth = The Gospel is both beautiful and offense, it must be both. God is merciful but also unashamedly righteous…

This passage stuck out to me like a lightning bolt, God declaring who he is. I realize in my own life that I often fail to see the two sides to God’s nature, realizing that I want to only look at the merciful side. The reality is that God is indeed righteous and must deal harshly with sin. This is what makes the Gospel so beautiful and so offensive. It awakens me to the reality that my sin stinks and somehow someone has to take the hit for it. My sin has real consequences, my sin is appalling to God, and considering how much I sin I really don’t know how the heck he can deal with me. The amazing reality is that God has dealt with my sin on the cross with Jesus. This is the beautiful part that I fear that I would take for granted. The reality of God’s wrath towards me being displaced is no small thing. The reality is that blood must be shed for my iniquity… and it has been. How thankful ought I be for that! Yeah, it breaks my heart to realize that I walk around like God owes me something when the reality is that I am truly indebted to Jesus because I do not have to fear God’s wrath. I would love to say that I have this reverence in my life for what Jesus has done for me but the reality is that I often walk wanting more. Most of the time I live like the next breath is owed to me when the reality is that I deserve God’s wrath. Yeah, it is quite humbling to see God’s character and then to see that I am not heartbroken by the great grace that he has given to me.

Genesis

2008-02-11T06:56:00.000-08:00

Genesis 39:2-5,21

Timeless Truth = When God walks with a man the man cannot help but see the blessing of his presence and want more… God’ ultimate blessing is this very presence, creating in man a thirst for righteousness that this relationship might be cultivated more… that the man might see more clearly the beauty of the blessing that God’s presence is.

This week has been a humbling week for me in that I see so many things that I do not exactly understand. Genesis has challenged me to look at God from the viewpoint of the truth I know about Christ and what he says is right and wrong. When I look at these men and try to make sense out of their lives I find it difficult to discern why in the world God continues to show his steadfast love to them amidst their mistakes. I have tried to find something that these men are doing that brings them the blessing and then I realize that it is not at all anything in them, but it is God’s presence that transforms their lives. They do not initiate the relationship and the blessing, God does. In my life I have a hard time finding good things in myself that God would want to bless. I fear that I would miss the blessing because of my own limitations and weaknesses. I fear that I would be like Jacob or Isaac or Abraham in their weakness and try to seek the blessing my own way. This week has confused me so much about how to seek the blessing. I seek it in a similar way to Jacob, who is an idiot so that’s encouraging, because I see this conflicting doubt and fear yet desperately desire the blessing God has in my life. I see Joseph and I see this man that I desperately desire to be, a man who seems to get that God is the one whom the glory is due. As I look at Joseph I see this truth, that he is not the one initiating the relationship… he is just responding to the relationship properly. This blessing my soul so much because I see that the pressure is not on me to initiate seeking God’s blessing. God’s blessing is there in his presence, in his steadfast love and faithfulness to those whom he loves. As I look at Joseph I see that what set him apart is that he was patient to react to God’s love and patient to do the right thing by simply walking with God as he walked with him. In my life I see this truth at work and realize that this is probably where I am more than I think. This is an encouraging thought, not to make myself feel better, but just for the simple fact that I do not have to beat myself up about my stupidity. I realize now that I must simply settle down and look to see that God has been so faithful to walk with me. Yeah, all of this is still a little bit blurry to me but I think I am beginning to grasp that God doesn’t want me to look at where I am deficient so much as he wants me to look at how sufficient he is. I see in Joseph the same thing that I see in myself… when I settle down and take a step back to look at what God is faithfully doing in my life I see that I am in fact walking beside him. This is not to be ignorant of the fact that I have a flesh, but to be attentive to where he is going that I would walk as his son. The beauty of my relationship with God is just that… that my relationship is with God Almighty who holds the world in his hands and he loves me. He has good things for me as he did Joseph… it’s just that life is a process and he has better things than I am willing to settle for in the present.

So… practically… this is a bit of a challenge but I am going to just try and look this week and really for the rest of my life at who God is and who I am as I walk beside him. Cathy Walker actually gave me a vision this morning that was really cool. She said she saw me looking in a mirror but I was covered in the slime that babies come out of the womb covered in… and then saw this big tongue licking the slime off so that I could see who I really am. This is what I have seen as I go through Genesis… that there is something Joseph saw that I am seeing. Joseph’s identity was wrapped up in the fact that God walked with him. Not so much in that he walked with God or that he wanted to walk with God or that he did this or that wrong or right. He was a man God walked with and the rest of his life just seemed to fit right into place. So yeah, I want to be found there… that’s why I am in SBS, that’s why I am excited about teaching SBS next year and excited about dwelling more on the OT.

Costume Party!!!

2008-02-05T08:16:00.000-08:00

Friday evening was not only the unvailing of the mustaches... but also was a costume party. That's why so many of us young men were dressed to suit the flavour of the mustache we had cut. The girls also got to partake in the costume party so here are more pictures of the costume party. By the way, we were celebrating the fact that we are entirely done with the New Testament... 26 books down and only the entirety of the Old Testament left to go.

Janu-hairy

2008-02-01T22:23:00.000-08:00

So this month here in the SBS was Janu-hairy. Most all of us guys in the school grew out our facial hair for the entire month... at least growing out a mustache. Some of the other students and staff sold out throughout the month but many of us endured the persecution of the ladies to end up with sweet mustaches. Tonight we had our end of the New Testament celebration party where the mustaches would finally be glorified. These are the end results in slide-show fashion. Some of us have more fully developed mustaches than others... but all had been grown out for the entirety of the month though some are hardly recognizable. The party was a costume party by the way... so we tried to dress in the most appropriate attire to enhance the feel of our 'staches.

2 John

2008-01-30T09:42:00.000-08:00

2 John v.10&11

Timeless Truth = False teaching must not be tolerated nor encouraged. Truth must be upheld!

Wow, yeah, this one is a big issue for me. I find myself growing more and more frustrated with the church today because of the lack of truth being upheld. Often times I realize that the body of Christ today is hearing things that aren’t necessarily false… just not the full story of truth. Yeah, this is honestly hard to put and I dare not go on a rant about the body of Christ, they are God’s beloved and he is doing his will in their lives. What I fear is that I would fail to be a voice for truth because I would grow apathetic. This apathy is what would destroy me and destroy the body of believers… a lack of caring for what God wants for us. I see this in my own life in that I desire the comforts of the world rather than being willing to stand up for the truth. Often times I have been in churches were an ordinary message is preached that has no real punch or even is not truly biblical. I stand in the back and I watch and find myself doing nothing about it… praying and hoping that someone will stand up for truth or that somehow someway God will speak to the people in the congregation about the truth to them. This is where it gets hard for me, realizing that I have a voice for truth and the heart to not see the lies of complacency and apathy continue in the body of believers. Yeah, this feels like a rant because I do not really know how to say this. I guess what it all boils down to is that I am tired of seeing people live in less than the freedom that Jesus has given them. It breaks my heart to see my brothers and sisters in Christ living this comfortable American dream life… which honestly… is bondage. This is why I am not living that life, because I see Jesus for who he is and realize that life is found solely in him. This isn’t to be a monk, it is to simply place value in the things that Jesus puts value in. He says to love people, not to sit around fat, dumb, and happy. So I will not, and I will not let those that I say I love do the same. How can I love people by watching them live according to what their culture says makes them happy. I would be led to fear that I would be preaching to people who don’t care to hear my words. What I more greatly fear is that those I love would never know that there is far more for them than what they are willing to settle for.

So… I have found myself being a voice of truth and daring to not let people settle for less than what Jesus has for them. This might make me a jerk or opinionated hard-ass or whatever… I really don’t care what people think… I want to love them more than to care about what they think. The hard part of this is to love in the midst of it… to not be the resounding gong, but rather to be a voice of the gospel. The gospel is both beautiful and offensive and it must be both. It is beautiful in that it is genuine life for humanity. It is offensive in that it speaks to humanity that everything else we find value in is actually worthless and will not last. This is a harsh reality… but it is so beautiful. Jesus offers life… and I simply want nothing more and nothing less than for my friends to receive life in all its fullness. I will love them enough to speak harsh truth that they would live in the freedom that Jesus freely offers them. He has saved us from ourselves, I will not let any other message of comfort or joy be spoken without resistance.

(p.s. this month is called "Janu-hairy" because all the guys grow out funky facial hair and then end the month with a mustache competition... this is mine right now..."

Ice Skating... on ponds and the lake

2008-01-29T08:09:00.001-08:00

This last Thursday a few of my friends and I went ice skating in the nearby city of Kalispell. We went to a park in the middle of town which had a huge pond that froze over. These are my friends Justin (with the long hair), Bryan (the tall skinny guy) and the girl is named Jesse. We went to the park and ice skated for a while and then went to Flathead Lake... the big lake we live next to... and walked out on it because it had frozen over. First frozen lake I've ever really walked on.

Revelation - not that complicated...

2008-01-27T21:49:00.000-08:00

JESUS WINS... & so do we!!!

The book of Revelation is an astonishing picture of what is really going on in both the world and in heaven. In the limited vision that man has of his surroundings Revelation is a glimpse at the truth, opening up man’s eyes to who God really is and the greater workings of heaven and earth under his sovereign hand. Essentially the reality is that God is Lord over all and he is utterly worthy of worship by all creation, for absolutely everything finds its proper place in glorifying him. This is the telling of how Jesus is the one way in which humanity can stand before God’s wrath, his judgment on creation that has turned away from him. The message is that those who repent and rest on Jesus will indeed be given restoration with God as they bow their knee in worship to him. Those who refuse to repent have no hope of escape from God’s imminent justice, that all humanity deserves the wrath of God because of their stubborn refusal to worship him. The reality is that Jesus has overcome Satan and death, and that all who rest in him will never perish, having gained the gift of eternal life with God himself. The current world that humanity lives in is but a shadow of the greater life yet to come, the second life is assuredly to come for all men. Revelation draws a hard line here, that those who belong to God will dwell in eternal bliss with him where as those who reject him will find no mercy outside of Jesus and be destined to eternal torment and destruction. This is the overriding picture seen in Revelation, that there are two destinies for man, either eternal dwelling with God or eternal damnation.

The reality for believers is that their hope is eternally secure in Jesus, for their names are written in his book of life… knowing their destiny is that they will dwell with God forever. Believers can endure anything then in this life to come, holding fast to the hope they have in Jesus. Those who refuse to bow their knee to God in repentance reap the consequences of God’s wrath.

2008-01-27T08:52:00.000-08:00

Revelation 1:4-8

Timeless Truth = Jesus is and always has been… life is all about him and his glory.

As I walked through the book of Revelation the reality of Jesus’ work on my behalf has rocked my world this week. Honestly I think this book is the coming together of the entire New Testament in my mind, especially after wrestling with a great many things with God. What I realize most clearly is that my life does not belong to me but to Jesus. I see so very clearly in the book of Revelation that life for me is not found in seeking the things of the world but in living that Jesus might be glorified in my life. I have already been given eternal life, hope of dwelling with God. This is the reality, for I have nothing to fear because my security is absolute in him. I will dwell with Jesus in eternal glory… and in this life my call is to live every moment unto him. I am no longer afraid of this, and I sincerely do not understand why I ever was. This is what captures my heart in this book. This revealing of who Jesus is, gaining a glimpse of heaven, has opened up my eyes to the reality that I have no needs and nothing to ever fear. The beautiful thing here I am seeing what is truly of value, nothing of this world but God and people. The reality is that there are people perishing and there is work to do for Jesus while here. My heart breaks at the thought that I would sit around fat, dumb, and happy while I know there are people who will suffer eternal torment in the midst of my comfort. I do not need these comforts but they need life. My life is not about me, but is about Jesus… or at least that’s damn sure going to be the way that it is from this moment on. The last few years I have wrestled with the reality of this… Jesus working faithfully to capture my heart. This week I see the reality behind the scenes so much more clearly now that I have had the chance to dwell on Revelation.

To practically walk this out I have decided I am going to do Titus project this next fall and am going to commit to working at the camp SBS in North Carolina. These are things I have been praying about for the last few months and this week God has revealed to me that it is the way I must go. I honestly have been torn between wanting to do some oversees SBS teaching or other work and so I see Titus as being a good first step there. What I do not want to do is lose sight of the broken heart God has given me for those who do not know the reality of who God is and do not have the ability to realize the eternal ramifications for their posture before God. This thought breaks my heart so I am going to stay in SBS and do Titus project trusting that Jesus will help me see his heart more clearly. I am really excited… especially that my eyes have been opened to the truth of the gospel even more through this amazing book. Life is about Jesus, for in him I find life.

What Jesus would write to me...

2008-01-23T13:25:00.000-08:00

This week we are studying The Book of Revelation. One of our assignments is to take a look at Jesus' addresses to the 7 churches whom the book is written to. The assignment is to examine what Jesus says about himself and then see the characteristics of the church that Jesus addresses. The addresses to the churches follow a distinct structure and for a good reason... the the churches would see who Jesus is, how he pleased with them, what they are doing that breaks his heart and he cannot put up with, then how he calls them to listen and heed his promises of life. This is what I think he would write to me.

To Jeremy, my beloved son. The words of him who restores completely all of the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe according to his will, who has come and brought true and lasting life into the world for all who desperately desire it.

I see your heart and I see your works, how you have so often longed to be pleasing to me, to honor me for what I have done. I see your shame and your striving also, your fear that I do not truly care for you, your doubt of my provision. You speak of embracing my love and my grace yet you do not allow yourself to truly accept it… refusing to let yourself believe it is sufficient. I have captured your heart and what burns inside is indeed the genuine article. Do not dare to give up on me for I am the one who has captured your heart and I alone have what you desire. You know you have no one else to turn to and for that I so deeply delight in you. I love when you unashamedly wrestle with me… do not revile the times you come to me on your knees… for those are the times I cherish you most. Swallow your pride and come to me, I am life for you, if you dare seek it anywhere else you there will be nothing for you. Continue my son, for that is who you are. I am your father, I am he who knows your heart and what you are truly seeking. I have not abandoned you, I have not turned a deaf ear to your desires… trust me, for I am the living water you seek. In a short while you will be home with me, in a short while this mess you despise will all be gone. Continue then to hold fast, to love fearlessly and recklessly… further up and further in is your destiny. Do not cease to ask for the breaking of your heart… I will never cease restoring you… it is in your weakness and genuine humility that you are strong, for I am the only strength you have. Listen to my voice, you do hear it… never cease to listen to my word. I have you where I want you, whether things are clear are not you are indeed a man, the son I have created you to be. Hear me my son, with you I am well pleased, continue to have righteous disdain for that which I despise... continue to patiently love that which I have shown you I cherish. Fear nothing… bow to me but to all others hold your head and heart up high.

John

2008-01-21T17:23:00.000-08:00

John 1:1-4

Timeless Truth = love, light, and life is real and is here for those who believe… both now and forever

Ten Thousand Angels – written by Sandra McCracken

how long you have traveled in darkness weeping
no rest in language, no words to speak
but there in the wreckage beneath bricks and bindings
love has come, love has come for you

against the night sky of your waiting
your face is like starlight when he walks in
everything worth keeping comes through dying
love has come, love has come for you

So lift up your heart now, to this unfolding
all that has been broken will be restored
here runs deep waters for all who are thirsty
love has come, love has come for you

ten thousand angels will light your pathway
until the day breaks fully in the East
they will surround you and make your way straight
love has come, love has come for you
love has come, love has come for you

This week has been a tough one because I have been wrestling with a lot of personal issues… insecurities, doubts, fears, hopes that I don’t see happening, all kinds of mess. In the midst of all this I even get frustrated that I am not content with what I have, for I have been so utterly blessed. Aside from all of this I fear that I would lose sight the overwhelming gift that Jesus has given me in sins forgiven. Yeah, all of these things tear me in all sorts of directions and time and time again I have come back to the reality of who Jesus is in the gospel of John. He is love, he is light, he is life for me… not just someday when I am home with him, but even now. He has come… and he has not left but is here with me in the Holy Spirit. This song blows me away because it is the absolute reality of the gospel of John. Amidst my being broken and frustrated and wrecked and all the mess… love has come in Jesus… and he is restoring all of these things and will take me home with him. Yeah, I have received such amazing grace in him.
To practically apply this I am not quite sure how to do this. I realized also this week that Jesus’ heart for us is so pure and so beautiful, especially as I saw his prayer for us, his beloved. I rewrote this prayer from the perspective of us as a body, for it is not just me that Jesus came to redeem but also the entirety of his beloved. I want to read this prayer with somebody, perhaps even the class if it so works out.

John 17:1-26

Father, it was time. You displayed the bright splendor of your Son
So the Son in turn showed your bright splendor.
You put him in charge of everything human
So he might give real and eternal life to all in his charge.
And this is the real and eternal life:
That we know you, The one and only true God,
And Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
He glorified you on earth
By completing down to the last detail
What you assigned him to do.
And now, Father, he is glorified with your very own splendor,
The very splendor he had in your presence
Before there was a world.

He spelled out your character in detail
To us whom you gave him.
We were yours in the first place;
Then you gave us to him,
And we have now done what you said.
We know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt,
That everything you gave him was firsthand from you,
For the message you gave him, he gave us;
And we took it, and were convinced
That he came from you.
We believe that you sent him.
He prayed for us.
He was not praying for the God-rejecting world
But for us, whom you gave him,
For we are yours by right.
Everything his is yours, and yours his,
And his life is on display in us.
For he is no longer with us, visible in the world;
we continue in the world
While he returned to you.
Holy Father, guard us as we pursue this life
That you conferred as a gift through him,
So we can be one heart and mind
As you are one heart and mind.
As long as he was with us, he guarded us
In the pursuit of the life you gave through him;
He even posted a night watch.
And not one of us got away,
Except for the rebel bent on destruction
(the exception that proved the rule of Scripture).

Now he has returned to you.
He said these things in the world's hearing
So we can experience his joy completed in us.
he gave us your word; The godless world hates us because of it,
Because we didn't join the world's ways,
Just as he didn't join the world's ways.
He did not ask that you take us out of the world
But that you guard us from the Evil One.
We are no more defined by the world
Than he was defined by the world.
Make us holy—consecrated—with the truth;
Your word is consecrating truth.
In the same way that you gave him a mission in the world,
he gave us a mission in the world.
He consecrated himself for our sakes
So we will be truth-consecrated in our mission.

He did not pray only for us
But also for those who will believe in him
Because of us and our witness about him.
The goal is for all of us to become one heart and mind—
Just as you, Father, are in him and He in you,
So we might be one heart and mind with you.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent him.
The same glory you gave him, He gave us,
So we will be as unified and together as you are—
he in us and you in him.
Then we will be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you've sent him and loved us
In the same way you've loved him.

Father, he wanted those you gave him
To be with him, right where he is,
So we can see his glory, the splendor you gave him,
Having loved him Long before there ever was a world.
Righteous Father, the world has never known you,
But he knows you, and we know
That you sent him on this mission.
He has made your very being known to us—
Who you are and what you do—
And continue to make it known,
So that your love for him
Might be in us Exactly as he is in us.

1 John

2008-01-13T14:36:00.000-08:00

Theme = TRUTH

This letter has quite a few themes that can be tracked throughout but this theme of truth stood out to me like a bright light. Truth… as I even think of how to begin to expound upon this theme my mind wanders into what this word really means. Today’s culture has chosen to believe that truth is relative… that truth is subjective to our individual opinions… for there is ‘no absolute truth’.

John 8:31-32 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

As John wrote this letter to a people being bombarded with untruth I am sure that these words of Jesus were running through his soul… that the truth would set God’s people free. This is why this theme stood out, for John’s entire intent in writing this epistle was to show people truth that they would know the truth… that they have eternal life in Christ. John would be provoked to a righteous anger… for his best friend Jesus came and sacrificed himself to give this life… his close group of friends sacrificed their lives to spread this good news… martyred for their faith, hoping that all peoples would see truth and not perish. John desperately wanted people to see truth, it was his entire life… and he knew that apart from truth there is only death and destruction. According to this letter truth = all have sin and are in need of a Savior. Truth = God desires us to live righteous before him as his children, free of sin and death. Truth = sin and evil are going to be destroyed and righteousness in Christ is on it’s way into the world. Truth = Jesus is Savior… he alone can bring salvation before God the Father. Truth = God’s anointing is indeed upon his children… growing them in a knowledge of him. Truth = Love is determined by action, not by words. Truth = Jesus is God’s Son… is indeed of God. Truth = Whoever believes in Jesus Christ has life, eternal life… whoever rejects Christ does not have life. Truth is contingent not on our opinion but on God’s… what he says is reality… well, is.

For the recipients of this letter this theme would grasp their hearts and minds from the get go. They had learned all these things that John was sharing with them… they had been well versed in the truth after learning it from Paul, Timothy, Peter, and John himself. These would be second generation believers, whose parents and forefathers were those who first received the good news about Jesus. They would realize that the ramification of these truths is that in Christ alone is life… there is no life apart from him. They too would be righteously angry as they consider those who are deceiving them to believe that there are other paths to life. If what John is saying is true… then they must look to Jesus.

Today’s culture seems even more lost then that which John spoke into. It is sad to think that the very death of people will be their own ignorance of absolute truth. If Christ isn’t who he says he is then yes, there is nothing to be found in him. On the contrary though, if Christ really is who he says he is… if capital ‘R’ reality is that he is life and all who reject him are doomed to death and destruction… then well… there are a whole lot of people who are eternally lost. Wow… the ramifications for denying truth… how wildly severe they are. As I search for truth I realize that things aren’t true because they work, but rather they work because they are true. This is what I see in Christ… he is true… his plan is clear as daylight as I press into his word. God’s word truly does have all the answers… and is proving to be absolute truth as I seek truth in it. Christ is life and I want life the life he has. I will press into the truth of his word resting not on some hope that is founded in blind faith… but trusting in the God who has proven himself faithful and loving and gracious to me and countless others because in him is truth.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

p.s. this is my God-daughter Isabelle who is now living in the Phillipines but will be returning in another two months for the rest of my year here in Montana.

2 Peter

2008-01-12T16:03:00.000-08:00

2 Peter 3:8-10

Timeless Truth = God’s heart is that all people would be saved… and he is working to that end at all times.

This truth is really rocking me right now. After driving home a message of pursuing knowledge of Christ and holy living amidst a world that ignorantly seeks its own destruction, Peter throws in this curve ball to help his audience understand why endurance and patience are so crucial to God’s plan. God sees time not as we see it… for it is outside God’s more sovereign purpose… that every person he has created would reach repentance. When thinking about this I realized how very selfish I am in my impatience with things. Reality is that this world and everything in it is going to be lost… only the righteous in Christ will remain… and God’s heart is that all would be those who would remain. God is not in heaven seeking people to devour… this truth clearly seen in Christ’s ultimate act of merciful sacrifice on the cross. God desires us to find life. I realize how selfish I am when I think that I would like God to speed things up for my own personal gain… looking to God to bless me as I desire when others are perishing every day. Reality is that the people around me who do not know Christ are in bondage now… and will suffer eternal torment if they do not repent of their sins and place their faith in Christ for salvation. This is reality and I am too selfish and ignorant to even see it. As I read this passage my heart broke, as I write this now my heart is breaking just thinking about this truth. It is overwhelming to realize that it is only by grace that I am not ignorant of Christ… it is only by undeserved mercy that I see Christ and have received hope of eternal glory through him. Yeah, these people are dying right before my very eyes and I don’t care… I don’t even think about it… I simply ask God for myself or the people that I care about to have more of his life. While that isn’t necessarily a bad thing I do realize also that God’s heart breaks for these people. As I see who Christ is and as I grow in knowledge of him I feel this connection to his heart that I deeply desire more of. In this truth I realize how much I don’t understand about God. Interestingly though my heart is comforted and encouraged that God desires that all would reach repentance… it shows me again how amazing my God is. If he cares for these that reject him then how much more could he care for me, his adopted son? How could I want more from him when others have not even reached repentance and will perish because of it? I cannot reckon in my mind how this all works but I see my heart being transformed for the lost and I am so very grateful.
I don’t know how to exactly apply this… to be honest at this point I feel like I am trying to apply all these things I am learning and I don’t know how to think of more things. Over Christmas I realized that my heart is growing more and more broken for my sister who is lost. As this was happening I realized that my heart was breaking more and more for those I know who are lost. Now I am beginning to see my heart break for everyone who is lost… and I thank God that he is trying to teach me humility. In my quiet times of prayer I have been constantly asking God to show me what he desires, trying to shut up and really seek what he wants… and here I see that he wishes all to reach repentance. I can pray for that... I can cry out for God to bring people to repentance in agreement… I can pray for those whom I have met or will meet who don’t know him. Yeah, that will be a good application… I can do that… because, yeah, I haven’t deserved the grace given me and I also don’t want them to perish.

(I found a website where you can make your own superheros so this is what I envision myself like as a superhero ninja... *shrug*)

1 Peter

2008-01-10T06:55:00.000-08:00

Theme = Christ’s Return

Throughout this letter Peter constantly brings the reality of Christ’s return back to the forefront of his audience’s mind. For Peter all things revolved around this simple truth, that Christ was going to return and ultimately restore all things unto God. This created in his mind an eternal perspective that he realized was vital to helping all believers understand the ramifications of what Christ had done. The reality of Christ’s promised return is the hope that believers have. Their hope is built on this promise… that their genuine faith obtains the outcome of salvation for their souls… the gift of heaven because of their faith in Christ’s finished work of redemption on their behalf. When Christ returns and to bring restoration to the world, bringing forth divine judgement… those who belong to him have nothing to fear for they will be saved from the wrath of God. They will be deemed blameless through their faith… and they will forever rejoice because they have been spared because they accepted the gracious gift of God, salvation through Christ.

For the original readers of this letter this would be hope for them, this would be the one thing that they could hold onto… a true hope… “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven.” (1 Peter 1:4) This is the one truth that God desired to captivate their hearts, for in it they had life and security and hope… in it they had God’s great gift that was promised to come. As they heard Peter reiterate commands and warnings and explain God’s will for their life they would be frustrated and challenged to live a life of holiness and good works. Considering that they were enduring unjust persecutions and suffering innocently the call that God was declaring was his will would seem too steep. This was why Peter had to bring their focus again and again back to this simple reality that they have this hope that they will be saved upon Christ’s return. What’s more… this is how the prove to God that they truly believe… this is how they prove their faith genuine. If they continue to live according to their own will, seeking what they think is their own justice by repaying evil with evil, by rejecting God’s call on their life… then they have shown that they truly do not trust God’s provision and faithfulness. They would realize as Peter quotes scripture after scripture and explains to them the sovereign plan of God to faithfully redeem them when Christ returns they would be convinced that they have no reason to doubt God. They would realize that their hope truly is in a faithful Father who loved them so much that he sent Christ to ransom them from the bondage of sin and death. They would see the enormity of the gift they have been given and realize there is no hope outside of it… for they would realize that they truly have reason to rejoice every moment of every day regardless of their sufferings or circumstances. Their hope is secure, their trust is in a faithful God who has proven himself to be savior of all, graciously giving eternal life to those who would bow their knee to Christ.

The situation now is no different from that which the original was faced with. The persecutions and sufferings look different but ultimately the hope that is found in Christ remains the same. Today believers in Christ have come to seek the comforts of the world, have come to desire prosperity and “freedom”, and have grown selfish in many various ways. The call of Peter remains true for believers in our culture… Christ is going to return… and what he seeks is a people who have been captured by the glorious gift that he has given and are responding to the gift by being set apart and holy. The comforts of the world will be gone when Christ returns, the treasures stored up will perish, the sufferings will end, and all that will remain will be those who have placed their faith in God through Christ. This is capital “R” reality. Christ will return… and judgement will come with him… and the call that God places to those who would believe in him is to be set apart for him… seeking to do good, pursuing righteousness and turning wholly from all evil. The call seems very steep… and it indeed is… but the truth of Christ’s return is immanent… and there is absolutely nothing to fear, for the hope that is promised in him is eternity in heaven with God. Peter’s challenge is to fear God alone… to live holy lives in reverence for him… for he alone is savior, he alone has given the gift of salvation from sin and death in Christ. This is hope… if it is true…and if we are his… then let us live wholly unto him.

Basketball Camp '07

2008-01-04T10:25:00.001-08:00

Every year when I come home for Christmas I coach a basketball camp at my old home church here in Sacramento. The camp is usually 2 or 3 days where 100 or so kids come in and we teach them the fundamentals of basketball and just have a great time. My favorite part is that a lot of the same kids come back year after year... and year after year I get to tell them about how amazing Jesus is because of what he has done for them. This is Meagan... who has come for the last 4 years... I think... it seems like I've known here forever now.

This year the group was quite a bit smaller because there was another basketball camp going on at a nearby church... which honestly didn't bother me at all because it allows more time to be spent with the kids individually. The camp is usually about 50-60 kids ages 6-9 for three hours in the morning and then another 40-50 kids ages 10-13 for four hours in the afternoon. This year we had about 20-25 in each group which worked out great.

The other great thing about these couple of days of basketball camp is that I get to spend time with a lot of the kids from the youth group at the church... kids I have known since they were born and even got to coach when I was in high school. It's a real blessing to have them help me out... to see the kinds of young men and women they have become. They are great young people and I couldn't do the camp without them.

The funny thing is seeing the kids grow up... many of them that are my helpers now were only 5 or 6 years old when I started coaching these camps 10 years ago. Many of the kids playing in the camp were little baby brothers of children I knew and are now old enough to play. All in all these two days of spending time with these children are some of my favorite days of the year.

Family Pictures

2008-01-01T14:48:00.001-08:00

Every year when I come home for Christmas everyone wants pictures of the family... well, because it's the only time of the year that I am home. So, here they are... I thought I would throw in this updated picture of myself.

My mom Suzanne and I and my sister Melissa.

This is my Dad's family. My step mom Cindy, step sisters Jenn and Anita... then myself, my sister Melissa and my dad Chuck.

When we take all of these family pictures my sister and I usually have a couple of crazy pictures that we take together for fun... this one was our favorite this year.

O....... S....... U....... Oregon State, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT

2007-12-29T09:58:00.000-08:00

The Emerald Bowl in San Francisco between Oregon State University and the University of Maryland. Seeing how my Uncle Jim and our entire family are obsessive OSU Beaver fans they were going to the game. My Uncle Jim graciously bought my father and I tickets to go too so I got to go to my first ever bowl game. It was absolutely awesome!!!

We borrowed my sister's Tahoe and loaded up her back seat. We argued over who would ride in the back seat and my Uncle Bob ended up grabbing it. None of us imagined that Bob, a giant of a man at 6'5 and 250+ pounds, would be the one to choose the backseat but he loved it because he got to stretch his legs out.

So these are the Britton boys... minus my Uncle Tom and his two boys Mitchell and Maxwell. From left to right these are the Britton boys... my father Chuck, my uncle Jim, my uncle Bob, myself, my cousin Trent (Bob's son), and my cousin Allen (Jim's son). It was a whole lot of fun being able to enjoy my family... it doesn't happen much anymore so I have to enjoy them whenever I get the opportunity. The game was great too, OSU won and dominated so it was an awesome day.

Home for the Holidays

2007-12-26T22:38:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share some of what I have been doing over the Christmas season so here are some pictures. This is my sweet little 10 year old step sister Anita and I ice skating. There is a rink they set up every year in downtown Sacramento so we went one day. I have been enjoying my family here... making puzzles and playing games and, of course, doing a lot of shopping.

This is my best friend Rob Watson. He and his lovely wife Erin moved just north of the Bay area at the end of this last summer so they are less than 2 hours away from Sacramento now. I went for a few days last week to spend some time with them at their little house in the city of Novato. It was a real blessing to get to see him... I miss my best buddy seeing how I have been nowhere near him for the last few years. We ate some good Mexican and spent some quality time together making cookies and playing video games.

This is Anita and my other step-sister Jenny ice skating. Jenny is going to a prestigious women's university in Boston because she is super brilliant. She doesn't get much time to come home either so it is always neat to see here spend time with Anita... I just happened to be lucky enough to tag along on their fun.

I hate to boast but I am a pretty good ice skater. It was just fun to be up and active... not to mention I got to rock my new green sweater that I just got... green is my favorite color.

My life.... is crazy

2007-12-19T10:32:00.000-08:00

The first thing that i have done since arriving back in California with my family was that I went with my mom to see Celine Dion. Apparently she had her last performance in Las Vegas and it was taped to be played in theaters for the rest of the nation to see. Monday night my mother and I went to the show and to be quite honest it was pretty spectacular.

I find it funny that I went to this show but at the same time my mom loved it and it's funny to be able to say that I went with my mom to see Celine Dion perform via this theater. Yeah, it makes me laugh at my life a little bit, because how many young guys can say that they have done that.

2 Timothy

2007-12-11T20:31:00.000-08:00

Timeless Truth = Anything of excellence and worth is difficult

As I go through this final epistle of Paul’s I cannot help but be fixated on the perseverance of Paul to carry out the work of God by relentlessly sharing the gospel of Christ. His call to Timothy I see as God’s call to me… to press on for the sake of the gospel… seeking to take the life that Christ has given to people irregardless of what gets in the way. Paul’s life as radical and changed the world for Christ. This is my heart’s desire, for as I see more and more of who Jesus is and what he has done for me I see the reality that the world is dying and Christ alone can bring it life. I want more than anything for this to happen and I see my heart growing increasingly willing to do whatever it takes that people would see what God has offered them in the redemption of the cross. I see too that this is difficult… but Christ is so worth it. As I look at Paul’s life I see him as a living example that Christ is worth everything… that abandoning all for him is the only way to truly live a life of value. As I look at the call on Timothy’s life to follow Paul’s lead I want to run behind them… never looking back. I fear that I am not strong enough to do this but then I see that their strength was Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit… the same strength and power which I also possess. I, just like Paul and Timothy, have nothing to be afraid of… the question is whether I am willing or not to put forth the effort to be used by Christ… am I willing to abandon all of myself that he would be glorified? This question is difficult but I am sensing the Spirit yearning within me to radically risk myself for his glory.

Right now I am at an interesting time in my life… seeking his will and trying to be patient in waiting for what he wants for me. This truth hits me at the core during this time of trying to listen… for it makes me want to just go out and do. I see that what is important is that I do what I can now… daring to love the people around me in this place as zealously as I can… for the sake of Christ that they would see him and the life that he has. When God calls me to do something I must throw off every hindrance to press into the difficulty of living worthy of what God has called me. I also see that in this truth I must be weary to not grow downcast as difficulties arise. The presence of difficulty is not something that I will fear… but something that I will endure and persevere amidst… looking to Christ for his faithfulness and his glory. Really I don’t know how this plays out… I just want more of it. I see Paul and Timothy and my heart breaks for the joy that I see in their calling… that they are honored to serve Christ faithfully proclaiming his mighty work and bringing with it life abundant. I desire nothing more and nothing less than to see Jesus and rejoice that I fought the good fight… that I finished the race, that I kept the faith. Jesus… show me what you want… and Spirit, I cry out for mercy and grace that you would strengthen me to press hard in perseverance and faith… thank you Father that I know in whom I have trusted and that I have confidence in you… the true living God.

This morning we just finished our last test of the semester. We are now going home having finished one third of the school... everyone is really excited... but we are now done with Paul's letters and almost done with the New Testament. These are just some pictures of life around here... some of my new friends. This picture at the top is Victor from Mozambique and his daughter Victoria. These lovely ladies here are... from left to right... Sharis, Ladonna, and Annie.

These kids are two of the crazies here from the SBS. This is Justin from New York and Jessie from Ohio. Jessie has been one of my friends who helps with the youth group here in Kalispell at the church I have been going to. She and I and a few others have been helping weekly and loving it. Justin is absolutely nuts but awesome to hang out with... he and I have had a lot of fun ambushing people with snowballs.

This week has been nice to just relax and lounge around a bit. It has been busy with doing 2 Timothy, an assignment in which we also made a 30 minute teaching. Even with the bigger assignment and this exam we just finished this morning it has been a great week of just enjoying each other.

1 Timothy

2007-12-10T16:59:00.000-08:00

Doctrine (Sound vs. False)

Throughout 1 Timothy the imperative for Paul’s writing is that doctrine is the core of faith. In false doctrine people are lead to their demise as they fall away from Christ… led away from God by sin. This is the one crucial thing that cannot be tolerated by Timothy, for in it is salvation or death. To seek anything less than Christ for salvation is to be lead into demise… for Christ is God’s one true means of salvation. This would be the hill that needs to be battled over… for whoever holds truth holds life. This is the absolute necessity of doctrine… for the truth alone can bring life. If salvation through Christ truly is the only way to attaining heaven and redemption with God the Father… if God really is the only true God… then the ramification of believing in anything else… is death. There is no escaping this… implying that hope alone is found in Jesus Christ.

Timothy knew this well… having been taught by Paul probably time and time again that Christ alone is hope for all peoples. God alone is Savior… there is no hope for eternal life outside of him. The people in Ephesus though were being bombarded by every teaching possible… and were at a constant out of sorts in trying to figure out which teaching really was true. This is where they were confused… hearing this hope of eternal glory with God in Christ… and then hearing so many other teachers pulling them in other directions. Timothy’s charge was a difficult one… to do all he could to see that no one would turn from the truth of Christ. This is the sad truth… some were falling away from Christ and thus falling into God’s wrath. Timothy and Paul both saw this and it broke their hearts that people would suffer eternal condemnation. This letter was a hope to show them that there is no hope outside of Christ… an attempt to bring truth to them and give Timothy the authority to uncompromisingly stand against all of the other false teachings. This was Timothy’s charge… to lay down his life, as Paul so often did, for the sake of the gospel… for the sake of those who would suffer God’s wrath for turning from God’s salvation in Christ.

For us today this truth remains… Christ alone is mediator between God and man. This is either truth or there is no hope for humanity other than in and of ourselves. I definitely don’t think that I can earn a place of righteousness before God… anyone who would think that is an absolute fool. The funny thing is that in today’s culture that’s what we do believe. We believe that God owes it to us to give us what we want and to just hand us heaven. Reality is that sound doctrine leads us into life through Christ. Anything less than the truth of the Scriptures in Christ is heresy and leads to death and destruction. That’s what is amazing about doctrine… the truth isn’t contingent on our opinions or beliefs. The truth is the truth. If the bible is true then the majority of our world is going to hell in a hand basket. This breaks my heart… that we have settled, as the Ephesians did, for what we want… choosing worldly life rather than what God has given us… true life in Christ. This is reality… and sound doctrine is the only thing that can keep us seeing clearly what God truly values. Our present culture has led so many to believe so many false teachings other than Christ’s work for salvation. Our belief system shapes our entire worldview… and though sad, it is true that most people in our present world have chosen to make God what they want him to be rather than seeing him as he truly is. Life is found be taking God at his word and seeking the life he offers. He created us… he has decided what is good and what is evil… we turned away from him… he sent his Son to restore us… and now what do we do? We so easily turn away from our creator… who has come to redeem us. We fail to hold fast to the truth… failing to trust that the truth will set us free. We would rather be ignorant to the truth, believing what we want to believe… what makes us feel “good.” Sadly this turning from truth, from solid doctrine, is leading us away from God… leading us to death.

James

2007-12-07T06:50:00.000-08:00

Faith / Works

This theme is the overriding message of the epistle of James and is the reason why so many people have a hard time reckoning it with the other books of the New Testament. James, Jesus’ brother and the leader of the church in Jerusalem, addressed believers with this message of faith proven through works. Many people would think that this message contradicts Paul’s message of justification through faith alone but given Paul’s dear respect for James and their seemingly close relationship this just doesn’t seem possible. The reality is that James’ message was not a message of salvation through works but that salvation and faith would be testified to by a believer’s actions in response to the great gift received. Martin Luther, who despised the letter of James so much that he thought it should be thrown out of the bible, perhaps summed it up best. He stated the message that Christ was trying to get across by saying, “We are not saved by works; but if there be no works, there must be something amiss with faith” (Bainton 259). This is the message that James was trying to articulate to all believers. Faith is not true faith unless works that prove a steadfast trust in God’s provision accompany it. James, being a leader in the church concerned for all believers, desired for people to have fruit in their lives from their faith. He saw the world surrounding Christ’s body and realized that the values of the world were encroaching upon Christ’s beloved and tempting believers to live not according to God’s values but settling for what the world had to offer. This is the root issue here for James’ challenging message that could be so misconstrued by improper interpretation. This is not a message of justification by trying to earn God’s mercy through righteous living. James’ message was a message of salvation and justification by faith. However… faith without works testifies that a person likely never believed… for a root of faith that bears no fruit apparently was never alive. This theme holds everything in the epistle of James together… for James’ plea is that Christ’s beloved would live according to the wisdom and life that God had for them. His desire was for them to have nothing more and nothing less than what God desired for them… seeing that they were willing to settle for less.

To those whom James wrote to, this would be a call to holiness and righteous living. Throughout the epistle James contrasts the results of what the world has to off with what God has called them to. They would be bombarded with the reality that God has always been good, always provided, and always been faithful to show them mercy when they sought life in him. On the other hand it would be amazingly apparent that the world offers only bondage and death… that selfishness and living according to the values of the world offers nothing of value. In this the original reader would see that they have been given hope in Christ… and yeah, to live according to what God has called them to is to live in the fullness of what God has to offer. This is faith for them, to trust in what God has given rather than settle for what the world has to offer… selfishness, sin, emptiness, destruction, and death. Even amidst the sufferings and persecutions they were enduring for their faith they would see in who Christ is and in Scripture that God has been faithful time and time again to show his mercy and provision… and now has given them the hope of heaven. This would captivate their hearts and put in them a yearning to live righteously in faith… trusting that what God has is better than anything they could hope for is.

For us, today, this remains true. We are willing to settle for what the world offers when God has so much more. It is sad but it’s true. We nod our heads at church to Jesus then walk away denying him by our lives. We see in shadows that we need him but never abandon ourselves desperately latching onto him as our hope. Will we dare to abandon the world trusting that God, I mean this is God we are talking about, will take care of us. Christ died for him yet we doubt that God can provide… let us live out our faith, abandoning the crap the world has to offer, seeking in faith what God has to offer.

Bainton, Roland H. Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther. New York: New American Library, 1950; 1978. (Bainton 259) http://www.lessonsonline.info/LutherandJames.htm,

----------------------------------------------------

(This picture was taken a few days ago when we had a bunch of snow come down. Myself and a few others played in the snow for more than an hour... it was amazing. This is me throwing a snowball at my friend Erica from the dance school... it was her birthday yesterday... she is 20.)

Colossians

2007-12-05T08:20:00.002-08:00

Who Christ is!

This theme gripped me last week in Hebrews and is so prevalent in the epistle to the Colossians that I couldn’t get away from it. In Colossians Paul again portrays Christ as Lord over all things… yet in a different and refreshing way. Paul describes Christ’s greatness with a distinct flavor here in Colossians… making some astounding claims about Christ in the process. Christ is depicted not only as savior… who given redemption and forgiveness of sins for humanity… but also as God himself. Paul puts it this way, “he is the firstborn of all creation… all things were created through him and for him… in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:15-17) He is here seen to be the inheritor of all things under creation including humanity, seen as the one whom God did everything for… and he also is the one holds everything together. The world belongs to Christ… this is who he is. Believers belong to Christ… and what is even more epic is that God is pleased to give them to him. Paul again makes a grand statement, “He is the beginning, that in everything he might be preeminent… For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell…” (Colossians 1:18,19) Christ is the most important thing to God the Father. This is truth… that in Christ God is pleased. Christ has reconciled those who believe in him to the Father… and this is why God is pleased with him. Christ is hope for mankind. Because of his mighty work that was planned out from the beginning of time God delights. In Christ humanity has been restored to God. He is the mystery of all time for humanity, being alienated from God, was restored by his shed blood and sacrifice. Christ, whom all creation is made for, came to restore it to God. This is the relationship that Christ and God have; a Father pleased with his Son. God is pleased because through Christ’s mercy humanity now has been restored as sons as well. Now, as the firstborn, all things belong to Christ… creation and man, a part of it.

For the Colossians this truth had huge ramifications. Christ is their savior as well. When they would see who Christ is… truly is… in God’s eyes… they would realize that they have nothing to fear as they trust in him. They would see that their hope is not in vain… that the message they had received about Christ’s mercy as the Messiah come to forgive their sins and take them to heaven eternally was not false. This would bring peace and rest to their souls, for amidst all of the religions surrounding them and the different belief systems they would now be assured that their confidence was sound. The one in whom they had placed their trust was indeed faithful and true. Christ is Lord… he indeed is the one with whom God is pleased. As they are bombarded with different belief systems claiming to offer salvation they would see that Christ is their only hope. He is God’s word to them and in him their hope is secure. They have believed wisely… and would realize that they can continue to place their faith in this man… who is God… who is the inheritor of God’s eternal heavenly kingdom. They will inherit it with him for they belong to him through faith… what blessed assurance they have in who Christ is.

For the reader today we are in a similar situation as the Colossians. We too are bombarded with different belief systems for both salvation and for every day living. The world around us says that hope in Christ is in vain and that other things and beliefs and pleasures offer more and better outcomes. In Christ there is a hope… for if these words about Christ are indeed true there is absolutely nothing else that can truly bring life. The question for us then is do we believe that Christ is truly all of the things that Paul claims in this epistle to the Colossians. If Christ is indeed Lord over all, the inheritor of eternity and the sole means of salvation and redemption with God, the true God… then we have nothing to fear in abandoning all to be his. To hope in Christ is in no way foolishness but is the only true wisdom. To be found in him is to be a partaker in his inheritance… in God’s eternal rest and his provision here on earth as well. Christ offers life amidst a world of darkness and death, therefore let us seek him in gratitude and loving response for the glorious gift of life he has given… looking forward to the hope of being given glory with him.

(This picture was taken about 2 weeks ago right before thanksgiving at the first snow fall... a bunch of us went outside to catch snowflakes in our mouths. You can see that I was happy because I got to hold my God-daughter Isabelle... she was so cuddly that day because it was so cold outside... I had the awesome job of keeping her warmed up.)

2007-12-03T18:30:00.000-08:00

This is another amazing passage... for this is who Jesus truly is. This is the reality of what he has done for all who believe... this is what he has done for me and why he has captivated my attention so. (excerpt from the paraphrase version called "The Message")

Colossians 1:13-23

13-14God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He's set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating.

15-18We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.

18-20He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he's there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.

21-23You yourselves are a case study of what he does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God's side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. You don't walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This picture was drawn by my friend Anne B from Norway... while I was sharing with her and another friend Annie about what I was learning in Hebrews. Anne drew this while I was talking... she's quite the artist. They are both really awesome girls from the dance school. You can see me a few times... as well as the lovely stick figure man that she through in at the end as a joke. The tall long haired girl is their roommate Carla from Costa Rica and the short haired girl in the bottom right is Annie.

Hebrews

2007-12-02T15:23:00.000-08:00

Hebrews 9:28

“Christ… will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him”

Hebrews 11:16

“as it is, they desire a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city”

Hebrews 12:22

“but you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem”

Christ is going to return to save those that belong to him… taking them home to heaven to be with him in eternity.

As I read through Hebrews and see this truth I cannot help but rejoice that I get to go home with Jesus. This week has been a rough one, good but challenging as God has been humbling me of my pride and arrogance, showing me my weaknesses yet also opening my eyes up to who Christ really is and who I am because of it. He is showing me that my identity is solely found as a sinner saved by grace… nothing more than a sinner… but also nothing less than God’s beloved son through Christ’s gracious gift of redemption. As I press into Christ I cannot help but be swept up in simply wanting to be with Jesus in heaven. This comes in two parts though… one being unhealthy and the other being what he truly desires us to be captivated by. The unhealthy aspect of my wanting to be with Jesus is that I am simply tired of this world and the rat race that it is… growing depressed in my infirmity and the tension as I see what the world values and fail to see strength in it. What I see as a good thing, what I am truly thankful for though… is that the Holy Spirit is putting this in me to desire the things of God much more than the things of the world. Yeah, I want what Jesus has so much more than the things that are found here. I want what he has for me, and I sure as heck am not going to settle for less anymore. The American dream, the toys, the deception of what success is supposed to look like, financial freedom… these things are growing less and less attractive to me while Christ grows so much more appealing. As I see who Christ is the things of the world literally grow less and less powerful, strangely being dimmed by the reality of the life he offers. Yeah, for this I am eternally grateful. When I see this truth then I cannot help but rejoice… my heart being broken to know full well that someday I will be with Christ in paradise… free of this fallen world for eternity. This is peace for me… this is rest… this is a hope that indeed I will not let go of… this is what Christ’s promise is.

In realizing though that this is the case I also see an imperative in my life to endure the circumstances of today looking forward to the hope I have in Christ… this hope of eternal security and joy. In no way does it honor Christ for me to simply bury my head in a pillow like a baby wanting my way… even if what I desire is to be home with him. To honor Christ I must now get after it… laying aside the things of the world to do God’s work. In my prayer times I find myself thanking Christ for who he is and then realizing that I want what he wants now. He has given so much… my hope, my true desire is absolutely secure… now what does he want for me here and now? I must now see the freedom that he has given me to pour my life out for others that somehow and someway through me they would see that Christ has given them this hope too if they would just believe it. This I can do while I am here now, for it is no small thing to rejoice now in the reality of who Christ is… not only for me but for all peoples who would simply humble themselves to receive this free gift. Yeah, I don’t know how this will work but I am excited to suck it up in light of the hope I have in Christ. I must be diligent to seek what Christ has for me. To practically apply this I have decided to commit every morning to having prayer time before breakfast to simply reflect on who Christ is and seek what he desires. Yeah, it’s been fun already and I am excited to continue seeking him out… desperately longing to be home and resting in the reality that I will be someday.

(The picture is of some bison out in wide open land. It was neat to see them while driving around the area. This is what it looks like here in Montana now that the snow has hit...)

Oswald Chambers... praise God for him

2007-11-30T17:37:00.000-08:00

November 30, 2007

"By the Grace of God I Am What I Am"

By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain . . .
1 Corinthians 15:10

The way we continually talk about our own inabilities is an insult to our Creator. To complain over our incompetence is to accuse God falsely of having overlooked us. Get into the habit of examining from God’s perspective those things that sound so humble to men. You will be amazed at how unbelievably inappropriate and disrespectful they are to Him. We say things such as, "Oh, I shouldn’t claim to be sanctified; I’m not a saint." But to say that before God means, "No, Lord, it is impossible for You to save and sanctify me; there are opportunities I have not had and so many imperfections in my brain and body; no, Lord, it isn’t possible." That may sound wonderfully humble to others, but before God it is an attitude of defiance.

Conversely, the things that sound humble before God may sound exactly the opposite to people. To say, "Thank God, I know I am saved and sanctified," is in God’s eyes the purest expression of humility. It means you have so completely surrendered yourself to God that you know He is true. Never worry about whether what you say sounds humble before others or not. But always be humble before God, and allow Him to be your all in all.

There is only one relationship that really matters, and that is your personal relationship to your personal Redeemer and Lord. If you maintain that at all costs, letting everything else go, God will fulfill His purpose through your life. One individual life may be of priceless value to God’s purposes, and yours may be that life.

--------------------------------

This week has been a bit rough on me as I have been sorting through a lot of things. We are studying Hebrews... which has absolutely blown my mind as I see who Jesus really is. This week God has really been humbling me and this caught my attention as soon as I read it this morning. Christ has done something truly liberating for us... he has purchased me from sin and death. This is what he has done on the cross. He is Lord and has given me justification before God. I am his son, an heir of the kingdom of heaven through the gift of his blood poured out to redeem me from hell. This is the reality of who I am and for me to live in anything less is a tragedy... because it is for freedom that Christ has set us free (Galatians 5:1). The reality that God wants me to live by is this... I am nothing more than a sinner saved by grace... but I am also nothing less than a sinner saved by grace (his beloved son whom he values and is faithfully bringing to glory in Christ).

Today was Friday... and every Friday is what "Formal Friday" for me here during SBS. The tradition began last year when the students at the ESBS at Lurecrest dressed formally every Friday. I decided to 'represent' for Lurecrest and bring "Formal Friday" to Montana. Thus far I have been the only die hard but I am still holding strong and am going to stay strong all year. Quite a few of the other students have latched onto it themselves and will dress up with me most weeks but as far as being totally faithful that they are not. Nonetheless it is fun. This was my outfit today... the vest and pants courtesy of the Salvation Army.

Goodbye DTS

2007-11-29T08:17:00.001-08:00

The DTS (Discipleship Training School) left just yesterday to go on their outreach. They are going to be doing some amazing work, unfortunately I can't tell ya'll what for fear of compromising their situation. Tuesday evening was going to be their last time that we would get to spend with them so our SBS met up with them for a time of worship, prayer, and encouragement. It was a great time of getting to send them off and speak truth over their lives and pray for God's grace on their outreach. They also got to pray for us in our studies this year and just were an amazing blessing.

These evenings have come to be my favorite times here at the base, for in these moments we are functioning as the body of Christ, lifting each other up in prayer as we intercede on behalf of each other. This is the opportunity in which we get to love each other and speak truth to each other's lives... these are the times that I truly have come to value... when we cry out for God to be real and work mightily for our brothers and sisters, for we all belong to him.

This time was extra special because these are the two largest schools and this is the first time we have had the chance to come together and pray for each other as a collective. The DTS is about 50+ students and our school is 43 students... so it was a blessing to get to be all together just praying as God put it on our hearts.

Many of the DTS students were a bit nervous because they have never been on outreach in a foreign country, or at the very least they hadn't been for a prolonged period... they will be gone for two months... carrying nothing but their backpack to some very remote locations as well as into big cities.

The SBS students were truly blessed too, for now is the time where the work begins to get monotonous if we aren't careful. It was such a blessing to have the DTS students intercede for us that God would give us a joy as we study his word... that it wouldn't become drudgery but that we would be refreshed by his word and press in more and more as we see Christ.

Swing Dancing at the Big Fork Inn

2007-11-26T20:20:00.001-08:00

During the winter here there isn't much to do on weekend evenings so I thought I would come up with something. I found out that there is a really awesome little lodge nearby where they have swing dancing and thought I would take some people to check it out. For the last few months now I have been coming here with groups of 8-12 of us from the YWAM base to have a fun night with live music and swing dancing. It's been a blast, and we are all getting a lot better. I figured I would show off some pictures.

This is the band that plays... "The Company Brass"... they are actually really nice guys who play for three hours together every Friday and Saturday night just like clock work. They play pretty much the same songs every single week but they are awesome. They are seriously amazing musicians who play great swing music and a little bit of Latin stuff as well as the occasional Waltz which I love.

This is the crew that happened to come this week, a rather large bunch of folks. We end up bringing pretty much the same four or five guys every week because the rest of the guys at the base don't know what they are missing out on and we have been having a ton of fun. Every week different girls come though because they all want to come and so I am having to make them take turns. One of the things that has been fun is bringing different people from the different schools here on the base. Three of us here are from the DTS (discipleship training school), two of the girls are from the School of Dance here, and six of us are from the SBS (school of biblical studies... that I am in).

Here I am, dancing... This is my friend Erica, she is from the school of dance and is a really awesome dancer. She has been one of the girls who comes quite regularly... so she is one of the girls who is a better dancer. She really loves coming and has been one of my best recruiters to get more people.

This is my good friend Jeridan from the SBS. He's one of my classmates, a wonderful young man... seriously a great man whom I absolutely love. Yeah, I can't say enough good things about this guy. This is Chrissy from the DTS, a sweet girl that I just recently got to know a bit better and she is sweet as can be. It's funny to be here at the base with 200+ people. They are all so wonderful but unfortunately you don't get the chance to get to know them as much as you would like in the busyness of everything. Jeridan is an absolute champion though, I truly enjoy his presence.

This is what the dance floor looks like from the side... it's kind of small and the room gets crowded rather quickly but Fridays and Saturday nights have presented themselves to be quite enjoyable now that I found this place. Perhaps by the end of the year I will be pretty darn good at it.

2nd Corinthians

2007-11-25T09:12:00.000-08:00

Theme = Suffering

Suffering truly is a theme that is quite prominent throughout the book of 2nd Corinthians but is not necessarily a bad thing. This is the most important part of this theme’s recurrence in this the second epistle that we have of Paul’s correspondence with the church at Corinth. The church saw Paul’s suffering as a weak point… making them doubt Paul’s authority given by God. Paul approaches this letter from in both the beginning and end to dispel the doubts they have about God’s authority and clarify that suffering isn’t a bad thing. The beauty of this theme throughout this epistle is that Paul is able to constantly bring attention back to Christ and his work on the cross to show the church that suffering is actually a vital part of the Christian life and that it isn’t something to be feared. Suffering is actually a testimony to those following Christ because it identifies his adopted children with his own suffering and makes them distinctly separate from the world. Throughout the epistle suffering is not just something that is what believers are left to put up with but God promises to comfort and deliver those who belong to him in the midst of suffering. This is why I wanted to follow this theme throughout the book, to see the many ways in which God says that he provide for those who are suffering. God’s character is revealed through the way Paul describes how God has interacted him through his suffering… laying himself as an example for the Corinthians to see that God’s values are different than man’s. They had lost sight of who God is as they lost sight of who Paul claimed to be. God is portrayed as comforter… as deliverer… as powerful to overcome… and most importantly Christ is portrayed as hero for he suffered to bring reconciliation between God and man. Paul’s constant emphasis on God’s power and sufficiency amidst suffering makes this message of Christ’s suffering even the more potent. In Christ’s victory on the cross, truly suffering for the sake of man, he has given the gift of eternal comfort… making the difficulties of the present life truly inconsequential in light of the unending hope of heaven through faith in God’s revealed grace.

To the Corinthians they saw Paul in a skewed perspective, knowing that he had established the church there and seemed genuine. In this epistle Paul uses this theme of suffering to open their eyes up to an eternal perspective that God has graced him with, for they were lost in the present trying to find life and peace and joy in the things of the world. At the end of the epistle they would see through Paul’s irony that his suffering is for their sakes… that they would see the truth of Christ. It is because of Paul’s suffering that they even ever received the message of the gospel. This truth would sink into their hearts, producing a gratitude for suffering… constantly being bombarded with the reality that Christ’s suffering is what gave them hope and justification, not to mention Paul’s endurance to bring the message to them. Their pride would be melting by Paul’s constant emphasis on suffering, seeing that the afflictions of the present age truly don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. In fact they owe everything that they have been given by God through suffering. The world around them is seeking to destroy them and the only real love and hope that even exists is through this wonderful gospel… a gospel that is only possible through sacrifice, through enduring in suffering for Christ’s sake.

In the present age that we now live in our situation is not too terribly different than that of the Corinthians. Everyone, even believers in Christ, is afraid to suffer. Nobody wants to endure pain, for the present generation has failed to trust that anything good can come from sacrifice. This is the suffering that God has for those who believe upon Christ. They no longer belong to themselves but belong to him to be used for his good pleasure. His good pleasure often leads to them being identified with Christ in suffering, in sacrificing themselves that more people would see the amazing grace that Christ has purchased on the cross. This verse beautifully sums up the message of suffering in 2 Corinthians, verse 4:17 “For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison…”

Paul sarcastic?... no way...

2007-11-23T17:01:00.001-08:00

In reading 2nd Corinthians I found a passage that i really enjoyed and felt like I should share... it's interesting to think about to say the least. I like The Message translation best for this passage because it is a bit easier to understand so enjoy.

(Keep in mind that Paul has already written them 3 other letters telling them that they need to start acting right. He established the church there but within a year and a half of his departure false teachers came in and told them that Paul was a crackpot teacher and that he didn't tell them the truth nor did he care about them. Here Paul finally just lets loose against the liars who are deceiving the church in Corinth that he loves so much. I know it will take a while to read but it will be worth it.)

2 Corinthians 10

"1-2And now a personal but most urgent matter; I write in the gentle but firm spirit of Christ. I hear that I'm being painted as cringing and wishy-washy when I'm with you, but harsh and demanding when at a safe distance writing letters. Please don't force me to take a hard line when I'm present with you. Don't think that I'll hesitate a single minute to stand up to those who say I'm an unprincipled opportunist. Then they'll have to eat their words.

3-6The world is unprincipled. It's dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn't fight fair. But we don't live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.

7-8You stare and stare at the obvious, but you can't see the forest for the trees. If you're looking for a clear example of someone on Christ's side, why do you so quickly cut me out? Believe me, I am quite sure of my standing with Christ. You may think I overstate the authority he gave me, but I'm not backing off. Every bit of my commitment is for the purpose of building you up, after all, not tearing you down.

9-11And what's this talk about me bullying you with my letters? "His letters are brawny and potent, but in person he's a weakling and mumbles when he talks." Such talk won't survive scrutiny. What we write when away, we do when present. We're the exact same people, absent or present, in letter or in person.

12We're not, understand, putting ourselves in a league with those who boast that they're our superiors. We wouldn't dare do that. But in all this comparing and grading and competing, they quite miss the point.

13-14We aren't making outrageous claims here. We're sticking to the limits of what God has set for us. But there can be no question that those limits reach to and include you. We're not moving into someone else's "territory." We were already there with you, weren't we? We were the first ones to get there with the Message of Christ, right? So how can there be any question of overstepping our bounds by writing or visiting you?

15-18We're not barging in on the rightful work of others, interfering with their ministries, demanding a place in the sun with them. What we're hoping for is that as your lives grow in faith, you'll play a part within our expanding work. And we'll all still be within the limits God sets as we proclaim the Message in countries beyond Corinth. But we have no intention of moving in on what others have done and taking credit for it. "If you want to claim credit, claim it for God." What you say about yourself means nothing in God's work. It's what God says about you that makes the difference.

2 Corinthians 11

1-3Will you put up with a little foolish aside from me? Please, just for a moment. The thing that has me so upset is that I care about you so much—this is the passion of God burning inside me! I promised your hand in marriage to Christ, presented you as a pure virgin to her husband. And now I'm afraid that exactly as the Snake seduced Eve with his smooth patter, you are being lured away from the simple purity of your love for Christ.

4-6It seems that if someone shows up preaching quite another Jesus than we preached—different spirit, different message—you put up with him quite nicely. But if you put up with these big-shot "apostles," why can't you put up with simple me? I'm as good as they are. It's true that I don't have their voice, haven't mastered that smooth eloquence that impresses you so much. But when I do open my mouth, I at least know what I'm talking about. We haven't kept anything back. We let you in on everything.

7-12I wonder, did I make a bad mistake in proclaiming God's Message to you without asking for something in return, serving you free of charge so that you wouldn't be inconvenienced by me? It turns out that the other churches paid my way so that you could have a free ride. Not once during the time I lived among you did anyone have to lift a finger to help me out. My needs were always supplied by the believers from Macedonia province. I was careful never to be a burden to you, and I never will be, you can count on it. With Christ as my witness, it's a point of honor with me, and I'm not going to keep it quiet just to protect you from what the neighbors will think. It's not that I don't love you; God knows I do. I'm just trying to keep things open and honest between us.

12-15And I'm not changing my position on this. I'd die before taking your money. I'm giving nobody grounds for lumping me in with those money-grubbing "preachers," vaunting themselves as something special. They're a sorry bunch—pseudo-apostles, lying preachers, crooked workers—posing as Christ's agents but sham to the core. And no wonder! Satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light. So it shouldn't surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God. But they're not getting by with anything. They'll pay for it in the end.

16-21Let me come back to where I started—and don't hold it against me if I continue to sound a little foolish. Or if you'd rather, just accept that I am a fool and let me rant on a little. I didn't learn this kind of talk from Christ. Oh, no, it's a bad habit I picked up from the three-ring preachers that are so popular these days. Since you sit there in the judgment seat observing all these shenanigans, you can afford to humor an occasional fool who happens along. You have such admirable tolerance for impostors who rob your freedom, rip you off, steal you blind, put you down—even slap your face! I shouldn't admit it to you, but our stomachs aren't strong enough to tolerate that kind of stuff.

21-23Since you admire the egomaniacs of the pulpit so much (remember, this is your old friend, the fool, talking), let me try my hand at it. Do they brag of being Hebrews, Israelites, the pure race of Abraham? I'm their match. Are they servants of Christ? I can go them one better. (I can't believe I'm saying these things. It's crazy to talk this way! But I started, and I'm going to finish.)

23-27I've worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death's door time after time. I've been flogged five times with the Jews' thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I've been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I've had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I've been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I've known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather.

28-29And that's not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches. When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones. When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in my gut.

30-33If I have to "brag" about myself, I'll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus. The eternal and blessed God and Father of our Master Jesus knows I'm not lying. Remember the time I was in Damascus and the governor of King Aretas posted guards at the city gates to arrest me? I crawled through a window in the wall, was let down in a basket, and had to run for my life.

2 Corinthians 12

1-5You've forced me to talk this way, and I do it against my better judgment. But now that we're at it, I may as well bring up the matter of visions and revelations that God gave me. For instance, I know a man who, fourteen years ago, was seized by Christ and swept in ecstasy to the heights of heaven. I really don't know if this took place in the body or out of it; only God knows. I also know that this man was hijacked into paradise—again, whether in or out of the body, I don't know; God knows. There he heard the unspeakable spoken, but was forbidden to tell what he heard. This is the man I want to talk about. But about myself, I'm not saying another word apart from the humiliations.

6If I had a mind to brag a little, I could probably do it without looking ridiculous, and I'd still be speaking plain truth all the way. But I'll spare you. I don't want anyone imagining me as anything other than the fool you'd encounter if you saw me on the street or heard me talk.

7-10Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn't get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,

My grace is enough; it's all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.
Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

11-13Well, now I've done it! I've made a complete fool of myself by going on like this. But it's not all my fault; you put me up to it. You should have been doing this for me, sticking up for me and commending me instead of making me do it for myself. You know from personal experience that even if I'm a nobody, a nothing, I wasn't second-rate compared to those big-shot apostles you're so taken with. All the signs that mark a true apostle were in evidence while I was with you through both good times and bad: signs of portent, signs of wonder, signs of power. Did you get less of me or of God than any of the other churches? The only thing you got less of was less responsibility for my upkeep. Well, I'm sorry. Forgive me for depriving you.

14-15Everything is in readiness now for this, my third visit to you. But don't worry about it; you won't have to put yourselves out. I'll be no more of a bother to you this time than on the other visits. I have no interest in what you have—only in you. Children shouldn't have to look out for their parents; parents look out for the children. I'd be most happy to empty my pockets, even mortgage my life, for your good. So how does it happen that the more I love you, the less I'm loved?

16-18And why is it that I keep coming across these whiffs of gossip about how my self-support was a front behind which I worked an elaborate scam? Where's the evidence? Did I cheat or trick you through anyone I sent? I asked Titus to visit, and sent some brothers along. Did they swindle you out of anything? And haven't we always been just as aboveboard, just as honest?

19I hope you don't think that all along we've been making our defense before you, the jury. You're not the jury; God is the jury—God revealed in Christ—and we make our case before him. And we've gone to all the trouble of supporting ourselves so that we won't be in the way or get in the way of your growing up.

20-21I do admit that I have fears that when I come you'll disappoint me and I'll disappoint you, and in frustration with each other everything will fall to pieces—quarrels, jealousy, flaring tempers, taking sides, angry words, vicious rumors, swelled heads, and general bedlam. I don't look forward to a second humiliation by God among you, compounded by hot tears over that crowd that keeps sinning over and over in the same old ways, who refuse to turn away from the pigsty of evil, sexual disorder, and indecency in which they wallow."

I find this passage very interesting... seeing that I am the same way... losing sight of what Christ has really done for me. Our teacher mentioned how she was speaking in Asia somewhere and a pastor of a church raised his hand at one of her points and told her that what Paul was saying sounds good but that everyone knows what he is saying doesn't work. That is the culture that we live in... that is what I often believe... that the Bible doesn't work. The truth for the Corinthians was that Paul indeed was writing truth and his plan wasn't his at all but it was God's. I am seeing more and more that I must be careful to line my life up with the word of God because he created me and surely must know better than I do how to run my life. God's word is life to us if we would dare believe that it can work. I hope this blesses someone out there, for it blessed me... if nothing else it is funny. Realize though, please, that we are not too different than the church at Corinth, for we are much more willing to listen to the culture around us and it's definition of what is of value than we are willing to listen to God's truth in Christ.

(These pictures were taken while I was driving to Missoula on an errand this week... beautiful eh?)

SNOW-LTIMATE!!!

2007-11-23T15:37:00.001-08:00

We have been playing a lot of ultimate frisbee lately and figured that a little snow wasn't going to stop us. Most of the time we try to play SBS versus DTS which makes for fun games. For the most part our SBS team is filled with wiser players who throw better so we usually win. The DTS kids are mostly like 18 or 19 years old though so what they lack in skill they make up for in hustle. Sometimes they play a bit too hard and take us out a lot so it takes a lot of patience but is fun nonetheless. I end up having to be the wise old boring guy who gets in their face and tells them they need to chill and not kill us, I guess after hurting my knee this summer playing ultimate I just can't stand to see people getting close to being injured.

The game this day happened as the snow started to come down... this was Wednesday right before most people were heading home for Thanksgiving. It was a blast... some people were wearing their snow gear and most people had gloves on because it was just frigid cold.

The best part about the day was that you could slide along the frozen ground... slipping everywhere.

All in all I am not sure how much longer this will go on. The DTS leaves on Monday for their outreach portion of the school so there will only be SBS and the other small schools here until Christmas. Ultimate might have to wait a while until this spring, hopefully we can keep ourselves busy with other winter sports. Snowltimate was fun though... we'll start getting more snow here soon.