Personal Story: God Holding Me Secure

I've struggled for a long time with fairly crippling sadness and self-loathing. I can't say this is "depression" as I have never gone to get it checked out, but it is something I have experienced for a long time, fading in and out as it sees fit. Saturday night I had one of these experiences that flowed into Sunday. I was supposed to hang out with my fiance, but she was working on a project the whole time. I blamed it on that. But as it progressed I realized more and more this was simply a trigger. I started to feel worthless, unnecessary, and desired nothing more than to sleep and wallow. Even the next morning, I found it hard to get out of bed and at church couldn't help: I still longed for my bed or couch to simply lie there with no real purpose.

My loving fiance, being the great encouragement she is, reminded me I should read my Bible and spend time with God. This was obviously not what I wanted to do so I resisted, but it did remind me of something I tweeted just the day before.

This was meant as simply a general reminder, but oh how it spoke to me then! The link points to these verses: "Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving." (Colossians 2:6-7 ESV) Well you can imagine I felt incredibly silly knowing I had just attempted to encourage my few Twitter followers to find their comfort and foundation in Christ and here I was wallowing and letting myself feel worthless for no reason. But here in Colossians, I was reminded to keep Christ as my root and base so I could be secure in the sturdiest of foundations, not wavering with slight upsets but overflowing with praise for him.

The rest of the night God used to plant my feet firmly back in his grace and love. The youth group I am blessed to help at had a big event. I got to see a number of students who are serious about Christ worship and serve him to create this opportunity for our pastor Bill to rightly share the Gospel with many new faces. The Father put me right in the middle of a dire situation for a student, not to prove myself or make me look good, but to remind me and those involved that he is deserving of glory and he has not left us on Earth by accident. I was reminded of one of my favorite verses, which God has used countless times to pull me out of this sense of worthlessness and purposelessness to a right knowledge of his calling and decision to use me specifically. It reads "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10 ESV) Paul, in his letter to Ephesus, just finishes famously explaining that we are saved by God's grace through our faith, which itself is a gift from him. Immediately after, here in verse 10, he explains that God saved and made us new creations to do good things for God and his Kingdom. However, these are not a general calling, but specific things that he prepared already. I was not saved from my sinful nature to simply die and go to be with God one day. I was not saved to, in general, work for God wherever I happen to find the opportunity. I was saved for specific, planned events that God designed for me, Garrett DeMeyer, to do for his glory. Helping that student through a rough patch Sunday night was not something that was an accident or an after thought: Before time began, God planned for me to be there, help him, and to bring God glory in it all.

If you are a Christian, this is true of you too. Or if you ever realize you are a slave to sin (like the rest of us) and can only reach God and true joy through Christ Jesus, knowing he loved you enough to die and to three days later rise again, paying for your sins so you could have a relationship with the Father, this will be true of you as well. Everyone who puts this trust in Jesus' sacrifice has good works planned out for them by God. Do not dare to say you don't have a purpose, do not dare to let the stones cry out in praise instead, when this is true of you, Christian.

What's With All These Rules?

It's a question we all have had and heard some variation of: "What is with all the rules of Christianity?" The situation is fueled by the 613 commands that make up the Law found in the Old Testament, not to mention any other reiterations, warnings, charges, and challenges issued throughout the Bible. "But," you may say, "I heard that Christianity is a relationship with God. What do rules have to do with relationship?" This is a legitimate question and one someone should ask if they find themselves questioning the reason for such rules or the importance of a Law in a relationship. One response a person may offer is that these rules don't matter since Jesus came. In short, this is a flat out ignoring of what Jesus himself said (I recently wrote about this, so I'll brush over it for now). There is a more correct response, and it follows from the basic idea of opposites.

Let's picture our spiritual world as one of polar opposites, which I think is a legitimate way to think of it. Hot is in an exact opposite place as cold, beautiful far from ugly, and good is set obviously apart from evil. If I am cold, I have two options: I can run away from the coldness, or run toward the warmth. In a similar way, if I'm caught in evil I have the same options, run from it or run toward the opposite, good. However, one is easier than the other.

To add to this picture, we can think of a race. While running, do you think an athlete runs from last place or runs toward first? How effective is it to flee the starting line versus running toward the finish line? If you have seen me, you know I am no athlete, but even I know a better result comes from seeking first than simply wishing not to be left at start.

We see the same themes sewn beautifully throughout the Bible. In Paul's letters to Timothy, a young leader he was training up, he is careful to charge him with the idea of flee/pursue. In his first letter, Paul explains to his student the dangers of false teachers and their desire to earn wealth by godliness. He continues:

But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses."
(1 Timothy 6:11-12 ESV)

He does not simply say "do not sin," but rather "run toward the things of God." In fact, he emphasizes the eternal life Timothy has as a motivation, not one of simply following commands but one of seeking the prize, seeking God.

In his second letter, Paul tells Timothy to be worthy of the work God has called him to. "So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart." (2 Timothy 2:22 ESV) Here we again see flee/pursue: Do not just run from sin, but it is more effective to run toward God and his purpose.

Lately, I have been studying the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) with a couple students from our youth group. Constantly, I read Jesus' words, not simply correcting our views of commands, pointing us to their original intentions, but stressing the motivation. One of my favorite places he illustrates this is near the end of chapter 6. Wrapping up his instructions on worrying, Jesus tells the reader to "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Matthew 6:33 ESV) Notice, the first thing we seek is not to avoid worrying. How could we seek that first? Our human nature gives us no basis to abstain from anxiousness and we need Christ to accomplish this for us. Therefore, we must seek him and his kingdom before we can cease unhealthy amounts of worry. Like illustrated earlier, it is more effective to pursue the goal than to flee the starting point. By seeking the end, we are simultaneously running from the start more excellently.

I hope it is clear I do not mean to say that it excuses us to sin by saying we should seek God and his kingdom first. One cannot rightly say "I am pursuing righteousness, and so I do not need to consciously flee from sin. These sins do not matter because of my focus on God." The contradictory, idiotic nature of this statement should be obvious. Furthermore, did the one thinking this erase the first half of 1 Timothy 6:11 and 2 Timothy 2:22 from their Bible? The Bible still clearly teaches us to flee sin. However, we must not forget its emphasis on pursuing God first in a more effective and complete way to live a righteous life worthy of our calling.

Think on this: In what ways are you neglecting to pursue God? Where could you learn to live more effectively for and by Christ by shifting your focus from simply running from a sin to running toward God first?

The Great Commandment

I had the distinct pleasure of speaking at my church's youth group again a few weeks ago. The direction given to me was "living by faith" with a picture of a heart, one arrow pointed up and another out, symbolizing how the Christian should love God and others as a result of their faith. Immediately I was drawn to the Great Commandment and its implications for the saved and even those who do not understand the Gospel. The Bible teaches us we are not deserving of God, or even trying to deserve him, but that he decided to set his love upon us. So he sent his son, Jesus, who was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, died on the cross, and rose three days later, to pay for our sins. Now those who are able to trust in him and want to live for him will spend eternity in life with God, not the Hell we deserve.

There lies a truth many do not understand or they outright reject: we must want to live for Christ Jesus. Someone who professes faith and claims salvation should question their claims (with a mentor, a pastor, prayerfully) if they say "I am saved, so I can live for myself/however I want/for the pleasures of the world." Maybe this is you, but you've been told it is alright by a pastor or leader of some sort. Why should you believe me over them? What do I have that they don't? There is no reason and I have nothing. However, what you should believe, if you are a Christian, is the Bible. Never take anyone at their word, but check their truthfulness against the error-less Word of God.

Here is a passage from Matthew 22 for us to consider:

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
(Matthew 22:34-40 ESV)

There are different accounts of similar teachings in other books of the Bible, but I noticed something about this instance in Matthew. The first couple verses are a counter-example of what Christ is about to teach us. For those unaware, the Pharisees and Sadducees were two competing teachers of Jewish law. You may think of them as denominations of the Church today: They are both Jewish, but think differently about the Law and our world, always trying to show each other up, always trying to be seen as the authority of teaching. Here, we see that plainly. The Pharisees were trying to get Jesus to say something incorrect or blasphemous, right after the Sadducees tried and failed. In fact, we see one man, a lawyer (i.e. studier of the Law), looking to be seen as a great Pharisee among Pharisees. It is clear in verses 34-35 that the Pharisees, and specifically this man, are looking to glorify themselves, and oppose the teaching Jesus is about to explain.

 Despite their unrighteous and selfish motives, Christ answers their question. He says the great commandment is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." (v 37) It is very important to note that this idea is not added by Christ, but was at first a summary of the law by Moses in Deuteronomy 6:5. You have heard that when Jesus came, everything changed. And this is true in a sense. But he is clear that the law has not and will not change (Matthew 5:18). So never stand for the teaching that Christ came so we could ignore the law and commandments, for that is not what he is teaching here. In fact, God requires love before the commandments because worship or even obedience are meaningless without love for him. Imagine I send my fiance flowers. If I do so out of duty, because I'm supposed to, or in any other motive than love for her, they will simply be plants cut and put in a vase. They may be pretty, but their value is lost. In the same way, if we are singing songs of praise, serving our community, or obeying our Father but do not love him, then it is useless and meaningless to him. More so, we will not truly obey God without love for him. Those who do not love God are incapable and unwilling to follow his commands but are still slaves to their selfish nature. This is the first and great commandment.

"And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." The starting phrase holds so much truth about this command. By saying that this is a second command, Jesus correctly declares that loving others is important, but not as important as loving our God. However, by saying it is like it he specifies that loving others is dependent on the first command. Here Christ teaches something controversial. Naturally man is devoted to himself, so there is an absence of true charity without the love of God. I have wrote about this before to the same effect, but we must look at what the Bible calls love in a Biblical way. If God is the best and knows the best for anyone, then the true form of love would be to help him draw the loved closer to himself. But, man naturally does not seek God and only can when he loves them first and gives them a new heart. Therefore, the natural man does not desire God for himself or others, and will not help draw others closer to the Father. So Jesus is telling us that we must love God, then and only then we will also love others as ourselves. That is, along with ourselves. We do not take care of our needs, then another's, but we take care of the needs of all as one.

Jesus closes these commands with the declaration that all the Law and prophets hang on these commands. Again, these are in no way a replacement of either, and it is foolishness to think so. Many will teach that Christ said all we must do is love God and others and we can do that with no regard to the rest of the word. These commands are not meant to replace anything but act as a foundation for the Law and the prophets; First, a love for God, then a love for others. For all commandments are useless without these two. If you are to give soup to a homeless man with no love for God and no love for the man, what have you done? You have successfully filled his belly, but left his soul empty. You have made yourself look like a hero and brought all the attention to yourself. But I tell you this man has not received what he truly needs. It does not matter if you give him a house or teach him to fish, if you do not give him the Gospel in love, he has gained nothing.

Here is what we should know as Christians: we were made to live out our faith. Ephesians 2:8-9 explains that we are saved by grace through faith, which is a gift from God, and not of anything we do. Verse 10 explains our faith will be seen. Explicitly, it says "we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (ESV) We have not been created anew in Christ to live for ourselves but to live by faith through good works. Additionally, these are not random acts we must find, but works God has prepared for us before everything. We have specific purposes on this Earth, and they are to work for our Father in bringing him glory. What joy it is to know God has hand-picked actions for each of us to walk in, that we are not blind in our service of his will, but given the opportunities directly!

So, the Bible clearly teaches us that we are not saved to live for ourselves or the pleasure of the world with disregard for the commandments and Law. Christ died so we are free to love the Lord our God and our neighbors through specific acts and opportunities laid out for us by our sovereign Creator. If you are a Christian, you will live to love God and others, for this is our purpose and our calling.

MOVE 2012 - Day 5 and Wrap-Up

Man, oh man, oh man. This week was awesome. Let's start with the last day though.
If I had to sum up the day in one sentence, it would be "what are you doing when you leave?" Let me tell you, it was a motivating and challenging question. So often when we leave a conference or "emotional high," we fall fast the next day, or even hour, after getting home. We were fortunate enough to be a part of God saving one of the students, her and another already-saved student being baptized in Western Illinois University's pool, and countless, immeasurable life-change at the hands of our Father. We had a lot to forget about in the next hour and I know from experience the enemy and his demons attack hard even as we sit down in the van homeward.
Our speaker that night challenged us hard, as to help kick us into high gear and awareness. The message he spoke was on Matthew 5:13-16, that we are the salt and light to the world. We are supposed to make the world thirst for water (Jesus) and light their way to him. But, as he was sure to point out, if we lose our saltiness, we are worthless. This bold truth was met by shock from the audience. However, he continued saying that we are all looking for worth in life, and we're only going to find it in Christ and working for his glory. It was a great message.
The session ended with acknowledging those who made commitments to follow Christ for the first time and accept the mercy and grace he offers through his sacrifice, repenting of sin and returning to him, and a desire to pursue vocational ministry. We then cleared out the floor to worship our God together, complete with a little fun of the worship leader getting into a giant hamster ball for the last song. Not necessary, but enjoyable to watch.

At MOVE, I saw a fire ignite, and reignite, in the hearts of our high school students. It is times like these I know that the students of my church can do more for the Kingdom than I ever will, if they let God use them. I look up to a couple of them and cannot wait to see them spread God's word and gospel through the world.

MOVE 2012 - Day 4

If God forgave you, why wouldn't you forgive others? Today at MOVE, we reflected and worked towards this, in the power of the Spirit. It's late and I'm tired, so I'll sum up the idea and a highlight or two.
When we are saved by God's grace, he erases a debt that we have no way of paying. No one will ever be perfect but him and good works only work to separate us more. So he spares us through the death of Jesus, if we accept the gift. But our brothers and sisters or even the lost owe us a small fraction of the debt we owed God. How can we demand that of them when he has erased our debts from the record? We can't and should not if we are saved.
Tonight we all wore white shirts with pieces of red paper taped to them. On the back of the paper was a situation or two we needed forgiveness in or to forgive. We were to seek out the person, or spend time in prayer and work to forgive or be forgiven. When we had, we took off the papers to be clean again.
I got to see so many great situations in our group get worked out by God's overflowing grace. I even saw friends and siblings holding hands on the way to the nearest trash bin to toss out these debts.

So much happened today and I regret I don't have the energy to share it all. Hopefully I get a chance to tell all you readers in person.

MOVE 2012 - Day 3

Today was filled with learning. Our morning speaker even piqued my interest by starting off his message with zombies. He brought up the "you've heard... but I say..." phrases in the sermon on the mount. These are phrases Jesus used to start subjects that contradicted their traditions. Jesus spoke less to these misconceptions and said they weren't going far enough. These ideas of blindly following rules are zombies. They resemble real godliness, but aren't. They infect our lives and ruin a chance we have at really being close to God by making us feel like we could get there because they aren't committed enough. We need to shoot them in the head.
Next we had group time in a local coffee shop and talked about dealing with temptation, etc.
After lunch, we split up for electives and each learned about something different. PB and I went to a video message by Jeff Walling. He talked about how crazy it is to love our enemies like Jesus commands. He made the claim Jesus didn't tell us to love our enemies as enemies, but to love them and not regard them as enemies at all!
Later, I got the chance to rematch Love Costs Every Thing (last year's documentary about the persecution of the church) and others saw it for the first time. I cried, like I do every time.
The evening speaker challenged us with Jesus' words about not judging. We are so ready to throw stones of judgement, but none of us have that right. Rather, we should hold that stone like an oyster would. When oysters hold stones, they turn into pearls. When we deny ourselves of judging others, we can find more value in loving them.
We took in a lot today and relaxed over the talent show, The Alternative. Good times, good times, good times.

MOVE 2012 - Day 2

What is being fatherless all about? That was a major theme today at MOVE. We started off our session discussing the beatitudes in Matthew 5 and continued constantly addressing God as our Father. After our encounter (morning session) speaker finished, we watched a documentary called "Becoming Sons and Daughters" by CIY about the fatherless generation.
The idea of a dad deciding he was done and voluntarily leaving his family is relatively new and prevalent in our generation. You may have heard that being raised by one parent is not a bad thing, but some statistics may have you question that.
* 63% of youth who commit suicide are from fatherless homes.
* 71% of pregnant teen girls are from fatherless homes.
* 85% of young men in prison are from fatherless homes.
These statistics are shocking and were the jumping point for the film. It followed a few stories of the fatherless or those helping them and how God helped them through struggles that resulted. A touching point for me was when a young man wanted to take a pastor's (last) name as his middle name because the pastor spent an hour a week with him, showing him what being a man was about. The pastor told this story and looked at the camera with tears in his eyes saying "are you kidding me?!"
We split into our various youth groups afterward and talked about the film. No one who spoke up in our group could relate, but we were all touched and had a greater sense of how good we have it.
As a personal story, I got to spend my lunch with just our pastor, Bill. I was encouraged by getting to know him more and realize how great a man of God he is. We are blessed to have him as a pastor. Praise the Lord!
Our evening session also focused on God as our Father. The speaker, Whitney, is a passionate speaker and clarified that God loves his children dearly. She used Matthew 6:25-33 to show us we need to trust our Father with everything. And we can believe this because Jesus said so. He would know, because he trusted his Father so much that he would follow his commands, even to the cross.
The topic brought up a lot of stories of trusting God from our students. They have seen so much already, but have been learning to trust their Father with it. Praise him for helping them do that, because they don't know how alone (as with all of us).
I am excited to see how God will continue work this week.

MOVE 2012 - Day 1

So this blog originated to follow my adventure and journey working for CIY MOVE the Summer of 2011. I'm happy to relort back at MOVE! But this time as a sponsor (read leader) of my church, Fox River Christian, and for one week only. But I praise God for bringing me back here with the students I love.
Today not much happened, as it was the first day. We drove in, getting Chick-Fil-A on the way, to Western Illinois University, registered, ate, and had a session followed by youth group time. Before the session, our leaders spoke to a minister from another church about how he saw issues may come to a head this week between some attendees with their church given the topics at hand. It was sweet to encourage and pray for a brother we barely know and to reflect on how God is sovereign and planned each of our attendance. Amazing!
At the session, our worship band encouraged students to worship their Father, not them as musicians, and to let any "craziness" in "rocking" be in praise to God and worship of him. Great reminder and it really helps us all to focus on why we're there.
Our message tonight was a video introducing the week's topic: the sermon on the mount. The speaker showed us his preparation for, and actual, riding of a bull. This is something that is dangerous, and you can't "kind of" do. One cannot expect to ride a bull completely safely or half-heartedly. He pointed out that if we take Jesus' teaching seriously, following him is much like riding a bull that way. We may and probably will get hurt and we can't "sort of" do it. We'll forgo our lives and go all-in.
Please pray for stamina, wisdom, and loving natures for our leaders Mike, Laura, Pastor Bill, and myself. And please pray for learning hearts, inquisitive minds, and openness to the Holy Spirit's work for our students.
Thank you.

When God Is Good

Turns out a lot of what I write about is spurred from social networks. If you have Christian friends on Facebook, you have no doubt seen them get excited about something that has happened and end the status or post with "God is sooooo good!" And they are right: God is a good God. But this ending proclamation is much less prevalent if someone isn't happy. Have we forgotten He is good because of our circumstances?

First of all, I don't think this is the case with any true follower of Christ. If someone has a basic truthful understanding of God, he or she should know that He is good, otherwise He is not worthy of our praise. If you remain unconvinced, consider Psalm 34:8, 100:5, and 25:8, to name a few. The God of the Bible is good, and worthy of constant, continuous worship.

But how, then, do we consider our trials and calamities? One base to lay down is that He is in control of everything, or sovereign. A good illustration is in Acts 17:25 (I'll focus on the last half), which says "(God) himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything." There is a difference here that should be noted between life, the start of a person's time on Earth, and breath, the continuation of that with each inhale and exhale. This means God not only gives someone life, but continues that life himself, and not in a passive manner (Isaiah 42:5 uses the word "gives" in terms of this breath, a very active word). Now think of the implications of the term "all mankind." He not only extends a purposeful life to His children, but to everyone who walks the earth. From you to me to heroes to villains, anyone who is alive is not "left" alive, but He literally keeps them alive. Therefore, God gives life and sustains it purposefully of all who are on the earth. A God this sovereign must have a plan then, if He's to be good.

My personal favorite proof of this plan in the Bible is the story of Joseph (the one with the Technicolor dream coat). As a brief overview, he was beaten within an inch of his life by his own brothers, who then threw him into a well and sold him into slavery. While a slave he was accused of trying to rape his master's wife and, despite being innocent, imprisoned. Eventually he was brought out of prison to interpret Pharaoh's dreams, with God's power, and because of the interpretations, a famine was foretold and the country could prepare, even to the point of helping others. We see in Genesis 50, Joseph's brothers apologizing to him, and his response is one that may shock us. "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today." (v 20) Joseph was not allowed to go through these trials and calamities for no reason, nor was the saving of people's lives a passive after thought. God meant it, in His good and perfect will (Romans 12:2).

Note, this is not an accurate reenactment.

We do not usually have the privilege of seeing this plan from the vantage point of a recounting of events in the Bible, nor do we usually see it while we're in the midst of our trials and calamities. But we trust that He is good, and that He is in control. We have faith in our God's goodness in times of happiness and times of sorrow because He is sovereign and for those who love Him all things work together for good (Romans 8:28). Thus, He is worthy of praise all the time.

If you never knew the meaning of my blog's name, it is derived from Luke 19, when the Pharisees criticize Jesus for letting his disciples shout in praise. "He answered, 'I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.'" (Luke 19:40) Christ followers should keep in mind that God is good all the time, and always worth of praise. Don't let the stones speak: fill the air with praise so they don't need to.

Don't Pray For Patience

The phrase has been passed around for quite some time now, "don't pray for patience because then God will give you an opportunity to be patient in." This saying is not worth holding on to as truth, and should be addressed when we hear it. It paints two untruthful pictures. One tells the believer to not desire to look more like Christ for it will require work and trials. The other is of our Father having a sick sense of humor, giving us more trials when we're asking for his help. The Bible, which should be our basis of the Christian faith, disagrees.

One goal of the Christian is to be shaped to be like his/her Lord, Jesus. We were originally made in God's image (Genesis 1:27) but we fell from this image when Adam and Eve sinned (Genesis 3). For the one who is saved, we are to be more like Christ, both currently (1 John 2:6), and as a hope in a promise we've been given (1 John 3:1-3). Why fear this then, no matter how it comes? The Christian should strive to be like Christ in all things to glorify his/her Father. Trials may not be fun, but trust that they are for good.

The real problem in this saying, though, is the picture it paints of God. Saying that while one is in a trial requiring patience, praying for it will result in more trials is to say that He wants one to develop these skills alone, and will punish anyone who asks for help. This is ridiculous to claim and directly contradicts Luke 11:11-13

What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

This (ignored) passage comes directly after the (often misused)  verses of Jesus explaining that if we ask our Father for something, we will receive it. He asks those listening if they give their child some calamity in response to a request for food. What kind of person would do that? Even humans, who are evil, will not deliver some trial instead of nourishment. So we should expect this even more from our Father, when we ask for the Holy Spirit. Don't be confused here, because patience is one of the outward signs (fruit; Galatians 5:22-23) of the Spirit promised to those who are to be saved. Therefore, it should be asked, what kind of god would our God be if when we asked for patience in the time of a trial, he instead gave us some serpent or scorpion?

Know, however, that trials are used for our good and are used to sanctify us. James says that we should "count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (1:2-4) For through trials we are made perfect, with the Holy Spirit giving us the strength. This does not mean that our Father sends us trials in the midst of trials because we've asked for help through the original trials.

The Holy Spirit that a Christian has been sealed with is our comforter and source of patience. We may be taught patience through trials, but He is there to guide us through them. Our Father will not give us scorpions or serpents instead of food, and he will not give us calamity when we ask for His Spirit.

How A Body Is Built

What does it look like for a body to be completely mouths? What about only arms or feet? Or, if the legs not only walked, but tried to talk, digest, and think? Taking a look at many churches or para-church organizations answers these questions. These communities have lost sight of what a body looks like and why they are made of different parts and have lost their effectiveness, in at least some sense.

The Thumb-Thumbs from Spy Kids were pretty ineffective...

One cannot say another is acting foolishly, without explaining the proper way to act. So before expanding upon what behavior could be considered an ill-formed body, a proper body should be considered. A brief introduction to the gifts of the Spirit (in which this idea is based) is found in 1 Corinthians 12:4-7.

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

Note that the same sentiment is repeated three times in a row. There are different gifts, types of service, and activities, but the same Spirit, Lord, and God respectively. Displaying the gift of teaching does not mean that someone has a different Holy Spirit than one who is an administrator. And because one person serves in the kitchen while another serves as an usher does not mean they serve a different Lord. Finally, the senior pastor and the VBS volunteer serve the same God, who empowers them to complete each of their tasks. Verse seven tells us that all of this, everything we do to serve God in his power, is for the common good. When we use our gifts, whether it's healing or preaching or encouraging, each is for the common good.

Further in the passage(vv. 8-10), language like "to one is given," and "to another" is used to stress that each gift is not given to each person. The same Spirit gives each gift to whom he chooses as he chooses (v. 11). These verses explain that the Holy Spirit has a will in this, deciding who gets which gift, and that he does not empower everyone the same.

Moving forward in chapter 12, is the body analogy. Please read vv. 14-20 for an extension of how foolish these bodies Christians try to form are. The illustration is used to teach that each part of the body is important, and each role needs the other. This is why God, our Father, has built his Church with diversity in the gifts the Holy Spirit has manifested in us. Personally, I am a bad encouragement, but I have a passion and wisdom about the Bible that is not my own. My best friend, ChrisKolb, is a huge encouragement and just as passionate about God, but if he ran a church, paperwork might not get done. Another best friend, Nik, would make the paperwork and leadership duties beg for mercy, but has not been given wisdom in the word like I have. We all need each other, as we'd fail miserably if we tried to do everything. This dependence is good and willed by the Father.

But there are countless people who may have ripped this chapter out of their Bibles. Some churches claim that a specific gift needs to be shown in your someone's life as evidence they are saved. Other organizations require everyone to show every gift of the Spirit that they acknowledge, making all who are involved teach and encourage and administrate and evangelize and so on. While each of these gifts alone are good, there is not a specific gift that proves salvation (that's what the Fruits of the Spirit are for), nor are all the gifts given to everyone. Each believer is instructed to be empowered by the Spirit in the way he has manifested himself in them.

This is a part of the Bible the Church has ripped out or scratched out, so we can hold on to our own power. When will we stop ignoring God's will for his Church?

Why I Am Ok Without God

All of us at one point have thought we are alright without God, with no need for him, his grace, or his presence. Understanding why that's a lie is one matter, but why would someone even think that? As I said in my last post, we often rely on other humans to feel loved when on their own they are incapable of such a thing. This is not limited to other humans, but we put our faith and trust in so much to survive everyday life or even eternal life. How could we be so foolish?

One examination of the problem is in Jeremiah 2. The chapter comments on Israel's condition, having turned from the LORD and seeking their own glory. God illustrates it beautifully in verse 13:

for my people have committed two evils:
    they have forsaken me,
        the fountain of living waters,
    and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
        broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Just like someone would not turn to a cracked water bottle for relief from thirst or a glass with a hole at the bottom, this verse illustrates the foolishness of people turning from God and turning to false gods, like we do all the time. Obviously, there are so many other places we see this, but I prefer the imagery here.

A key to this question is what the flesh desires. Galatians 5 lays it out explicitly. "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these." (vv 19-21a) If our physical being, our evil selves seek such things, and find them, they will feel satisfied. It is their foolish replacement for the joy and grace of God. So telling someone that they will not be satisfied without God may seem as a lie to them, because their flesh is satisfied with evil things. But their soul will not survive on these.

If God is working in someone's heart, they will come to know their longing and need of him. Nothing we say or do can change their mind, unless it is God's work as well (1 Corinthians 3:5-9). So we think we're ok without God unless he's working in us to convince us of his truth. We are satisfied with sins and evil, even when we let the flesh control us, and God is the one who reveals our brokenness.

Everyone Will Let You Down

I'm going to share a current frustration with you: myself and everyone I know keep trusting humans.We are relying on each other for happiness and fulfillment, to inevitably get let down again and again. My Facebook news feed is filled with these stories; Friend X posts a status about how amazing Y is and  they are the best friend ever, oh so loving, etc., only for the friendship to be broken up and passive-aggressive statuses to be seen a week later. Rinse and repeat. The problem is that apart from Christ, we cannot love.

If you are not a Christian and you're reading this, you're ready to throw tomatoes. If you are saved, you may feel the same way. The statement that those outside of Christ cannot love is admittedly controversial, to say the least, because everyone thinks that they or their non-Christian friends love each other, and it's obviously offensive to claim otherwise. Now if you aren't a Christian, the Bible itself needs its own proving (I'd be glad to help you with that if you contact me), but my intent is to show you and Christian readers what it says about the ability to love, as I think our culture has some misconceptions on the issue.

 I'll start with the general idea (and you'll come to find out my favorite to teach about), humans are evil; I'll be honest, I think it is central to a lot of the issues in today's world. Paul lays it out well in Romans 3, quoting various passages of Psalms.

    “None is righteous, no, not one;
        no one understands;
        no one seeks for God.
    All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
        no one does good,
        not even one.”
    “Their throat is an open grave;
        they use their tongues to deceive.”
    “The venom of asps is under their lips.”
        “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
    “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
        in their paths are ruin and misery,
    and the way of peace they have not known.”
        “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
(Romans 3:10b-18)

It's a reoccurring theme, seen again in Romans 8:7-8: For* the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. If you accept that God is good, then not following God is intuitively the antithesis of good, or evil. One cannot seek the flesh, or selfish desires, and God's good and perfect will. This would be like a soldier fighting on the front lines for both sides in a war. It is impossible to fully serve either side.

So, in general, humans are of an evil nature. This follows logically to prove that they are incapable of love. Simply, love is good so the evil are incapable of partaking in it. It is displayed in the Bible multiple places, one such being 1 John 4:7-8: Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. What this is saying is without a connection to God (being saved by Jesus' sacrifice and being sealed with His Spirit), one cannot love. Like a cord cannot carry electricity apart from the outlet or vessels cannot carry blood if disconnected from the heart. God is not just the source of love, he is love. So being disconnected from him, is a disconnection from love.

Now those who disagree with my claim will respond with something along the lines of "but my non-Christian friends love me" or "I am not a Christian and love my friends." I think a key to understanding this is the difference between what we have decided is love, and what the Bible is referring to here. What we see as love is a societal norm, or a means to a selfish end. I do it all the time: I show someone kindness as a bartering tool or because I'm supposed to, not selflessly as the Spirit would have me do. So you see I admit that Christians are not perfect in this and we still "love" by the world's standard when we do not let our Helper, the Holy Spirit, work through us.

There is still the question of why someone who is not saved can make others feel loved, but this post is long and accomplished it's original goal. I will continue that discussion sometime this week. Please comment with disagreements so I may address them in that post as well.


*Whenever you see "for" or "therefore" starting a verse, it means that there is an argument before this verse affecting the one you are reading. It is easy to take these things out of context, so always make sure the verse or passage is being used correctly, according to the surrounding text (even if it's being used by me).

We Stand Like A Bombed Out Building

So I restarted this blog to shift focus from my summer working for CIY to what God has taught/is teaching me. Those who are saved by his grace and sealed with the Holy Spirit are continuously being sanctified (i.e. being made perfect, Christ-like) through the Spirit, and that includes me. One thing I have never been good at is living like the church is Christ's body and bride (Romans 12:3-5; Ephesians 5:31-32). I have been taught numerous ways to "love my brothers and sisters," to "reach out the the rest of the body," and more recently, a new one, "love in faith" so that I know I don't need to feel anything toward anyone to show them love. I am still pompous and arrogant.

I know it's dangerous exposing my sin like this because, like James 3:1 says, "...we who teach will be judged with greater strictness." I consider myself a teacher, in some regards, so this verse scares me, especially because how I see this blog running is that it's filled with things I'm learning (read: things I'm failing at). And if I admit to any reader who stumbles upon this that I fail at loving them, why should they listen to any wisdom God gives me?

My comfort lies in the fact that I am evil. Yeah, you read that right. I am a sinner and I only want to sin, without God's help. However, God has changed my heart enough for me to accept his gift of grace through Jesus' death and be sealed with the Holy Spirit, as I mentioned earlier. So through God's Spirit, I can love my brothers and sisters, but I cannot on my own.

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
(Romans 8:7-11 ESV)

This is what I'm learning, always and until the day all is restored and I am fully sanctified through the Spirit. Currently, it applies to my inability to love. I cannot love alone, I need Christ in me to love for me, and to give up my selfish ambitions of seeming cool or above it all. Generally, it applies to every sin and lack of righteousness in my life. If this blog continues, you will get tired of hearing it, but will always need to: we are sinners and the only good in us is Christ, if we are saved.

Giving Up

So often in life, we are told to never give up. It's a sign of weakness, immaturity, and foolishness. We are supposed to push and push until we can't push anymore, then keep pushing. The idea is to dig deep inside of ourselves, "knowing" that we are strong and able to do anything we set our minds to. I'm learning to give up.

I am a firm believer in the idea of "total depravity." This means that we, as the human race, are evil from birth and born into sin, seeking our own gain and momentary pleasure. Genesis 6:5 says "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." This shows that every intention we have is evil, from the early days of our existence (ever since the fall, or original sin), and Romans 3:12 agrees, declaring that "all have turned aside; together they have become worthless; / no one does good, / not even one." Nothing we can do pleases God or is righteous. Nothing we can do is worth anything. Uplifting stuff, huh?

The great thing about God's word is that it is filled with this seemingly depressing truth, but as a way of giving us hope. Without understanding we are sinful and worthless, and our "days pass away like smoke" (Psalm 102:3a), we can't understand how amazing God and his power are, or much less our necessity for him. But with this knowledge, knowing that there is nothing inside of us that is good, no matter how deep we dig or how much we push we can never live up to God's righteous standard or do anything qualified as good, we can find freedom from this in the Holy Spirit and finally accomplish the good works the Lord has prepared for us (Ephesians 2:10).

So with this background, I've been learning how to stop pushing, stop digging deep, and to give up. I consistently and daily forget I am unable to do anything alone. I try to lead Joelle and our relationship alone. I try to give advice alone. I try to grow closer to our Father alone. It's foolishness and it never works.

In fact, this past week I went through spells of feeling inexplicably sad. I spent these times wondering how I could feel better. Maybe if Joelle said the right thing, or I bought myself something fun, or if I was outright with it enough someone may feel sorry for me and fix it. The whole time I felt the Spirit prompting me to trust my Father, knowing he is sovereign and will work this for my good (the meaning of which is a whole other post I could write). But I refused at first, armed with my foam sword of mentalities that I just need to dig deep, push push push.

Having failed in my foolishness, I'm learning to give up. I'll never fully understand how, and until Jesus returns and everything is made complete I won't be fully sanctified, but I'm learning a little more now. I'm understanding more than ever I'm an evil human, whose only ability for good and sanctification is the Holy Spirit I've been sealed with by my faith in Christ and the Father's grace.