I have been taking a class this semester entitled Letters of Paul, so far we've only had two classes but I am beginning to see the course take shape. Paul has always impressed me. One of my classmates described him as a jerk...I asked him why and he said because Paul is always so "this is how it is". I acknowledged that I saw this person's opinion and where it was coming from. However, I tucked this thought into my mind for later consideration.
It is obvious to me that it wasn't that Paul thought he was the ultimate man...there are many passages in which he acknowledges that hey, I don't have this all figured out. He knows who he was and the only reason he was in the place of apostleship was through God's grace. What I do think Paul had is something that many Christians lack today....conviction.
Paul was willing to break off what he'd been taught as he grew up (the Jewish Pharisee way of thinking about the Scripture) and let a new school of thought enter his mind (the gospel of Christ). Better yet, he was confident in his thinking, confident that is was consistent with what he had experienced (a personal transformation). I believe that some Christians today are content to go with the status quo. Whatever there pastors or parents or trusted friends say is what goes in there minds. Maybe they latch on to everything their favorite contemporary theologian says. I see this as almost a sickness. I don't believe God expect us to blindly obey his Bible. I would argue that while the Bible is inerrant and divinely inspired, God made it with the expectation that His people would question it and wrestle with the issues contained within it.
Now, I realize this may seem to contradict some of my previous posts, talking about finding the gray areas of the faith and how we all need to get along better (especially politically and find our middle ground). However, I believe that this idea of having strong convictions fits well into this. I believe that most people will simply latch onto another's thoughts without taking the time to process what they know. Basically, our society is full of closed minded people. How sad...I really believe that when we as Christians open our minds to consider new ideas about God and Jesus we can better understand who He is and how we can better relate. We must have our own strong convictions that lead us to question things...to refuse to just believe something, just 'cuz. Let us bring our questions to God and ask. I believe He will give us a greater understanding if we begin to break the mold and start to think about Him outside the box created by other believers.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Hiatus
So I was surfing the web and remembered I had a blog. Life has been flying by since my last entry. I am officially heading to USD next fall for med school....woo hoo! Other than that I've been trying to finish strong in my studies here at USF. Life has been good.
I've done much thinking during my blog hiatus. Some of it has been political, much of it spiritual, and some personal. I'm saddened to see that our nation will not make needed changes in health care due to partisan squabbling....not that I think the bill offered was the best solution, but hey at least it was something! I hope that in the coming months Republicans can reach out with their own ideas to help make health care happen for us all. They say that they have had great ideas that have been ignored...well the time has come for them to speak up! Let's make something happen!
Spiritually, I've done a lot of thinking about who I am in relation to God. How do I struggle with the desire to sometimes take a hiatus from my daily spiritual life. Isn't it funny how the most life giving part of our lives is the part easiest to skip out on? Also, I've been reading Genesis a lot lately and am continually reminded of what a God lover looks like. Someone who is extremely flawed (See: Adam, Abraham, Jacob, etc), yet faithful. I pray that I can be a man of faith that others can learn from. I struggle at times to be a good example to others, it is so easy to conform to how others act just to be "a part of the group". I pray that the fact that I belong to something bigger...something better will spur me to be a non-conformist to the world. That my faith in Christ will be what others notice about me. Basically I'm discovering that God is a God who looks for chances to shatter our world's ideas about what life and power look like. He always points us to something better, to Him be the glory!
Personally, I've gotten back into weight lifting and cardio exercise. I've already added 15 pounds to my bench and about 30 to my squat. I hope to continue this into the summer in a goal to lose weight and body fat.
Hopefully, I will keep more current on this, I enjoy writing out my thoughts.
I've done much thinking during my blog hiatus. Some of it has been political, much of it spiritual, and some personal. I'm saddened to see that our nation will not make needed changes in health care due to partisan squabbling....not that I think the bill offered was the best solution, but hey at least it was something! I hope that in the coming months Republicans can reach out with their own ideas to help make health care happen for us all. They say that they have had great ideas that have been ignored...well the time has come for them to speak up! Let's make something happen!
Spiritually, I've done a lot of thinking about who I am in relation to God. How do I struggle with the desire to sometimes take a hiatus from my daily spiritual life. Isn't it funny how the most life giving part of our lives is the part easiest to skip out on? Also, I've been reading Genesis a lot lately and am continually reminded of what a God lover looks like. Someone who is extremely flawed (See: Adam, Abraham, Jacob, etc), yet faithful. I pray that I can be a man of faith that others can learn from. I struggle at times to be a good example to others, it is so easy to conform to how others act just to be "a part of the group". I pray that the fact that I belong to something bigger...something better will spur me to be a non-conformist to the world. That my faith in Christ will be what others notice about me. Basically I'm discovering that God is a God who looks for chances to shatter our world's ideas about what life and power look like. He always points us to something better, to Him be the glory!
Personally, I've gotten back into weight lifting and cardio exercise. I've already added 15 pounds to my bench and about 30 to my squat. I hope to continue this into the summer in a goal to lose weight and body fat.
Hopefully, I will keep more current on this, I enjoy writing out my thoughts.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Willingly Disobedient
It has been far too long since I have posted here. The extreme busyness of the fall semester (interviewing at med schools, traveling, classes, etc.) has gotten the best of me I am afraid. Now is the time to refocus my efforts on getting my thoughts onto a public forum.
I admit to being in a very awkward part of life at the moment. It is hard to imagine that soon I will be leaving USF and venturing to med school "X", at the same time I find myself longing to hold on to the lifestyle that many of my freshmen live (I'm a RA in the res hall). Kind of a weird mix at times...forced with the fact that I need to "grow up", while fighting the Peter Pan within. Also, I realize that there are several important decisions that will need to be made sooner rather than later. Decisions that will affect the rest of my life. Why is it so hard for me to make such decisions.
As I ponder on it, I really believe it is the lack of identity I have in God. The past couple of years has really wrecked my faith...not necessarily for the worse. I write "wrecked" and I feel bad, but this is what I feel has happened, the faith that I grew up with and believed...just 'cuz no longer cuts it. The time has come for me to consider what my faith means to me and what that means for my life ahead. So when I say "wrecked" I refer to the fact that my faith has been and is still needs to be put back together.
The big thing I fight in this battle is the "been there done that" feeling. I have read the Bible so much and been to so many "christian events" that it almost has become stale. Woe to me! I am thankful for my realization of this, because for the Bible to grow stale means for life in Christ to lose its zeal. I'm a product of a system (American faith) that freely offers "cheap grace"...if the grace of the Bible isn't your cup of tea, let me offer you the next big thing. We (including me) settle so often!
You see, I am very often willingly disobedient. It is sooo easy to justify my sins. What always suprises me though is the Holy Spirit's stubborn pull on my heart. I know when I do wrong, no matter how hard I try to justify it in my mind, I feel plagued with a nagging guilt. Thanks be to God for this! I read the Bible and come to the words of Christ....he couldn't really mean everything literally could he? What if Jesus meant what He said? All of his teachings suddenly weren't the product of his time, but instead instructions for everyday life. I wonder how much different our world would look if this were the case....hey, I wonder how different my life would look if this were the case! So many of us Christians hide behind the guise of misunderstanding when it comes to the Scriptures....we understand it perfectly well, we just don't like what it means to the comforts we are accustomed to! So we settle, we become willingly disobedient.
The challenge is then set before me. Perhaps the challenge I have had in finding my new identity in Christ arises from my inability to fully submit to God and be obedient. I must fight the mainstream media, enemies, my own sinful desire, and even friends and family at times to fully submit my life to God, answering his call on my life, wherever that leads me....I must become willingly disobedient to the status quo.
I admit to being in a very awkward part of life at the moment. It is hard to imagine that soon I will be leaving USF and venturing to med school "X", at the same time I find myself longing to hold on to the lifestyle that many of my freshmen live (I'm a RA in the res hall). Kind of a weird mix at times...forced with the fact that I need to "grow up", while fighting the Peter Pan within. Also, I realize that there are several important decisions that will need to be made sooner rather than later. Decisions that will affect the rest of my life. Why is it so hard for me to make such decisions.
As I ponder on it, I really believe it is the lack of identity I have in God. The past couple of years has really wrecked my faith...not necessarily for the worse. I write "wrecked" and I feel bad, but this is what I feel has happened, the faith that I grew up with and believed...just 'cuz no longer cuts it. The time has come for me to consider what my faith means to me and what that means for my life ahead. So when I say "wrecked" I refer to the fact that my faith has been and is still needs to be put back together.
The big thing I fight in this battle is the "been there done that" feeling. I have read the Bible so much and been to so many "christian events" that it almost has become stale. Woe to me! I am thankful for my realization of this, because for the Bible to grow stale means for life in Christ to lose its zeal. I'm a product of a system (American faith) that freely offers "cheap grace"...if the grace of the Bible isn't your cup of tea, let me offer you the next big thing. We (including me) settle so often!
You see, I am very often willingly disobedient. It is sooo easy to justify my sins. What always suprises me though is the Holy Spirit's stubborn pull on my heart. I know when I do wrong, no matter how hard I try to justify it in my mind, I feel plagued with a nagging guilt. Thanks be to God for this! I read the Bible and come to the words of Christ....he couldn't really mean everything literally could he? What if Jesus meant what He said? All of his teachings suddenly weren't the product of his time, but instead instructions for everyday life. I wonder how much different our world would look if this were the case....hey, I wonder how different my life would look if this were the case! So many of us Christians hide behind the guise of misunderstanding when it comes to the Scriptures....we understand it perfectly well, we just don't like what it means to the comforts we are accustomed to! So we settle, we become willingly disobedient.
The challenge is then set before me. Perhaps the challenge I have had in finding my new identity in Christ arises from my inability to fully submit to God and be obedient. I must fight the mainstream media, enemies, my own sinful desire, and even friends and family at times to fully submit my life to God, answering his call on my life, wherever that leads me....I must become willingly disobedient to the status quo.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Wandering
I attended Lifelight this weekend. I love it there....so many people united for the sole purpose of lifting up the name of Jesus. Kutless was probably my favorite show. The lead singer touched on a couple issues that I found to be near to my heart.
Perhaps my favorite was his discussion of how easy it is to feel distant from God. I must confess that there have been times the past couple of years that I have felt distant from God. Times where I feel so confused. I know that I am a believer, I know what God has done in my life, but I still feel lost and like I lack direction.
He spoke something to the effect of that its never God leaving us...it is us leaving Him. I was really struck by how true that is in my life. My pastor preached a sermon last weekend in which he talked about grieving the Holy Spirit. I think that there are definitely times where I fall short and do things that grieve the Holy Spirit. Times where anger takes over....times where bitterness settles in, times where I become self centered.
The question is why do I do these things. There has never been a better part of my life than when I felt near to God. For one...my sinful nature runs amok in my life. I feel like Paul...I do what I don't want to do and don't do what I want to do. Sometimes I don't let go of past hurts and sin thrives. Revenge is such a nasty thing.
So as I heard this singer talk about this...I thought of a battle plan. How can I (and we as Christians) avoid wandering from God? I believe it takes a constant effort from us. Prayer is huge. Most complications in relationships arise from lack of communication. I don't think it is any different for our relationship with God. The Word of God is also important. It provides the blueprint for how to navigate through dark times.
It is my prayer that this year, I would not only be able to minister to the men on my floor in Burgess Hall, but that I would once again find that hope in Christ. That He would be my everything. All praise to Him!
Perhaps my favorite was his discussion of how easy it is to feel distant from God. I must confess that there have been times the past couple of years that I have felt distant from God. Times where I feel so confused. I know that I am a believer, I know what God has done in my life, but I still feel lost and like I lack direction.
He spoke something to the effect of that its never God leaving us...it is us leaving Him. I was really struck by how true that is in my life. My pastor preached a sermon last weekend in which he talked about grieving the Holy Spirit. I think that there are definitely times where I fall short and do things that grieve the Holy Spirit. Times where anger takes over....times where bitterness settles in, times where I become self centered.
The question is why do I do these things. There has never been a better part of my life than when I felt near to God. For one...my sinful nature runs amok in my life. I feel like Paul...I do what I don't want to do and don't do what I want to do. Sometimes I don't let go of past hurts and sin thrives. Revenge is such a nasty thing.
So as I heard this singer talk about this...I thought of a battle plan. How can I (and we as Christians) avoid wandering from God? I believe it takes a constant effort from us. Prayer is huge. Most complications in relationships arise from lack of communication. I don't think it is any different for our relationship with God. The Word of God is also important. It provides the blueprint for how to navigate through dark times.
It is my prayer that this year, I would not only be able to minister to the men on my floor in Burgess Hall, but that I would once again find that hope in Christ. That He would be my everything. All praise to Him!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Patience...or lack thereof.
Came across this little gem tonight in my reading.
9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9
Patience....It is something I severely lack at times. We live in such a fast paced society. If my Internet browser takes longer than 3 seconds to load I am giving my index finger a major workout by clicking that left mouse button repeatedly. Remember the days of AOL?? The crazy sounds the computer would make as your dial up (remember that?!?) modem got fired up....seems so slow now to us. At the time however, being able to connect to the world in 5 minutes was amazing!
I bring up this example to show how incredible relative our understanding of time and speed is. What seems fast today will seem slow tomorrow. This relativity we give to "slowness" leads me to believe that we don't know a hill of beans about keeping time.
You see the people in Peter's day expected Jesus coming back pronto....that was 2000+ years ago! Jesus's return seemed overly slow to them. It can be easy for us to say the same thing with each passing day....what is taking Him so long? Why is this process so slow?
Peter tells us that God is being patient (something that I and many if not all of my human brothers and sisters know very little about). Why? To summarize...He love us fallen sinners! Let's face it...if Christ came back today...how many would He take with Him? Probably not as many as we think. This should cause us to tremble a little bit...are we truly living lives that are bringing glory to the Creator?
Check out the next verse
10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
2 Peter 3:10.
We don't know when Jesus is returning...but we do know that it will come swiftly without much warning...like a thief! May this be an ever present reminder that our lives must be living testaments to how much we lover our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
PS
A side note....www.factcheck.org...check it out. With all of the media coverage of politics today (esp. bashing every known policy of Pres. Obama) I suggest everyone take time to get the facts before believing what the newspeople say. This site is unbiased (trust me...they've thrown the BS flag on Obama as well) and will allow us to become better informed people.
PPS
And finally (longest blog entry yet?!) a quote from John Wesley...I will elaborate more on it next entry. This quote reflects on what I believe is the current struggle conservative and liberal christians find themselves in.
"Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion? Without all doubt, we may. Herein all the children of God may unite, notwithstanding these smaller differences"
9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9
Patience....It is something I severely lack at times. We live in such a fast paced society. If my Internet browser takes longer than 3 seconds to load I am giving my index finger a major workout by clicking that left mouse button repeatedly. Remember the days of AOL?? The crazy sounds the computer would make as your dial up (remember that?!?) modem got fired up....seems so slow now to us. At the time however, being able to connect to the world in 5 minutes was amazing!
I bring up this example to show how incredible relative our understanding of time and speed is. What seems fast today will seem slow tomorrow. This relativity we give to "slowness" leads me to believe that we don't know a hill of beans about keeping time.
You see the people in Peter's day expected Jesus coming back pronto....that was 2000+ years ago! Jesus's return seemed overly slow to them. It can be easy for us to say the same thing with each passing day....what is taking Him so long? Why is this process so slow?
Peter tells us that God is being patient (something that I and many if not all of my human brothers and sisters know very little about). Why? To summarize...He love us fallen sinners! Let's face it...if Christ came back today...how many would He take with Him? Probably not as many as we think. This should cause us to tremble a little bit...are we truly living lives that are bringing glory to the Creator?
Check out the next verse
10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
2 Peter 3:10.
We don't know when Jesus is returning...but we do know that it will come swiftly without much warning...like a thief! May this be an ever present reminder that our lives must be living testaments to how much we lover our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
PS
A side note....www.factcheck.org...check it out. With all of the media coverage of politics today (esp. bashing every known policy of Pres. Obama) I suggest everyone take time to get the facts before believing what the newspeople say. This site is unbiased (trust me...they've thrown the BS flag on Obama as well) and will allow us to become better informed people.
PPS
And finally (longest blog entry yet?!) a quote from John Wesley...I will elaborate more on it next entry. This quote reflects on what I believe is the current struggle conservative and liberal christians find themselves in.
"Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion? Without all doubt, we may. Herein all the children of God may unite, notwithstanding these smaller differences"
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Tragedy
Tragedy....first of all...summer is only a month longer...major tragedy. It has been a fun one but one that has gone by far too fast. Hard to believe the final year of college is going to be starting in a month!
I have continued to read this book called Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White. I don't agree with everything in the book but I do find some of his thoughts dead on. One of these ideas is his opinions on tragedy.
Ever heard someone say "It happened for a reason" after something terrible happened? I'm not sure I buy that anymore. The example he gave was his youth pastor and friend. They were driving along until a downed power line came into contact with them. Both were killed. Both had young kids who would no longer have a father. Several people told the author that they believed God took them so that someone could come to know Him at the funeral or later.
Is this really how God works?? Does he need to take people from Earth to bring others to Him? Couldn't so many more people have been impacted by these men if they were still alive today? I don't think God works this way. His friends were killed because there was a freak accident that they happened to be a part of. Don't get me wrong I believe God knows about it, but I don't think He causes it to happen "for a reason". We live in a fallen world. Sometimes bad things will happen to good people just because bad things happen. Tragedy is not discriminatory.
My own personal faith life has its challenges. How I long to just get "back in line". Why is this so difficult? Probably due to the stress in my life...the lack of effort on my part...my stubborn insistence to do things on my own. Life is hard....following God in life is harder. May I continue to strive to make things better. To Him be the Glory!
I have continued to read this book called Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White. I don't agree with everything in the book but I do find some of his thoughts dead on. One of these ideas is his opinions on tragedy.
Ever heard someone say "It happened for a reason" after something terrible happened? I'm not sure I buy that anymore. The example he gave was his youth pastor and friend. They were driving along until a downed power line came into contact with them. Both were killed. Both had young kids who would no longer have a father. Several people told the author that they believed God took them so that someone could come to know Him at the funeral or later.
Is this really how God works?? Does he need to take people from Earth to bring others to Him? Couldn't so many more people have been impacted by these men if they were still alive today? I don't think God works this way. His friends were killed because there was a freak accident that they happened to be a part of. Don't get me wrong I believe God knows about it, but I don't think He causes it to happen "for a reason". We live in a fallen world. Sometimes bad things will happen to good people just because bad things happen. Tragedy is not discriminatory.
My own personal faith life has its challenges. How I long to just get "back in line". Why is this so difficult? Probably due to the stress in my life...the lack of effort on my part...my stubborn insistence to do things on my own. Life is hard....following God in life is harder. May I continue to strive to make things better. To Him be the Glory!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Summer!
Heyo, it is has been quite a long time since I last posted.
Summer has been magnificent. Working at the USF chemistry lab doing some research on polymers and such...not too challenging. Continuing my quest for medical school...got a 29S on the MCAT...pretty good...we will see how God works it all out. Golfing, hanging out with friends...living the dream.
One reflection I have about summer is how incredibly easy it can be to become distracted from God. Isn't it funny how during the year we make the excuse we are too busy to be with God, but when all of the homework and tests are done...we make new excuses. Bottom line...it is hard in our world to stay focused on having a relationship with Jesus. However, I am trying to make it a goal to commit my mind and heart to scripture meditation each and every day. Some days I am better about it than others but I continue forth no matter what.
I am astonished at how out of character I get when I don't spend time with God. Angry temper outbursts come out more often when I am lackadasial in my approach to Jesus. It really should go to show me the power of having God close. It is my hope that as I grow closer to him, He will give me greater self control over the negative feelings I can have from time to time.
More continuing amazement at the incredible ignorance of some people to politics and faith. "Good Christians are Conservative Republicans", says a guy (who we will call Percy)....how ridiculous...I could write a whole entry about my feelings about such statements, but will save it for another time (lunch break is only for a bit ya know?).
Read list:
Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White by Adam Hamilton
(a must read for any Christian who considers themselves politically minded...or wants to chime in intelligently on a political issue. I don't agree with everything he says in the book, but he lays both sides of hot button issues, allowing us to use the mind God gave us to draw our own conclusions...talk about it civilly, and come together as one united church in the end...great stuff).
Allies and Enemies by can't remember
A cold war novel about Lex Luthor teaming with Russians and Batman and Superman coming together to save the day...how sweet is that??
Summer has been magnificent. Working at the USF chemistry lab doing some research on polymers and such...not too challenging. Continuing my quest for medical school...got a 29S on the MCAT...pretty good...we will see how God works it all out. Golfing, hanging out with friends...living the dream.
One reflection I have about summer is how incredibly easy it can be to become distracted from God. Isn't it funny how during the year we make the excuse we are too busy to be with God, but when all of the homework and tests are done...we make new excuses. Bottom line...it is hard in our world to stay focused on having a relationship with Jesus. However, I am trying to make it a goal to commit my mind and heart to scripture meditation each and every day. Some days I am better about it than others but I continue forth no matter what.
I am astonished at how out of character I get when I don't spend time with God. Angry temper outbursts come out more often when I am lackadasial in my approach to Jesus. It really should go to show me the power of having God close. It is my hope that as I grow closer to him, He will give me greater self control over the negative feelings I can have from time to time.
More continuing amazement at the incredible ignorance of some people to politics and faith. "Good Christians are Conservative Republicans", says a guy (who we will call Percy)....how ridiculous...I could write a whole entry about my feelings about such statements, but will save it for another time (lunch break is only for a bit ya know?).
Read list:
Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White by Adam Hamilton
(a must read for any Christian who considers themselves politically minded...or wants to chime in intelligently on a political issue. I don't agree with everything he says in the book, but he lays both sides of hot button issues, allowing us to use the mind God gave us to draw our own conclusions...talk about it civilly, and come together as one united church in the end...great stuff).
Allies and Enemies by can't remember
A cold war novel about Lex Luthor teaming with Russians and Batman and Superman coming together to save the day...how sweet is that??
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
