Matthew

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

2 John

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..."

Revelation - not that complicated...

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.

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.

John

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

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

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

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.

2 Timothy

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

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

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,

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(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

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.)

Hebrews

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...)

2nd Corinthians

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…”

1 Corinthians

Pride and Wisdom

The Corinthian church had a misunderstanding about what true wisdom was… which resulted in a desire for power and knowledge that revealed itself in a selfish and arrogant lifestyle. In this epistle to the believers in Corinth Paul addresses this chief issue of pride which is most often rooted in their own personal deception of what wisdom was. They had bought into the cultural definition of wisdom being arrogance and intellectual speech that really was nothing more than empty rhetoric. They considered wisdom to be nothing more than this… failing to see that real wisdom produced not selfish people but servants of God. This desire for personal knowledge and power made the believers in Corinth selfish to the point where the body there was divided and sin was becoming inconsequential. Paul brought with force the truth about God’s wisdom that the church there might be humbled to see that their lifestyle in no way honored the God who gave them salvation. The root issue of a poor lifestyle for these believers as an improper view of what God values… what is wisdom to God and what is truly to be boasted in. The world’s ways are contrary to God’s… this is the message that the Corinthian church failed to see. God’s wisdom was the cross of Christ… self-sacrifice for the sake of others. God’s wisdom is service and love for the benefit of others… whereas the world’s view of wisdom is self-fulfillment. God desires that humanity would boast solely in the mighty work of his son that Christ would be exalted… whereas man desires that he be exalted above all else, no matter the cost to others. The wisdom of God comes only from the Holy Spirit’s work too, which was again an attack on the Corinthians for they were acting in the spiritual gifts and thought that they knew everything there was to know through the Holy Spirit.

Throughout this letter Paul demonstrates how the Corinthian’s opinion of wisdom is absolutely contrary to God’s wisdom… that they are in fact fools in the sight of God, and of course his opinion is all that matters. This letter was then also a direct attack on their spiritual pride, for they thought that they were wise, for in comparison to the world they had a lot going on. The Corinthian church unfortunately seemed so steeped in their own opinion of knowledge, which was but only that of the culture around them, that it would have been very difficult for the truth of God’s word to pierce through their pride. Their arrogance and pride had blinded them from truly seeing wisdom… from seeing what God values and living a lifestyle pleasing to him. They had truly been deceived to think they were wise… though their lifestyles proved to speak to the contrary. This vicious cycle of arrogance was keeping them from living in the true freedom Christ had bought for them… they desired power and knowledge and spiritual things but looked to the world rather than to Christ. This was where their ignorance was seen most clearly… for the wisdom of God is foolishness to man and likewise what is foolish to God is what man most values.

To the reader today this theme burns still true… for God’s wisdom is the cross, the finished work of Christ. Those who turn from Christ to seek life in the world and reject God’s wisdom fail to see that the wisdom of the world brings nothing. The ways of the world are but foolishness to God, yet people still fail to swallow their pride and humble themselves before the Lord seeking true wisdom. Why do people seek to find life in their own thoughts… denying the Creator… denying the reality that they are but merely men? Believers must heed this call as well, for to seek the things the world values is but foolishness to God. He has chosen what is good and what is wise and what truly matters… so why in the world people think they know better than he does? The church must constantly press into Christ, seeking his wisdom alone… unashamedly rejecting the things the world values because man does not know what is best. Today there must also be an imperative for people to humble themselves to be teachable by God’s word… trusting that what he values really is best… not seeking their own understanding of what they really desire but resting on his word.

Romans

Righteousness

The theme of righteousness runs throughout the book of Romans for it is Paul’s chief message of hope for all who believe. The problem originates here… for God is holy and righteous and cannot tolerate anything less. Herein lies the predicament for humanity, for Adam chose for all peoples to reject God and be in a position of unrighteousness before him, incurring his wrath on all humanity. Yeah, this is the reality for every single person to ever breath, for God will not stand to be rejected. The beauty of God’s grace lies in the reality of this righteousness… this disparity between humanity’s utter depravity of righteousness and God’s ultimate holiness. This chasm is what makes the reality of Christ’s work so valuable and what makes the gravity of his gift truly worthy of all praise. He came and took on the consequence of humanity’s unrighteousness, suffering the penalty for all sin upon the cross and taking it with him in death. The chasm that was once there was destroyed as Christ’s righteousness is now imparted to us as God sees in his perfect and holy life a justification on our behalf from the wrath that we deserved. This is the amazing beauty of the gospel, that his righteousness became ours when we had absolutely no hope to be saved from God’s wrath. The offense of the gospel is that humanity is forced to realize its absolute lack of righteousness as all have rejected God through Adam… to have to own this truth of our wickedness burns to the core of a proud race. But how much more beautiful this makes the righteousness that is God’s gift to those who would by humility of faith receive complete restoration with God the Father. Upon this righteousness those who believe are restored into right relationship with God as his children, as heirs of the kingdom of God through Christ. Yeah, the righteousness of Christ that was undeservedly given brings those who believe into a perfect state of adoption as God’s children, meriting all the inheritance that Christ receives from God. What a beautiful reality, that those who had no hope in themselves would be given such a priceless gift from God. Those who believe are given freedom and hope in a world devoid, a world that walks in the deception that its treasures bring life and freedom and peace when all it knows is unrighteousness and death.

For the Roman church this broke their hearts apart as the two different races within the church saw different things. The Jews in the congregation would be shocked at the offense of the gospel… that they were deemed unrighteous when they had deceived themselves to think that they were not under the wrath of God. Their need for a savior to bring them righteousness they could not earn themselves was something that pierced them to the core of their hearts… their pride. The Gentiles on the other hand would be well aware of their wickedness and would realize their desperate need for God’s mercy to bring them righteousness. Their unrighteousness was astoundingly clear… the difficult thing for them to believe is how in the world God could choose to show them mercy, for they were assured that they were most unworthy of such a gift. Both would be under the deception that there surely was something that they must do to merit God’s favor. They both thought that they had to earn their right standing with God in some way… for it just didn’t seem possible that such a righteousness that was required by God could come without a cost. This is what would make the reality of this gift of righteousness so clear to them… for it did come at a cost… a cost to God himself as Christ bore the wrath of God on their behalf… suffering for their unrighteousness and earning for them justification with the Father.

In the church today this is the reality of who God is still… our circumstances are no different than that of the Romans. The world around us is deceived to think that the things that we need to make us happy exist and can be attained. We have chosen idols less than God to find life in… and in doing so we have unfortunately rejected the righteousness God has given us in Christ. We have been given restoration with the Father through Christ’s work of justification… and this alone is life for us. Righteousness has been given us, life with God has been restored as we are declared his children.

Philippians

These are my cousins Gracie and Carly from Oregon that I saw on my way to the school here... I just remembered that I had this picture and I love it so I figured I would share it. Aren't they gorgeous!

Timeless Truth = 3:8 All things are worthless compared to knowing Christ

This is a truth that God has been bringing to the forefront of my mind continually over the last few years… as he has been breaking me of the things I try to find life in. I see in my life that I look to many things for peace and rest and joy and God has been ever faithful in not only breaking my heart over them but also in showing me that all things other than Christ are truly lacking. The thing I have seen so evident is exactly what Paul saw in Christ… that to know him and be in relationship with him was truly life and rest and peace and joy and the only thing that makes me feel alive. Yeah, I have realized that looking to the approval of men brings no peace, there is no hope in it. My pride would bind me and lead me to find no value in myself. Seeking acceptance in women is a fleeting notion, for the reality is that they neither can bring forth a lasting and pure security in my life nor can physical affection bring the life my soul truly desires. Being a perfectionist there is a part of me that feels alive when I am excelling but the counterpart of worthlessness in failure proves to be too utterly destructive. Money and materialism brings momentary joy but the truth is that they are just temporary means of fulfillment. Christ has shown himself in all these things to be the true desire of my soul. Even the blessings that these finite things are in my life fail to compare to the reality of peace and rest that Christ provides throughout the day as I simply wrestle with him in relationship. Yeah, the times at night where I find myself just being honest and open and speaking to Christ personally is when I feel his presence and see the life he has for me. The moments where I feel alive are when I see the truth of his mercy over me, when I get to praise him for who he is and what he has done for me, when I get to cry out for him to reveal himself to me and to others. Standing on the reality of who he is, fixed on desiring to know him more and more is truly better than life, than all the things of the earth.

The problem is that every moment of every day where I lose sight of Christ I find myself wanting to return again to the things of the world to bring forth life to me. I realized a few years ago that I would press in to Christ, not doubting him, not fearing him, and choosing to run to him for everything I desire, need, and don’t understand. Now I see that this not enough… for I must run to him for all things, everything. The reality of his being life to me must translate into all aspects of life. Yeah, I just want more Jesus… which is weird to say because it sounds so cliché but in my heart it reigns so true. I see my sin, I see the cares of this world, I see my contentment with things less extraordinary than Christ and my heart breaks. Christ has proven himself to be so faithful in my life, and I am encouraged to see that it is God’s purpose that I would know him more. He has shown himself to be faithful to my cries for grace, breaking me of the things I once valued that I would desire more of him. I will rest in his hands to sanctify me further, crying out that he would break me of my pride and trusting that he will continue this work in me as he said he would. Yeah, I am thankful for what he has done… and do so deeply desire to be made more thankful. Yeah, I am excited to see where he will take me deeper… trusting and submitting to his desire in my life. Yeah, so here I am saying that I want more of him… want to see this truth more clearly for I believe that all things are worthless compared to knowing Christ. Lord, help me with my unbelief.

2nd Thessalonians

Timeless Truth = 1:5-2:12 Who am I to put God on trial?

While studying the 2nd epistle Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica it seems very clear that this letter has some teachings that believers today have a hard time accepting and understanding. The reality of the situation in 2nd Thessalonians is that this letter was written to a specific group of people with a specific purpose in mind. To try to read more into this writing than was of intrinsic value to the recipient is to possibly take God’s word out of context and bend the scriptures according to an agenda. This letter addresses some tough topics such as God’s vengeance on those who reject Christ and things that will happen to precede the return of Christ. These are such hot topics that many people like to interpret them as they like and apply them however they feel like. The reality is that the word of God is not up for debate… it is either believed or rejected. The key to interpreting scripture is to not put God on trial but rather to interpret the difficult in relation to what is understood. There are some key principles which are doctrinally irrefutable that bring to light the difficult portions of scriptures that so many people get hung up on. This is the truth that I realized while reading Thessalonians… that it is not my place to put God on trial. He is God, he is creator, and he chooses to show mercy to whom he will show his mercy. There in lies the trick… do I trust him. Do I really believe that he knows better how to run my life than I do? The reality is that faith is choosing to trust in God despite the things that I understand and cannot comprehend. As I study the bible I see passages that are difficult like the ones I see in 2 Thessalonians and honestly I feel like I understand them. Not trying to be arrogant or anything like that… but the answers seem fairly clear to me for the most part. I see in my class though that there are those who have a lot of questions that are totally valid. The key ingredient though to the answering of these questions in my mind is faith. Do we dare to take God at his word and let him handle the things that we cannot understand? Do we dare to respect that he is God and that we are not? Do we dare to let him bring his righteous judgement down for he alone is righteous, he alone created the heavens and the earth, he alone is Lord and judge? This is the question we all face day in and day out and this truth has spoken to me through 2nd Thessalonians.

In my life I see this truth rocking my world every day. Do I dare to believe that God has good things in store for me, his beloved son adopted into salvation through Christ? Do I dare take his word to heart, that he will provide for me all that I need? Do I dare to trust in his process of sanctification, that what he has for me is better than my personal desires? Do I dare to see his faithfulness… so evident throughout the word and especially spoken clearly in 2nd Thessalonians… and rest in my faith that I am his? Yeah, this is how this truth hits me, that I have no reason do doubt God… who has proven to me time and time again that he indeed is good, he indeed is faithful, he indeed loves me. He will not let me settle for less than the fullness of his grace for me as his son. A few years ago I began to see this truth so clearly, and as I study his word I cannot help but see it repeating into my heart. Especially as I see others wrestling with things that I wrestled with about God’s faithfulness and things in the word that I do not understand. Today it seems that people are scared to release the things they cannot wrap their minds around… calling it ignorance. This is what the unbelieving world would refer to it as. I have come to see that this letting go is not at all ignorance. It is faith, for it is letting go of the little things and embrace the huge realities of God through his revealed word and revealed character. As I look at the cross I see not an unmerciful tyrant ruling from heaven as a dictator abusing his creation… I see a loving and merciful God who has faithfully provided an escape for a fallen and wicked creation who has turned from him. Christ has brought forgiveness, he has brought mercy and rest for all peoples through his shed blood… this is the reality of God’s character… it is the only access to justification… and it is good. I will no longer doubt my King, my Savior, my Lord, and my Friend.

1 Thessalonians

Encouragement

The theme of encouragement is one that is so apparently evident in Paul’s first letter to the believers in Thessalonica. The setting of Paul’s heart is the key reason the letter expresses so much emotion and gratitude, for his intent is to help the Thessalonians see that the fruits of their faith are being a blessing to other believers including him. At this point in Paul’s life he had been denied by the Holy Spirit to speak where he wanted, beaten, imprisoned, kicked out of towns, mocked, and disheartened by the idol worship of the Greeks. He had come to a place where most people would be so frustrated they would deeply consider if their efforts had been in vain. This letter is a response Paul had to hearing from Timothy of the steadfastness of the faith of the Thessalonians. Paul, upon hearing of the church in Thessalonica and the lives of the believers there was rejuvenated… seeing the fruits of his labor and that his work had not been in vain at all. This would have been such a huge encouragement to Paul, blessing his heart with a reality that God was bringing people into the kingdom faithfully. The emotion and atmosphere of this letter are his heartfelt response to the belief of the Thessalonians… for he wanted them to see that their faith had bolstered his and that the hope they have been following in Christ is indeed true. The God they are worshipping is faithful, as Paul now realized yet again upon hearing of the Thessalonians.

The Thessalians would feel encouraged as they saw Paul’s defense of himself, realizing that he in fact did love them. They would be encouraged as they saw his affirming words, as he was thankful for their steadfastness and faith in Christ reported by Timothy. Paul spoke to them of Timothy’s good report, and how this blessed him so much. As they remembered the time they had with Paul they would be encouraged to realize how blameless he was and the reality of God’s grace shown to them during that time. Their experience receiving the gospel was indeed real and it had a profound impact on their lives. They didn’t have to doubt themselves, doubt God, or doubt the reality of God’s revealed word through Paul. The were affirmed in the truth of God’s mercy to them in Christ, that though God’s wrath was upon them they are no children of God’s through salvation in Christ. They were encouraged to walk upright lives apart from sexual immorality and the wickedness prevailing amongst the gentiles who rejected Christ. They would also feel a sense of pride in Paul’s repeated encouragement that they are doing well in loving each other and being good witnesses… that their testimony across Macedonia testifies to their goodness and faith. They would be encouraged to see that they have nothing to fear in death, for they have God’s promises of life in Christ. They would also see that in the same way they have been encouraged they must continue to encourage and love each other according to God.

For the contemporary reader there is a strong emotional fervor to Paul’s letter that shows that a leader of believers blesses his disciples and the body by being encouraging. Encouragement is cyclical in that as believers are encouraged they cannot help but want to return the encouragement in others. The strengthening that happened in Paul’s life came from the diligence in faith of the Thessalonians. The strengthening that occurred within the Thessalonian church derived from Paul’s encouragement, his uncompromising life of holiness and surrender to Christ, and his deep love for the people. Encouragement is necessary in the body of Christ for it is the lifeblood that sustains through difficult times… without it people begin to feel alone and question their faith. The atmosphere created by Paul’s encouragement was created by the Thessalonians faithfulness to God. The atmosphere therefore resulted from a blessing of encouragement and cycled to be an encouragement to the Thessalonians… bringing strength to the body as truth was rejoiced in and shared by many.