Christ In Us Pt. 1

The confusion distorting her once calm countenance was evident as she walked through the room. As she came closer it was clear that it wasn't confusion as much as it was an array of feelings in response to an essay she had read. She proceeded to read us this essay of her fellow classmate. The volume of this classmate's opinion was so loud it left our ears ringing. We sat stunned empathizing in our friend's confusion.

This classmate was arguing about being controlled by the Supreme will of God and how it's not out of love for us, but rather out of hate. She brought up the story of Abraham and Isaac (which when people argue against God's will, they mostly bring up this story). She argued God's will by asking the question: why would a loving God ask so much of His followers? It was her argument that Abraham would have been better off not listening to God that day.

What shocked me about this paper was that it acknowledged this human capability outside of God's ability. Trusting in our own ability and saying no to God's will would have saved Abraham a trip up Mount Moriah. No. God works His will amongst us out of love for us. Abraham needed that test of faith. And God never intended to have Abraham sacrifice Isaac for He had great plans for Abraham's family. He always had the other sacrifice in mind because He wasn't really down with child sacrifice. In fact, later in Jeremiah 19:5 when the Israelites start committing child sacrifice, God rebukes it saying He never had any of that in mind.

What does all this mean? Human capability outside of God's ability only leads to success in an earthly sense. Imagine if Abraham trusted in His own ability to have a greater sense of faith. He would have never went up on that mountain and would have never been acknowledged as a man of faith. He would have never learned. He might have considered it success but it would be a success that would easily fade. But we see the opposite displayed in this story. Abraham trusted in God's ability to grant him greater faith, and because of this, he gained an eternal success of faith. 

Too many times do I see human ambition and trust in their own ability compete with God rather than submitting to God. We see this in Scripture when the people of the world moved to a plain in Shinar and tried building a tower to reach to the heavens (Genesis 11). This was not in God's will because His people sought to compete with God out of their own ability, so God scattered the people as punishment. 

Human ambition and ability can never exceed the boundary of God's will because God's will knows no boundaries. Rather, God's will at work in us only shines light on how our ability far lacks in comparison. We are not capable of anything eternal by ourself. 

To those who are living to die, the idea of not being capable is the most discouraging thing they could hear. But for those dying to live, it is the most encouraging. It gives us hope that we can change the world not through our own flawed ability, but rather the limitless ability of God. It makes sense to us by re-establishing the correct order of the universe- that we are small and God is big. In my own life, I feel like all my successes only testify to my weakness as a man and the grace God is so willing to bestow.

There is this extraordinary phenomena that occurs within us that allows us to accomplish anything. You see, Christ dies for us and then lives in us by His Spirit.  If we live according to His Spirit, then we can trust that God is enacting His supreme will in us, and by that we have the ability to accomplish great things, right? But rather, we find ourselves saying the same thing as the man in Mark 9:22, who says, 'If you can do anything . . .' You see, there are people who have a distrust of God enacting His supreme will in them that they believe they have no ability. What is the result? Well a couple of verses later in Mark 9:38 the disciples say that they stop another man casting out demons in His name. Therefore, out of their own distrust of God working in them, they stifle the work of those who are trusting in God's will and ability for the betterment of their self and others.

In conclusion, people argue against God's will because they are more trusting in their own ability. But their ability far lacks in comparison to submitting to God's will because it doesn't accomplish anything eternal. Trusting in God's ability and will allows us to accomplish the eternal. And this phenomena of God giving us the ability and enacting His will is at work in us because Christ lives in us. But though He lives in us, we have a distrust of His work in us which only leads to a stifling of ability rather than promoting ability for accomplishing the eternal. 

Trust in the fact that Christ lives in us, therefore, we can accomplish anything in submission to His will. 

Boy Meets Grace

"So what do you want to do later on down the road?" There goes the question. Here comes the answer. "I want to be a pastor. Get involved with church planting and ministry." There goes the answers. What follows is what I deem, "the look." Now, I am quite familiar with "the look." "The look" is what the person gives in response to my answer, signifying that in their mind they just placed me on a different level than them self. I am no longer an equal. I am a person who "has it all together." Thats what "the look" tells me! Usually it is not verbalized, except for one time where one guy told me that he wasn't very religious like he was confessing to me. "That's cool, I didn't ask you if you were."

One thing I've learned is that being a pastor or in a ministry leadership role doesn't mean you "have it all together." Rather, it means that you have humbled yourself to allow God to redeem your shortcomings for His will. It means that you have come across the revelation of the bigness of our God and how impossible it is to not bow down and humble yourself before the presence of such a big God. But the reality is: you are one of many Christians who have arrived upon this revelation.

Bearing the title of a Christian brings on the assumption that you have it all together when the reality is that God holds us together. The only thing that keeps the shattered pieces of our broken nature from spilling all over the place is the grace and love of God (Lam 3:22). The only thing that keeps our soul from being sucked into the black hole of our deceitful, sin-natured heart is the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit within us. The only thing allowing us not to be consumed within ourselves, not allowing our light to become trapped within the black hole of our sinful heart, but rather allowing it to shine before men is Jesus Christ living within us. It is not a natural force that man does by himself, but rather, it is a supernatural force compelled by a stirring of God's will within us. 

So why does the idea that "we" have it all together come across more often than the idea of God holding us together? Because the beggar can only relate to the beggar. The beggar can not relate to the proud man. Whoever you come across who gives you "the look," whether they are the beggar or proud man does not matter as long as you humble yourself to become the beggar. No one can relate with the proud man because usually they have placed their self too high for anyone to get to their level. It is all about the idea of being a beggar for God's grace. 
How can we be the beggar? We humble ourself to the point where we can repent. 
Now let me pose the point: How was David a man after God's own heart when he did evil in the Lord's eyes so many times? Like the time he sent Uriah the Hittite to the front line so he would die and David would take Bathsheba, his wife, as his own? Because when Nathan rebuked David, David repented before the Lord saying, "I have sinned against the Lord" (1 Samuel 12:13). Thats why in Acts 13:22, David is described as a man after God's heart. He repented before the Lord, not placing himself above the Lord's forgiveness or power. David was in no way a proud man before the Lord, and he even says this in Psalm 131!
When we become a people after God's own heart, we shine God, not ourselves. It is my prayer that when people give us "the look" they'll see a brokenness that has been redeemed by the grace of God.

Community Pt. 2

Sometimes I feel alone in community. I go about community, play my part in it, but in the end, I feel as if I am one of the only ones striving for revival. I feel as if I am one of the only ones who so desperately desires to see God move in power in that manner. But the thing is, that is not true. A good portion of people within the body of Christ wants to see God just swoop down and save people right and left. So then why do I feel as if this isn't true?
Maybe it is because when a community comes face to face with the radical they have to retreat to the basic to achieve the common ground. Maybe the common ground is set too low. Maybe the radical is too hard to grow to.
While the radical attracts, it only attracts from a distance. When it is in your face, it's scary! Take Jesus for example. When we read the Bible, we believe He's a total baller (which He is), but imagine if we were in the shoes (or sandals to be more historically correct) of the people during those times. We probably would've been scared out of our minds that this guy was coming through and changing everything!
With a community, it's no different. Revival is a radical concept and a community has to conform to the basics if they seek to attract more. If a community is introduced with the radical then that welcoming comfort is instantly abandoned in exchange for a dream. But the aspect of a community saturated by God that is ignored is that, every community is radical. A community doused in the glory of God is supernatural in essence. Every individual is a dreamer, and in a culture where dreams yield to the artificial American dream, the idea of true dreamers gathering together is pretty radical.
I'll tell you the most supernatural concept about a community gathered together is that it is (or should be in some cases) a community that truly loves each other. 
The beautiful thing about the fellowship of believers in the Acts 2 church was that the believers' awe and reverence for God was manifested in their relationships with each other. And because of this, there was no needy person amongst them. Because of this, people were being added to their number daily. That's love. Better yet, that's love with the response of action. Real love is an overflow with a response of action. 
It is my desire to see and be a part of a community that makes the greater move towards God together. Because that's what love is, it's movement. It moves us to do missions, evangelism, etc. etc. In 2 Corinthians 5:14 it says that Christ's love compels us. Love is movement!
I want to be a part of a community where we are so solidified in love, that I feel as if we are moving together instead of feeling like the only person who so desperately desires revival (which, I'll state again, I know that I am not the only person). 
Someone asked me once, "How did you even manage to create something like JMU One?" And I simply responded, "Easy, I didn't." I didn't create JMU One, people did. It was people who decided they wanted to make the greater move together, it was people who decided to show up that night, it was people who prayed together and worshipped together that made JMU One. JMU One isn't an event as much as it is about the people, growing in love for each other to the point where a move for revival isn't just a dream, it's a reality. It is a testament that we, as a people, are brought together by grace but most importantly, we are sealed together by love.

Community

This time of the year here at school is possibly one of the most overwhelming times of the year. It is the time where everybody returns with excitement and enthusiasm back to the culture that is JMU. And the freshmen come and experience their fantastic orientation event called August 1787 Orientation. With this whole community coming together, it is an amazing picture. People's love for each other, pride for their school, and excitement for the year shines through their reunions and introductions. Last night, I went to an orientation event which was just a dance party in the middle of campus. As I shuffled till I got blisters on my feet, I stopped, and gazed over the sweaty haze of people gathered together on an overcrowded basketball court. While it is an exciting sight, I wanted to run the other direction. It was so overwhelming to be around so many people.
I have to admit, I fall victim to that in the Christian body too.
With events like on-campus ministries and Passion, I see the body gathered together in such a large mass and while I do revel in the glory of it, the other half of me wants to run and do this whole Christianity thing by myself.
Once I was sitting in the corner of my house doing my quiet time on a Sunday morning when my brother came home from church and decided to confront me on me not going. Now if this was just one time, it would've been fine. But I had gotten into this phase where I bought into the lie that I can do this Christianity thing by myself and the entire time I was home, I avoided church. My brother simply convicted me by saying, "Why would you want to miss out on the opportunity of blessing others?"
You know, thats what the body of Christ is suppose to do for each other! We are suppose to bless others rather than just sit in the corner and receive blessings. For Jesus said: "It is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35)." We are suppose to strengthen, encourage, and edify each other in love. 
Love is the common denominator in any sort of community.
But as I stand in the in between of divided communities for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I feel as if love is the variable we are all in search of.
Maybe this is the child in me speaking, but I don't understand why Christian communities seek to make their mission different than the mission of other Christian communities. I mean, aren't we all called to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Whatever twist we like to add to that initial mission, we are all still part of the body of Christ.
I always wonder what might happen in the body of Christ if the different Christian communities were willing to humble themselves and come together for the collective mission of spreading the Gospel. I mean, from my understanding, the only way we get things done is when we do it together. But there is too much pride behind ministries that tells them that it is much better when they do it on their own. But you know, I don't blame them, because I was victim to the same thing. I told myself the same lie that I could do this Christianity thing by myself.
I had the pleasure of working in a community called Walterboro, SC this summer. In this community, there was brokeness, crime, hatred, poverty, unemployment, and the pride of a people whose faith in God believed they could redeem this society for the glory of God. So after massive amounts of prayer, denominations coming together, and people just honoring and loving on each other, people outside the body were able to see how the body of Christ is love and people were saved. Things happened, hearts were changed, crime was decreased, and a society was redeemed. All because people decided to come together to bring about Heaven on earth. 
From my understanding, when ministers in New England distributed a letter calling Christians to pray somewhere in the 1730s to 1740s, all denominations supported it and it grew to become "The First Great Awakening."
Things get done when we are willing to die to ourselves for the glory of Jesus Christ to be spread.
Now I am not arguing that all the denominations should blend under one identity. What sort of community would that be? If that happened the body of Christ would be like one giant hand or leg or some body part like that. But what I am arguing is that we should make an effort to honor each other above ourselves as it says in Romans 12:10.
Another part coming soon!

Faithfulness

I had the pleasure of recently seeing a psychologist at work. There was a girl who was having a panic attack, and the psychologist just majestically entered into the room and was like, "Where is she?" We pointed him her way where she was just crouched down in the corner. The next action of his surprised me. Instead of him grabbing the readily accessible chair, he crawled down on the floor with her. And in his silence, he comforted her.
This is how I relate God's faithfulness to His people. 
It doesn't really make sense to me when people try to define God's faithfulness. If you ask someone what having the faithfulness of an all powerful being means to them, they are completely stumped. For the few who do give an answer, they give an answer to how God is faithful in His physical provision. For instance, they would say: I know God is faithful because He provided me with a job when I was in need. He gave me the money I need to do this event. He provided Noah with an ark. He led Moses and his people out of Egypt. He allowed David to capture Jerusalem. He provided. These are all physical testaments to God's faithfulness, but what if there wasn't anything physical to testify to God's faithfulness? Would you say that God is still faithful? Of course He is! 
One of the many beauties of an all powerful God is that His providence is a direct result of His faithfulness to us. To add to that, His providence knows no bounds. That means that even though we aren't given tangible evidence of His providence, He is still faithful.
It is just like the psychologist. He didn't provide anything to the girl. He didn't even say a word. But he was still there for her, even when she didn't ask him to be. 
Yet much of the world still operates in a manner which says if there is no physical evidence, how can I know you are faithful? 
For example, I told one of my friends that I would be at this reunion with a bunch of friends. Now my faithfulness to my friend is at stake here. Lo and behold, in the craziness and haste of reality, I simply forget about this event and I am not there for my friend. My faithfulness is shattered because I was not able to provide my presence at this event. My faithfulness to my friend is discredited because I was not able to physically provide my presence.
But this is not true of God.
Not only does He provide His presence at all times, but He is also faithful in Spirit.
One thing that doesn't make sense to me in how this world operates is that we judge too much by exterior. For instance, my faithfulness to my friend is completely gone in my friend's view because I couldn't physically provide my presence, but if my friend looked past that they would see that I would always affirm him in his spirit. I would always seek to build him up in love. I would always acknowledge him as a child of God and treat him fairly out of reverence and respect for my God.
You see, God doesn't have to provide something physical or tangible to prove that He's faithful. He is for us, not against us, meaning He always will affirm us in our spirit. And for the unbeliever who still needs to see physical evidence for God's faithful nature, check out Jesus Christ's death certificate. And once you snap out of ignorance and step into the Kingdom perspective, recognize that there is no death certificate because He is alive!
Rather we have the certificate of His death and resurrection engraved on the tablet of our hearts, and that is the greatest example we have to God's faithful nature. For it says in Ephesians 1:3, we have been given every spiritual blessing in Christ. 
What does this mean? It means that we have every tool possible to recognize God's faithfulness towards us!
The reason I am bringing up faithfulness now is because it troubles my heart how a lot of people aren't willing to return the favor to God. He is faithful to us, so why can't we even strive to be faithful to Him despite our flawed nature?
One of the many reasons I have come up with is because ignorance has blinded a desperate people to only seek the physical evidence of His faithfulness. In a world judged by sight and not by faith, its hard to trust to anything. Even an all-powerful God! But thank God that His faithfulness is not contingent on our faith as it says in Romans 3:3-4.
If anything, God's faithfulness pierces through our ignorance and keeps calling us back.
God has already fulfilled a promise to His people by giving His only Son to die for us on the cross so that by believing in Him we will receive the salvation of our souls. But in this promise is another promise. You see, we have received righteousness and have been deemed blameless before our Lord through our faith in Christ Jesus. And if we turn to Scripture we see that Paul writes in his letters that God will keep us blameless (1 Thess. 5:23, 1 Cor. 1:8). So not only does He promise us a way for salvation, but He also promises us that He will keep us in the faith. God's faithfulness testifies to the fact that He keeps us.
So what does this mean? A helpless people falling out of the faith or not reaping the fruit of the faith is our fault, not God's, because God promises to keep us, and He is faithful to His promise. It is out of our own ignorance, out of our own unfaithfulness, that we fail to see the fruit of God's faithfulness.
Much like the psychologist, God doesn't have to give us something to testify to His faithful nature. He has already given His Son and in that, He has allowed us to have access to Him, the best Psychologist in the universe! If you have trouble seeing God's faithful nature, go see the Psychologist cause He's definitely in business and always has been!
So this is a wake up call for the ignorant nature of needing to see something physical to prove God's faithfulness. The mere fact that you're still in the faith is testament enough that He is faithful. And if you're an unbeliever, its never too late to reap the fruit of a faithful God, someone who won't let you down like anyone here on earth. Let us open our eyes to how faithful our God is, and let us respond with faithfulness to His commands and His ways.

Redemption Pt. 4

Someone told me once that the more you fall in love with the Savior, the more the world doesn't make sense to you. I find myself victim to that idea. It doesn't make sense that we kill to get our way. It doesn't make sense to me that we can get so excited over a sports game but then we stand in church like we don't care. It doesn't make sense that we exploit women (and even men as a matter of fact!) in the media. It doesn't make sense that we could even endorse the exploitation of women through our choice of music we listen to. It doesn't make sense to me that we worship these big public figures who probably only care about themselves and their career. We all have our justifications around these things, but in the end, they're just lies blinding us from truth. Its a good thing there is grace or I myself would be screwed!

The world is such a fickle thing. Its not constant in the least bit, and that in it self doesn't make sense. I know this because at one moment I could be overjoyed at the beauty of the glory of God on this earth and then the next I could be deeply saddened by the ignorance of it. We weren't created to be so fragile, so fickle. We were born with an anchor, and that is God's love for us. So with that in mind, our ignorance, our humanity lacking the salvation of God, doesn't make sense.

And thats what I hope to be this semester and for the rest of my life. Someone who makes sense in the context of the solution to our broken soul. I want to make sense because I have the light of God shining within me. But I don't want to be the only thing that makes sense. I want the whole world to make sense. I want the world to be redeemed.

With this desire comes the greater responsibility and joy on my part. I seek to do so much for the redemption of this world. I want to find the church where there is no needy person amongst them, where they break bread together, where they truly and deeply love each other out of reverence for God. I want to live in another country with the least of these. I want to know how its like to live on 10 percent a day. I want to travel and do missions. I want to find God shine so bright amongst people like the stars shine in foreign country. I want to see Jesus through someone's eyes. And I want to mobilize a united effort for the redemption of our world in every region. I have big ambitions, but they mean nothing if I'm not even willing to do it to the person down the street from me.

So thats where I'm at this semester. Redeeming the world starting with James Madison University. So to whoever is reading this, I encourage you to do the same for wherever you're at now. Its time to close the gap between inactive believers and active unbelievers into the umbrella of God's love for us and the redemption that comes through the blood of Jesus Christ. 

The beauty of Christ cannot be contained in tall, brick sanctuary or stain glass windows. So lets stop pretending like it can be! The beauty of Christ shines in our hearts and we carry the fragrance of the knowledge of Him to a depraved world (2 Cor. 2:14). Redemption is in our hands to carry out in this world, for we are His church.

I don't know about you, but thats the most logical thing that has crossed my mind since I've started writing this post. It just makes sense. Thank God for something making sense in this world.

"In Him we have redemption through His blood,

the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the 

riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with

all wisdom and understanding . . ."

-Ephesians 1: 7-8

Redemption Pt. 3

Read Redemption Pt. 1 and Pt. 2 before you read this post


The comforting thing about the existence of evil in this world is that when it is the darkest, thats when you see the light shine the brightest. God works for our good and our good is for His glory. 
People can choose to bring about redemption in this world but totally leave God out of the picture. They would want to spread ideals such as peace, love, joy, but a peace, love, and joy outside of God. It is ultimately just a peace, joy, and love because . . . just because. And you know, thats fine! I applaud people like those because they are people who are so close to truth that they are able to really market that out to an unbelieving world. What I mean is, these people are just reaping the fruit of the victory of Christ without believing in Him. In an unbelieving world, the only thing that can appeal to a depraved humanity is reaping of this fruit without committing to a belief. These result is people keep doing good and ultimately that is what spreads until someone asks the question, what for? That is why I love these people. But sadly what I've come to find is, people who decide to spread these ideals and do good outside of God, don't reproduce anything. They just briefly cover up evil for a moment.
Its like the stars (and I don't mean to sound corny here). I was sitting on my roof the other night just wishing I could be living in a foreign country right now where the stars shine brighter. Well its not that the stars shine brighter in another country as much as it is our own artificial light blotting out the true light. Our man made light enshrouds the skies when deep down we long to see the real light. Thats what spreading these ideals outside of God does. They just cover up the truth with ephemeral man made ideals. While they are good to appeal to the masses, they are not truth. 
And the truth is God's redemption provides us with something eternal. God's redemption gives us the solution our soul longs for. God's redemption is the thing that lasts.
For example, Kurt Wyman's best friend, Bobby, could have decided to not respond at all to his friend's death. But instead, he decided that he was going to find the man who killed his best friend in jail and minister to him so that he might be a believer. You see, Bobby is giving that man something tangible! It would have been so hard and pointless for Bobby to go to the jail and talk to him about love because that discussion outside of God leads to a dead end. That fruit doesn't reproduce outside of God because it doesn't make sense why it should be reproduced. But a love that stems from God reproduces more love, joy reproduces joy, peace reproduces more peace, and thats how fruit should be!
I knew a person a while ago (whose name I will not mention) who was just burdened by the fact that he himself couldn't change anything in another person's life. Now I realize why. The victory we have in Christ is the line in which insufficiency meets grace. We were never meant to do this whole "change the world" on our own because us on our own is insufficient. But when we bring Christ into the picture our insufficient self meets the grace that tells us we are righteous and able.
So you see, plugging ourselves into God's redemptive work is the only logical solution for really changing this work.
Final post coming up next!