For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).
Being a little outnumbered with girls in my family, I'm really excited about the birth of my second nephew Lukas Josiah Pineda.
But the other thing that I wish I could see more of is people being born again with eternal life (John 3).
And it's kind of interesting because one of the couples that I most got to share the gospel with in Illinois, have recently discovered that they are going to have a child themselves.
Emily got pregnant a couple months back, and I was the second person they told this to. Emily has said that it's been a really tough process for her body to adjust, and I can tell that at times she feels really wiped-out since she barely has any strength from the few foods that she can eat without regurgitating.
Similarly, I think that the process of receiving New Life is pretty intense.
There are huge adjustments of things you have to leave behind in all of a sudden entering into a brand new relationship with God... I mean the Holy Spirit is literally going to start living inside you! and so he's not going to automatically accept every sinful thing you once did. He'll want to regurgitate a lot of stuff that at one point you felt so comfortable with, and you'll have to resort to the pure water of knowing that in Jesus you can have eternal life, not much else (John 4:10; John 7:37-38).
Once you are born by the Spirit, you'll start to get a craving for pure spiritual milk, which is something like a true understanding of God being good, and you'll just want to sip it all up (1 Pet 2:2-3). To the degree that you do, your faith will eventually be strengthened and you'll start craving heavier type doctrines which are like the equivalent of solid food (Heb 5:12).
Stuff like the sovereignty of God or his justice and omnipotence as well as certain aspects about the purpose and practice of the church are a little harder to digest, but they are essential for our nourishment, if we honestly want to grow up in him.
Initially I suggest that anybody who wants to father someone else in being the first to present that person with the gospel (1 Corinthians 4:15)... I suggest that that person concentrate primarily on aspects of encouraging others to "taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8), and to explain how Jesus is the bread of life that we need (John 6). If in an "already believing youngster" you would like to play more the role of a tutor for instance, then yeah - get into more of the profound teachings found in Scripture, but just give it in viable/steady doses that the person can consistently get his or her hands on.
Because I mean after all - it's only a matter of time till you're going to be wanting to see your own protégé being entrusted with the responsibility of teaching others also (2 Timothy 2:2).
Notice in the above pictures how Kaleb goes from being bored to eventually touching his little brother's head with the affirmation of his dad.
Jonny and Susie Pineda live in Memphis, TN and are the proud parents of Kaleb, Aliyah, and Lukas (not pictured). Jonny is an incredible musician/songwriter/worship leader as well as a 3D animation artist; and Susie is an amazing stay at home mom.
Some of us
know that, without a doubt, the TV series 'Psych' is
the greatest show of all time.
A few of us may
know that, this Sunday evening the 15th, the long awaited 2 hour monumental
'Psych' musical will be aired on USA at 9/8 Central whaaaaaat?
But practically none of us,
however, know that James Roday (also known as Shawn Spencer), is half
Mexican. WHAT!?!
...Yep. It's a true story, even if you never would
have guessed it.
James David Rodriguez (not to be confused with his
awesome namesake/Colombian soccer super-star mid-fielder James David
Rodriguez Rubio), was born in San Anotnio, TX to a multiracial couple.
The son of Jim Rodriguez (a pure Mexican/Air Force
Veteran/Taco Cabana Regional Manager/ former High School Principal); James Roday
gives off the impression of being a goofy/spontaneous/psychic/white boy in his
murder mystery comedy 'Psych', but really isn't. He's a professionally focused,
and hard working half Mexican actor/screen writer who is living his life's dream; while making millions in the process.
James Roday with his dad and sister
But the fact that he's a racial "miti-miti"
(or in other words a "half and half"), as well as a psychic... these 2 factors made me think of a
correlation between him and one of the most surprisingly anti-stereo-typical
stories in the Bible.
This is the story about Jesus talking with a
marginalized Samaritan woman at a well somewhere in-between Judea and Galilee (John 4), and the reason why
Shawn Spencer makes me think of this story is because (like a Samaritan), he's
kind of like a "half breed" too, and just like Jesus who knows everything - Shawn Spencer tries to act like a psychic himself.
That may be a really crazy correlation to come up with, but I honestly came up with it, and I think that's probably just because the
other day in our mid-week Hispanic Bible Study, Ben Jimenez expounded on John
chapter 4, and with my anticipation of 'Psych the Musical', I think somewhere
along the way, my mind just put both of these intriguing multi-racial story
lines together.
Ben Explaining John 4
While Ben explained to the hodgepodge group of racially confused American residents like Carmelo, Emily, Gonzalo, Raymond,
himself and I*, that Samaritans were the socially unacceptable half-breeds that
Jews generally avoided; he also described Jesus - the
unconventional/anti-prejudiced/loving Messiah who seemed to intentionally
arrange a meeting with this fascinating young lady (should I also say attractive?), who probably had more than a
couple reasons for which she was discriminated against (v. 18).
*Hodgepodge of racially confused American residents (with exception of Allison, the girl in the middle, who I'm pretty sure knows where she comes from).
And somewhere in the middle of this digressing conversation, Jesus
psychically (or sovereignly, rather) knows that this woman had previously
been married 5 times and is currently living with a man to whom she wasn't. Regardless,Jesus engages with this woman in one of the most significant
conversations found in the whole New Testament.
...And trying to connect this story back to 'Psych' again haha, I can
just picture Jesus in verse 17 and 18 when the woman tells him she has no
husband, responding with something like, "I've heard it both ways", when
he replies:
"You are
right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five
husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true" (NIV).
But the main thing about this passage that I think
the Samaritan woman was so impressed by is that Jesus truly knew who she was (v. 29)...
and that his knowledge of her did not alter his unconditional acceptance of,
and outlandish respect, towards her... That despite her frowned upon
history and heritage - Jesus valued her and dignified her in a way that I'm
sure no one ever had.
So what about you? How many licentious women have
you shared the gospel with?
How many racially "complicated" people have
you recently sat down to drink a bottle of beer or a glass of pop with?
It would be one thing if I were talking about James
Roday or Dulé Hill who are both super cool racial minority super-stars... but what
about the ones that live in your own home town that you kind-of disregard?
...In the picture below there are 3 different
guys that came to our Bible Study on Wednesday night that each represent 3 different
levels of "political legitimacy"; and I want to ask you: Which of them
deserves to get to know Jesus the most? Ricardo (the boy standing in the red
jacket who is a half Mexican but born in the States?); Gonzalo (the
improperly documented and some would say "illegal" Mexican who works
downtown?); or Giovanni (the cute
little boy standing in the gray jacket who is the son of Gonzalo, but who was also born in the US?).
If you answered that the 2 kids deserve to get to know Jesus more than Gonzalo does, then
you make me sick... And if you answered that they all equally deserve to get to know Jesus all across the board - than I like you a lot more, but you're still
wrong.
However, if your answer is that none of them (or
any of us!) deserve to get to know Jesus at all; but only because of Jesus' friendship and love towards all mankind that was made evident on the cross (John 15:13), then we can all confidently and unabashedly approach God through Christ's mediation (Hebrews 4:14-16; 7:25-26)... If that's your answer - that none of us, no matter who, or where, or with what... none of us deserve to get to know Jesus at all; but only (and I mean only), because of his wonderful grace that he poured out on every one of us at the cross... then we are all free to do so... If that's your answer - that it's by grace alone that we are saved through faith (Ephesians 2:4-9), then you're dead on... You're completely dead on, and I congratulate you for your unbiased understanding of the only true gospel of Christ; the only one with such great implications for all mankind.
And whether or not James Roday even cares that he's semi-Latino, I really don't know; but at least I think it's pretty cool.
You know how sometimes when you're hearing a brand new song you get the words messed up? ...Like when it sounds like it's saying something and you swear that's what it's saying cause it fits so perfectly, but then like a day or a week or a month or sometimes even a YEAR! later you realize it's saying something else?
Well, in the brand new song "Who We Are" from Switchfoot's most recent EP called Fading West, I was almost sure the lyrics for the chorus were,
In the fever of our youth
We've got nothing left to lose
We're still dumb enough to choose
Who we are
And that's because at the beginning of the song it talks about just being kids with wide-eyed innocence, living in a van practically, but believing in something more than just some sort of justified ends to a means.
And so the point Switchfoot makes is that to the whole rest of the world that's a pretty dumb way to live; but they're like, who cares? We're still dumb enough to choose that way of life, because We Know Who We Are... And because as sure as we breathe, we want something that's more than just a feeling or that just lasts for a season... We want something with meaning, we want something we can believe in.
And I love it man, because that's exactly the way I want to live my life too.
In their other hit song "Love Alone is Worth the Fight" they talk about taking they're own advice, and going back to the basics. They ask why we live and why we breathe, why we're born and why we die, why we always fight to try to make things even? and then they ask if too many times in our lives maybe we're being controlled by fear. If so, love alone can erase fear; so "love alone is worth the fight."
...It's as if in the midst of all the chaos and confusion of the world, in the midst of all the meaninglessness, that's the one thing they can always go back to... Love alone is worth the fight.
They're dumb enough to choose that, because they understand that they have nothing left to lose... or well, that's basically what Ithought they were saying, but actually the words for the song are really:
In the fever of our youth
We've got nothing left to lose
There's still time enough to choose
Who we are
And honestly that's an even better message because that's really where I'm at as well. I know that my real dream is as a missionary, and I still got enough time to choose that... even with the privilege of being supported full time.
I will say this though: being a missionary is no joke. Even though it's been the funnest, most fulfilling job I've ever had; at the same time being a missionary is the hardest job that I know... It requires an extremely high level of strength in each of the following areas: physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
But as Switchfoot says: Love Alone is Worth the Fight.
...It's awesome then when towards the end of "Who We Are" Jon Foreman concludes,
They said it's complicated
They said we'd never make it this far
But we are
They said the fight would break us
The struggle helped to make
Who we are
And then after saying that they wanted something that was more than just a feeling or that lasted for just a season; the last exclamation is
Yeah, we become what we believe in
...Or just wait a second. Did he say,
"We become who we believe in"?
Probably not. That was probably just my ear getting the best of me again.
18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
So the word on the street is that Sutay might soon be released with the help of political activist Jesse Jackson*, but apparently Colombian president Santos remains firm on the stipulation that Kevin Scott Sutay's handover will not turn into a "media spectacle"*
I understand where Santos is coming from, and I have doctrinal and practical reasons not to like the FARC's selection of Jesse Jackson as Sutay's mediator (click here to read an alarming evaluation of some of Jackson's teachings and practices), but I do hope for Sutay's imminent liberation.
Since I wrote my last blog entry about Sutay, this whole situation is just getting weirder and weirder; and I honestly think that in light of it all, I'm just starting to really appreciate and admire a different type of "media production" which is based on a true story, and - contrary to all the political mumbo jumbo that seems to be going on in Havana - this film actually gives a truly uplifting and encouraging real-life example of an amazing instance of reconciliation that took place on one beautiful day in the midst of Colombia's ongoing ugly years of internal war...
Based off of Russell Stendal's unconventional ministry with guerrillas, paramilitaries, and soldiers; the film La Montaña*shows how even the worst of enemies, through a powerful work of God, can be reconciled towards one another as they sit down together and honestly share their covered-up agonizing wounds from the past, and start looking to God for answers.
Written and directed by Russell's 2 daughters Lisa and Alethia, this professional quality independent film has served as a greater tool for me in evangelism than any other book or tract, and its awesome soundtrack with its original song composed with the word for word verses from Psalms 139 is like the greatest inspirational music to do push-ups and sit-ups with ever! haha.
As the world may keep their eyes pealed for any upcoming "media spectacle" (or avoidance thereof) of Sutay's release, I really hope that whoever may be reading this blog right now - that you would also be able to find a way to turn your eyes on to this far better "media production" which actually brings with it an incredibly inspirational message of hope for change.
*For more information concerning the movie La Montaña*please visit this website: http://www.lamontana.us/
Along with the infamous whistle-blower Snowden, there's another guy about his same age named Kevin Scott Sutay who recently did something equally strange.
Was it stupid, dumb, and idiotic?
Probably, but for some reason both these guys have really caught my attention.
For one, they're both about as old as I am (Snowden is 30, Sutay is 27 - I'm 28), and for another, it doesn't really seem that there's anything that incredibly wrong with either of them - they're both just highly mischievous and daring people.
Time might tell what each of these guys' intentions are, but whateverthey may be - regardless, it seems that they're trying to get something across.
I'm pretty sure you've all heard of Snowden, but for those of you who haven't heard of Sutay - well, he's a former U.S. soldier who served some time in Afghanistan and, after resigning from the Army, went on an adventure trip through Central America till finally making it to Colombia and down to San Jose* (the South Eastern jungle town where I used to serve as a missionary).
Kevin Scott Sutay in San Jose a couple days before he was kidnapped
Without knowing a lick of Spanish, he spent a couple of days in the town, raised a few eyebrows, then signed a couple of papers freeing the police from any responsibility towards him as he walked South to the "less than secure" town of El Retorno, where he was last seen by an evangelical pastor who took him in for a couple of nights.*
Kidnapped on the 20th of June 2013, the FARC has held him now for exactly 2 months, and they say that as a diplomatic gesture of cooperation in light of its current peace process with the Colombian government - they will release him - provided the government will let them use the right political personalities as the intermediaries in the process.*
The whole situation is really awkward because as part of the peace talks the FARC is having with the government, the guerrillas shouldn't have even kidnapped Kevin in the first place (as if the act of kidnapping people period were acceptable), but they defend their actions since Sutay used to serve in the US Army (and therefore in their minds he's a military threat).
I strongly disagree with that assertion, but what gets me is... why?
Why did Kevin just randomly decide to hit up one of the more dangerous regions in the whole country just to walk into the hands of the FARC?
...Some sources say he did it because he wanted to "walk" to Puerto Inirida* (which seems pretty far fetched because if that were the case, then he would have gone directly East, not South), and a few other sources say it's because he wanted to visit the indigenous communities of the Nukak* {which maybe has a little more credibility to it, but when I was there [which was just a couple weeks after his abduction], there was a whole community of people from this very ethnic group that were actually staying in the town's basketball coliseum, and plus! there are a couple indigenous communities that are a lot closer to town than Cheka-Muj (which is the only other option of where there's another Nukak community that is in the general direction of where Sutay was headed)}...
San Jose to Puerto Inirida (not likely)
So see, if I were him, and if I were wanting to learn about the Nukak, what I would have done was that I would have stayed in town and talked to the only other people besides them who actually speak their language (who are my missionary friends that live in San Jose) and asked them to introduce them to me... I wouldn't just go off into the jungle to hopefully stumble across them on my own...
So that's why I think there's something fishy about all this, and I honestly think there's got to be another reason besides the ones given, for why Kevin Scott Sutay randomly decided to walk into guerrilla controlled territory...
Maybe he did it because he wanted to provoke the whole world [which if that was his intention - he definitely accomplished it (or at least for the whole world of US/Colombian/FARC politics he did)], and maybe he also did it thinking that he would have a free way out (which if the guerrillas keep their word - he will).
But is Sutay really that smart?
I don't know, but what I do know is that the guy has guts.
Maybe his guts are a little nuts, but regardless, there seems to be a sense in which Kevin decided that there was something worth pursuing that was more important than his very life.
...And it's the same with Snowden. Maybe the guy was wrong for doing what he did, but I will say this - I envy people with the attitude of having enough courage to tell the whole world the truth, even if doing so will cost them their lives...
Because that's essentially what Jesus of Nazareth called us to do... to pursue Him and to tell the truth about his gospel to the whole world even if it will cost us everything (Luke 9:23).
Are we willing?
A couple of guys around my age were willing to give it all up for an un-understandable cause... The question I have is if we are willing to give it all up for one we understand? (Luke 12:48).
So man - these past 2 days I've been thinking a lot about the Boston Marathon, and my heart really goes out to all those who were affected by the bombs that went off there.
I ran that race myself, and it was the toughest race I've ever done cause it was super wet, windy, and icy, and right towards the end (probably really close to where the bombs were detonated) I got an excruciating cramp in my right leg in the final stretch (see bottom left picture).
It's just so terrible to think about what happened now 6 years later - and for me, to consider the mentality of a runner as he or she would be approaching that finish line (with so much pain as it is, yet with so much hope for finishing), and then to be thrown down to the ground from one second to the next and have your whole life changed forever...
...I saw the picture above as I was researching the bombings, and it really caught my eye, because I remembered an instance in high school where one of my best friends (Luke, our basketball team point guard) slipped and went crashing down to the road.
It was a dirt road actually, and it happened on the last corner of the final stretch that we were sprinting on to see who would finish first. No one else was close to us, but he and I were right on each other's tails, and right as we were making that last turn towards the end, Luke's legs got away from him and he just bit it man. Like big time.
His leg got all cut up and he was full of dirt, and in the exhilaration of the moment I stopped and looked at him and screamed GET UP! GET UP!!! COME ON MAN, GET UP! THERE'S NO WAY YOU'RE GOING TO LET ME WIN LIKE THIS! GET UP! and I bent down and pulled him up and we both jogged shoulder to shoulder to the finish.
...This last summer I told everybody about this story the day after Luke's wedding, and his dad was there, and I just remember how after I finished that story and it was kind of quiet - Mr. Bartel (Luke's dad) in his calm and dignified voice said something along the lines of how that's exactly what we're supposed to do as Christians, when one of us falls in real life.
It was a powerful statement to hear from him, because that's precisely what Luke's mom and dad have dedicated their whole lives in doing... they've dedicated their lives towards helping kids that are born or raised in really tough conditions, by pulling them up from where they are, and giving them another chance so they can get on their feet and start running again.
I think that's awesome, and for anyone of my friends that may be reading this... if there's any way in which you know you've fallen, please just get up. Don't let Satan get the best of you.
For those affected by the Boston bombs - let's help them get back up with our prayers.
Pictures from the 111th Boston Marathon (2007)
Hebrews 12:1-3:
Therefore,
since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay
aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us
run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus,
the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of
God.
For
consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that
you will not grow weary and lose heart.
65 years and 2 days ago, all hell broke loose in my home country Colombia.
It was 1:05 p.m. April 9th, 1948 in the very heart of the capital city, that the very heart of a nation's people was assassinated.
His name was Jorge Eliecer Gaitan and he represented the hope of a country run by corrupt conservative tycoons. Popular, eloquent, endearing, liberal, charismatic - you name it man - this guy was going to turn the whole country around through every legitimate means possible.
Educated in Bogota and Rome, in 1936 he became the capital city's mayor and subsequently the nation's Minister of Education in 1940. In 1947 (2 years into the Cold War Era) he gained the upper hand as the single undisputed liberal candidate for the 1950 elections, and winning the people over by appealing to their emotions with his tremendous oratory skills - he was undoubtedly going to win the elections and bring about social reform to the poorer class...
All of this of course, before he was abruptly shot and killed one terrible day by a mysterious man who's ties no one has ever been able to trace to whom.
Murdered in broad daylight, Gaitan's death unleashed an unprecedented riot in Bogota that lasted for 10 hours straight, in which approximately 4,000 people died and huge portions of the city were looted and burned down.
...The violence spread into other major cities as well, as Liberals persecuted Conservatives and vice-versa, until gradually the war found itself in the countryside where for the next 10 years the whole nation experienced an atrocious period of civil unrest that cost the lives of some 200,000 to 300,000 people.
...And in some way or another this violence still exists to this day (it exists in the presence of armed insurgent groups such as the FARC*, the ELN*, and the AUC*), and it's so sad to see that through the death of this one man -there are so many more deaths that have happened ever since.
I often think back on this day in history, and whenever I make it back to Colombia I always like to go to Bogota's downtown plaza to look at the historical and governmental buildings in this sector and somehow remind myself of those days in which violence existed on every corner.
It was always the first thing I would do whenever I made it back to the concretejungle of Bogota after being in the virginjungle of San Jose, and I loved getting lost down there, and the feeling I would get like I was a nobody with all the crowd going every-which way minding their own business. I liked the commotion of it all, and the feeling that I was so alone, because somehow that would make me think of the deeper things of life.
It would make me think of the girl I loved and my friends in San Jose and the church I had started, and how looking at everything from an aerial view - that maybe we all still had a chance.
It would make me think of the whole reason for why I went down there to begin with, and the struggle it was to get there, and how it wasn't quite what I expected, but how it was quite a bit more than what I hoped for.
...The reason was because I felt like I was made for it, which, when it came right down to it - was also a similar reason for why I left... because there was a negative truth that I found to be equally evident as well: I left because I felt like I wasn't made to be alone (Genesis 2:18).
There was a war that had been waging for the past 60 years, initiated with the death of one man, and I wanted to do something about it. I started to, and then I fell in love with the liberal daughter of a conservative politician's wife who wasn't about to let her daughter follow a guy who had no ambition for wealth.
My ambition was hidden in another more intangible thing that was starting to take shape in an unconventional group of young Christians... And the weak my girlfriend met them; the times she showed me that she cared and the day she told me 'yeah' - from that day on is exactly when she took first place. From there on out I decided I would die for her, and a few months later I traded it all for us.
That in itself was a death of sorts, and I've never taken it back... If I were to go back in time and do it again, I would do it again many times over. Granted, I would have done a lot of things differently once I arrived, but that initial decision was dead on considering all the factors involved, and she was worth it.
And so what about the dream?
The dream is still there, but it's become dynamic.
I look back at the nightmare that Gaitan's death produced in Colombia and I still dream about the full restoration that Christ's life is producing in the whole world (John 17:3).
Displaced woman embracing a Christian evangelist after forgiving the guerrillas who killed her husband (Picture taken by missionary friend Jon Captain in Terra Alta, Cordoba Colombia).
Romans 5:19 says that, "For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
In Colombia the sin of the one man Juan Roa Sierra who killed Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands more, just like in Genesis the sin of the one man Adam resulted in the death, literally, of the whole human race.
...In that same verse Paul also mentions the obedience of the one manChrist, who willingly submitted to God's will that His Son should die so that there would be many who would be made righteous through Him (see also John 3:16, Luke 22:42, Philippians 2:6-8, and Acts 26:18).
Very much unlike the death of Gaitan that simply brought more death - the death of Jesus Christ brought more life!
...And it brought it to everyone who dares to believe it (Joel 2:32, Acts 2:21, Romans 10:13) - even to the perpetrators of the war themselves.
Interestingly enough it was this very thought that inspired me to go to Colombia in the first place. Somehow I wanted to share the gospel even to the members of the guerrilla forces, and even though I never made it, I got close*, and I started a church in a region where there were many who at one point had been either directly or indirectly affected by this violence.
...A violence starting back at the beginning of time through the one man Adam, highlighted on April 9th 1948 with the assassination of the one man Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, but which can be nullified through the resurrection of the dead that came through the one man Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the living Son of God (1 Corinthians 15:21-22).
-------------------
*FARC - Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
*ELN - National Liberation Army
*AUC - United Self Defense Forces of Colombia
*The closest I got was when I was on a Colombian military base from about 30 yards away I saw a man and a woman who had been members of the FARC but who had recently turned themselves in to the army to be re-inserted into society.
Movie trailer for a very good film that depicts the terribleness of what Colombia's war has done, and the types of people it has affected (Colores de la Montaña):
Pictures of guerrilla members that a friend attained from a computer South of San Jose (faces of people to pray for):
In 2001 it was estimated that guerrillas from the FARC consisted of about 16,000 members, but today it is believed that this group has dropped down to about 8,000. To learn more about the FARC click here.
Once you are born by the Spirit, you'll start to get a craving for pure spiritual milk, which is something like a true understanding of God being good, and you'll just want to sip it all up (1 Pet 2:2-3). To the degree that you do, your faith will eventually be strengthened and you'll start craving heavier type doctrines which are like the equivalent of solid food (Heb 5:12).
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