Stand Up For Your Love!

Bono told me the other day to stand up for my love.

 

 

He told me to "Stand up in this dizzy world where a love sick eye can steal the view," and he asked if I can stand up to "Beauty, dictator of the heart," while also mentioning faith, hope, and love just like the apostle Paul does in 1 Corinthians 13.
 

After this, Bono goes on to say something really interesting. He goes on to say, "But while I'm getting over certainty, stop helping God across the road like a little old lady."
 

And that really caught my ear, you know?
 

It caught my ear and I started thinking a lot about it and obviously I can't know for sure what Bono intended when he said that, but maybe what he's saying is something like, "yeah, definitely - faith, hope, and love are the most important things to stand up for" (and I think Bono would agree with Paul on the assertion that the most important virtue of them all is love (1 Corinthians 13:13)), but then, right after that, he's like: "but in the certainty of doing so, please 'Stop helping God across the road like (you would) a little old lady.'"  

 

 

Awesome movie clip of an old woman crossing a street

 

...That's super interesting to me because I would like to say that standing up for my faith, hope, and love in God is something that I'm really set on - it's something that I really consider to be the most important things to stand up for in life!... but then, in the midst of it, it's kind of like Bono is trying to keep me honest by saying that while I'm at it, I better not do it as if I were trying to help Him or something... it's like, "nah, man - God is extremely powerful and it's completely nuts for us to think that He needs our help in making Himself known," you know what  I mean?

 

I think that God definitely wants us to go and make disciples because He told us to do that (Matt. 28: 19-20); I think He definitely wants us to be prepared to preach the Word in season and out of season, because He encouraged Timothy to do that through the inspired writer Paul (2 Timothy 4:2); and I think He definitely wants us to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth, because He actually told us that we would as a statement of fact (Acts 1:6).    
 

But at the same time, I don't think God ever needs our help as if He were somehow incapable of showing the world who He is on his own, or that He somehow needs us to do this favor for Him because He's getting old and tired and all the commotion in the world is making Him overwhelmed so He needs people like us who have all the right answers and all the right cliche catch phrases like "God is my co-pilot," or "God is my home-boy," or something absurd like that to save the world.  
 

Give me a break, man - do you really think God would even want to be those things?
 

I think God wants us to tell others about Himself only because we love Him (2 Corinthians 5:14-15), and only because it would be our greatest joy to do so (1 John 1:4), and only because our satisfaction in knowing Him is only augmented the more we share Him with others (Philippians 1:4b-5, 4:1).

It's interesting because Bono then goes on to say, "I got to stand up to ego but my ego is not really the enemy. It's like a small child crossing an eight lane highway, on a voyage of discovery."

And man alive, do I ever feel like that at times! Sometimes it's like I can be so stubborn in pursuing things that occasionally I bet people start to wonder if I'm doing it just because I'm prideful (and I suppose that that vice might seep into it occasionally), but in my mind it's really just that I'm trying to accomplish what I set out to do because I'm inspired to do so, and because I love it. That's all.

And then the song says this:

"Stand up to rock stars, Napoleon is in high heels. Josephine be careful of small men with big ideas."

That's funny because Bono is a rock star and because Napoleon was short but he had big ideas and because Josephine was his girl and together they sure had one heck of a love story.

Bono is a guy with big ideas, he's the kind of guy that'll go crazy if he can't work towards them. In another one of his songs from this same album after he remarks that "every generation gets a chance to change the world," he asks, "Is it true that perfect love drives out all fear?" (See 1 John 4:16-21). This question is then coupled along with the surprising statement: "The right to be ridiculous is something I hold dear."

The truth is that love is often the most ridiculous way. It's often "not a hill, it's a mountain," but it's the best way, it's the perfect way, and it's the eternal way (1 Corinthians 13).

It's so cool then how he ends this song. He's like:

Let's shout until the darkness squeezes sparks of light!

Freak yeah. haha.


Picture Cited: http://www.neatorama.com/2012/03/23/the-10-greatest-love-affairs-in-history/

 

Song Smorgasbord

There was a really cool Indie band I used to listen to a lot in college called The Format and one of my favorite songs is “On you Porch” from their Snails EP. Some of my favorite few lines from this song go like this:

So now here I sit

In a hotel off of Sunset

My thoughts bounce off 

Of Sam's guitar

And that's that's the way it's been

Ever since we were kids but now

Now we've got something to prove

And then the chorus goes like this...

Cause what's left to lose

I've done enough

And if I fail well then I fail
But I gave it a shot

And these past three years
I know they've been hard

But now it's time to get out
Of the desert and into the sun

Even if it's alone

...And see, that was what I felt like right before I got commended to the Colombian mission field back in 2009... It was like I had something to prove and there wasn't a thing that anyone could do to keep from doing it.

Now though, the same lead vocalist from this band has turned pop and a few of the lyrics from his main song with his new band in their most recent album called "Some Nights" go like this:

Some nights, I stay up
Cashing in my bad luck
Some nights, I call it a draw
Some nights, I wish that
My lips could build a castle
Some nights, I wish
They'd just fall off

But I still wake up,
I still see your ghost
Oh Lord, I'm still not sure
What I stand for oh
What do I stand for?
What do I stand for?
Most nights, I don't know anymore...

And to be quite honest, a lot of times I feel the same way now.

Over two years time I went from being loved more than I've ever felt before to being despised more than I've ever felt before (and this by the same person), and over one year's time I went from seeing her literally every day to now seeing her occasionally as a ghost in my sleep and still not being sure what I stand for anymore. Do I stand up for my love for her? Do I stand up for the truth of what happened? Do I stand up for what I see when I look into my nephew (and/or nieces) eyes?

It's kind of funny cause all the Indie folks on YouTube have been like up in arms about how The Format was such a better band then Fun., and then all the Pop fans that have now somehow stumbled across The Format have been reading the Indie people's comments and are like: "Both are different music ventures and don't need to be compared to each other because they are both great in their own ways. So every one please get over yourselves (Aj Lewis)"... haha, that's kind of funny because it's so true.

...It's sort of crazy though how a song about uncertainty can get 47,264,452 hits on YouTube while a song by the same artist about determination only gets 497,343 (OOOOOk, Fine. I know that the kick-ass video and vocals in Some Nights might have at least a little bit to do with that haha...).

But anyway, as Switchfoot says, (and as I consider to be some of the most descriptive lyrics of postmodernism I've ever heard),... "See opinions are easier to swallow than facts, the grey instead of the whites and the blacks, if you shoot it too straight it won't come back, we're selling the news"..."Substance, oh substance, where have you been? You've been replaced by the masters of spin who write good looking books and write history in. We're selling the news"..."When nothing is sacred there's nothing to lose, when nothing is sacred all is consumed. We're still on the air, it must be the truth. We're selling the news"..."I wanna believe you, I wanna believe, but everything is in-between. The fact is fiction. The fact is fiction. I wanna believe you, I wanna believe, but everything I see is greed. The fact is fiction. Suspicion is the new religion."

 
...And in a lot of ways that's a pretty noble religion, right? I mean it's not condescending in any way, it's really politically correct, and when it comes right down to it - what it actually ends up being is a way of life that extremely tolerant and all-inclusive.

Awesome.

See, while a lot of people may think that there are a lot of religions that may be right; at the same time - the only religion in a lot of people's minds that is definitely wrong, is the one that says that IT is the only one that is right... Because naturally, some may say, that's what makes the proponent of it something like a "sociopath" or a "narcissist" or an "arrogant, pugnacious, religious prick"... or something like that.

...And let me just say that I don't really like the word "religion" anyway because it has a connotation of being something that you have to do as a human to find favor with God (and I believe that to be completely anti-Biblical), and so in that sense - yes. I agree that anyone who thinks that they are the ones that came up with the ultimate religious truth would be considered pretty straight up arrogant.

Because that's impossible.

...But what I also believe (and this is the belief that ultimately matters)... what I really believe is that there is nothing that I or anyone else can do to make it to God (Ephesians 2:8) (because if we could then that would give us a reason for boasting (Ephesians 2:9)), and that actually, what is really the case is that we have been saved entirely by grace through faith as a gift from God, exclusively in Jesus Christ, who is the only way, truth, and life (Ephesians 2:5,8, John 14:6).

And I believe that.

I believe it to the extent that while I may not be 100% certain about everything else in my life - I believe that I have been found in Christ. And what is more is that I believe that that discovery has been brought about not because of a righteousness of my own, but it's been brought about because of a righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. A faith in Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:9).

But on top of that, let me add this:

I still don't consider myself perfect.

I still don't consider myself to have arrived at my final goal.

Just like Paul said to the Church in Philippi as he was being held hostage for sharing the gospel, "Brothers and sisters, I still do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12-14)...

So yeah - that's basically what I wanted to share, and in conclusion let me mention a few more lines that have been going through my mind recently from one of those big time Jesus groups Called Hillsong United in a song entitled Hosanna. Some of the lyrics for their final bridge go like this, and I just think they're pretty awesome...

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart for what breaks Yours
Everything I am for Your kingdom's cause
As I walk from earth into eternity

Let that be my cry.

Dumb Dodge Dart

On the 18th of January of 2010 I inherited my dad’s relic Dodge Dart. It was the car I grew up in practically since my dad bought it before I was born, and it was the car I first learned how to drive in so I guess that gives me some sort of special affinity towards it or something, I don’t know. Its straight 6 engine makes it run like a truck and its ample room and positioning of parts under the hood makes it an ideal car to work on whenever it breaks down.

It’s also fairly large and so it’s great for transporting both stuff and people - I think the record is that I’ve had about 10 people inside of it at one time but that’s not including the outside for example, or in the trunk, which people have ridden in as well, like say when we’re going on a really short ride or something and we keep the trunk open.




There are times when it runs like a charm (or a lucky charm rather) and it feels great to speed along the open road with your elbow positioned so perfectly on the ledge of the open window and the wind in your face.

The kink in the steering, the 3rd gear that’s positioned where the 4th should be, and the rattling convulsions that the car breaks into whenever it hits about 65 mph keeps things interesting, and at least it feels like you’re actually driving the thing as opposed to some of these perfectly calibrated cars where the automatic transmission and cruise control will make you fall asleep faster than a Sunday morning sermon - if you’re not the one that’s preaching it that is.

One of the biggest bummers besides the fact that it drinks way to much gas ,

is that it doesn't have a CD player, which is always like one of those ‘if only’ disappointments you think about whenever you’re on a road trip. It doesn’t have any A/C either, which would be nice in San Jose, but I mean come on, you can’t be too picky.

And then there’s the times that is breaks down...

I remember a trip from Bogota once with 4 of my good friends where the car decided to get a flat tire, overheat its engine, and have its exhaust fall off all within the same trip!

And as for getting stuck in the mud – boy oh boy.

The first incident wasn’t so bad and it was actually kind of fun because it was right after youth group and it was really close to town so even though it was raining and it was like 10 o’clock at night, I rounded up all my friends and we all goofed around and made jokes as we got covered in mud while we unsuccessfully tried to push it out… no big deal.That night we all walked home and the next day I asked some random guy with a pick up truck to haul me out. He did, and I gave him 7 bucks and that was all there was to it.


The second time was a little more interesting because we got stuck a little further out of town after we had just visited an indigenous community and we had offered to take a guy and a girl that we didn’t know, back to town with us. We got stuck so bad and my car is so heavy that there was no way we could push it out so we just called a friend to try and get him to get someone who had something with 4 wheel drive to come and fetch us. In the mean time, we got to talk to this couple that we had just met and share the gospel with them. And, incidentally - this couple turned out to become pretty good friends of ours as time went on, and if you’ve read my last blog – they are actually the ones that I got the privilege to marry a few months back.

That evening, our friend in charge of pleading our case with any 4 wheel drive trucker he could find never could find anyone who was willing to come out and help us just because it was starting to rain and it was getting too late for anyone in their right mind to be willing to do anything like that. That was disappointing, but we didn’t let it get to us, and so we just walked back in the dark and pouring rain and waited until next day when I convinced someone to help me out by showing him a couple bills equivalent to about 20 American dollars.

The 3rd getting stuck instance however – now that was no joke. This time I was on my way back from a fishing trip about two hours out of town in the middle of nowhere with 5 good friends and we got stuck in some of the worst mud known to mankind. The thing about it was, that even though there were six of us who were able bodied enough to push and pry and give it our best shot, we were also all really tired from the night before (and kind of even tired of each other too haha) and we hadn’t eaten anything very significant the whole time we were on the trip and so I guess we were just a lot more prone to getting really ticked off with each other and any kind of conflict that we could get ourselves into.

And we got into one.

And we did everything we could.

We used boards, shovels, rocks, logs, jacks - you name it. We tried pushing it forwards, it would go nowhere. We tried pushing it backwards, it would go nowhere.

We tried lifting it up and putting rocks and boards underneath the tires to give it some traction – it wouldn’t get any.

Finally I was just so stressed out with all the tension going on that I got out of the car and started walking to the nearest road to see if any truck would pass by that could help us. The thing was, on our 2 hour trip out to the lake in the first place, we had only seen like 1 car the whole way and maybe 2 or 3 motorcycles, and so the odds of me finding a truck with 4 wheel drive and a driver who would be willing to help us – man, that was like trying to find a needle in a haystack or something (and whoever even came up with that saying I don’t know, but it’s a good one even though I don’t get why in the world there would be a needle in a haystack or why anyone would care – but maybe that’s the point).

Anyways, my friend Franklin he was like – what the heck are you doing man? You can’t just walk away like that – there’s no way you’ll be able to find a pick-up truck. We got to work together and do something, we gotta keep trying… and so a little reluctant to obey him - I did. Just because he was right and well, even though I really do not like getting into conflicts with people and I knew that we would keep fighting and insulting each other no matter what - regardless, I turned around and went back to the car and we got after it again.

So let me tell you about it: it was a battle of inches. One board here, another log there, another rock under that thing… and I would floor it! …3 inches.

Ok, we would say - let’s try going backwards: one jack here, another log to give us some leverage there, and everybody push while I floor it!!! 5 inches. 3 back to where we started from, BUT - 2 more in the opposite direction which would potentially give us a few more inches if we tried pushing it forward again.

… And about another hour and a half of this until finally we were able to back the car out enough of the mud hole so that we could line up some boards and logs up properly enough to give it our all or nothing shot and… VROOOOOOM!!! The car peeled out of the mud like it was nobody’s business and slid around on firm ground while the muck on the tires went flying everywhere. I couldn’t see it because I was the one putting the pedal to the medal, but it must have been the most beautiful thing to watch in the whole world, and I could feel it.

I guess you could say that at that instance in which we had previously all had urges of wanting to kill each other… when we finally saw that we had managed to get that dumb car out of that slimy mud hole man - and that WE were the ones who did it, US - the six great amigos – boy, our emotions did a total 180 right then and I don’t believe anyone could have loved my friends more than I did at that very moment. I could have kissed them NOT!!! Gross, I would never kiss a guy - that’s disgusting. Unless I was like in an Arab country or something, then I guess maybe I would you know –like to be culturally relevant or something?

But anyways, what I’m trying to say is that because of having to struggle through something together, I started to love my friends a little more than what I had before, and it was precisely because I had to struggle with them that I loved them – that they didn’t just let me walk away... and for crying in the mud! I mean it’s almost the most ridiculous thing in the world, but I even started liking my piece of junk car a little more too! Isn’t that crazy?

Even though it was specifically because of it that we got into that whole ridiculous mess of a mud hole to begin with (naturally the driver had nothing to do with it cough, cough)... for some reason on the 2 hour drive back to town I kinda started feeling a little more fond of my bulky blue, straight 6, 4 on the floor, gas guzzling, rattling convolusioned 79 dumb Dodge Dart.

And in all of this entire story, well, I'm sorry that I've been so long in getting to the point, but what I'm wanting to talk about has to do with Jacob and how he wrestled with God and how he didn’t give up on the struggle he had with Him until it was daybreak and God called 'uncle' and Jacob got a blessing.

If you want to read about this story, I would encourage you to do so. It’s found in Genesis 32, and the main point that I want to make is as follows: If I, after having struggled with my old car that isn’t worth much at all started to feel a little more fond of it - how much more fond, or in love rather, do you think we would be with God (who is worth far more than anything we could ever imagine), if we just didn’t give up on our relationship with Him even when we had to struggle through some pretty difficult things? I think it’s actually that God wants us to struggle with Him and that if we don’t want to struggle with Him, well, He won’t make us - but it’s far better if we do because maybe then He'll bless us.

The apostle Paul had this mentality concerning the things that he struggled with here on earth. He wasn't complacent, and he wasn't going to give up on his drive to know Christ and to make Him known until the day he died. To the church in Philippi he said the following, "Not that I have already obtained all of this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12-14).

I really like how he says, "I press on to take hold of that which Christ Jesus took hold of me." God is the one who saved him, Christ Jesus is the one that took hold of him, but here it seems like Paul is saying that he is the one holding on. Holding on to what? His salvation perhaps? Granted - he, or you, or I, or anyone else can never earn our salvation through our own efforts, and I don't believe that we can ever lose it either, but we can definitely take hold of the salvation that we have attained through Christ, and perhaps we can struggle with God as we try to understand more of it. Perhaps in the process we will be blessed because of it - perhaps many nations will be blessed because of it as well (Genesis 12:2-3). In fact, that was the whole promise that was given to Abraham that was actually starting to take affect through the life of Jacob as we start to see in Genesis 32.

Jacob was later named Israel, and it was then through Israel that the whole world was blessed. How? Namely through Israel's decendant - Jesus of Nazareth (and it's kind of funny to say it that way because actually Jesus, being God, was the one that created Jacob and was also in fact the one that wrestled with him so it's just kind of weird to think about Jesus as being his decendant haha). Jesus blessed the world by offering to all who live in it, salvation by faith through grace (Ephesians 2:8). We who have accepted this salvation can bless others by sharing it with them. And who is Isael today? Who are the true heirs of Abraham? Galatians 3:28-29 says that it doesn't matter if we are Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female - if we belong to Christ then WE, US - the millions of great amigos called Christians around the world, are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

What promise?

The promise to be a blessing to many nations (Genesis 12:2-3).

I'd say that God's blessing given to us for the world is something worth struggling for.

Yeah?

Praying while Playing

Growing up as a deprived missionary kid in Colombia [can you tell by the types of clothes that we would wear??? (yikes) haha], one of the few things that I always sort of lamented growing up was the lack of possibilities I had to someday play professional football (ok, just kidding - I know I'm not that good - more like high school football).

But along with professional soccer and basketball (man I had a lot of ambition), playing American football with the Green Bay Packers was always my dream cause see, my dad was born and grew up in Title Town USA (that's short for what people call Green Bay) and every time as a family when we would go up to the States during the summer, I always remember going with my grandma to the pre-season Packer practices to catch a glimpse of the players from the best football team in the world (as of 4 days ago maybe you could have said that was debatable, but you certainly can't say that anymore).

After the Packers would finish practice, all us kids would try to get the players' autographs and some would even work their way into the privilege of holding the Packers' helmets as the players would ride back to the showers on the kids' bikes. I never brought my bike along, but I remember one day getting some second string player's autograph and thinking I was so cool. My grandma (who was a lot more persistent and a heck of a lot sweeter than I am) once even managed to get Reggie White's autograph and I still have it to this day.

It's back in my chest at home with my cheese head and all my comic books {I had Christian ones by the way - like of Jim Eliot and Corrie Ten Boome and Nikki Cruz, and even Tom Landrum [the Christian head coach for the Dallas Cowboys haha - Reggie White still hadn't come into Christian comic book existence back then (sorrows)]} and my football cards, and there in blue ink on a small white piece of paper mixed in with all that other stuff is the autograph. It says this: To Sam, Reggie White 1 Corinthians 13.

For those of you who don't know who Reggie White was, well, he was only the awesome Packers defensive end who holds 2nd place amongst all time sack leaders with 198.5 and is one of the most decorated players in all of NFL history. The well known 'Minister of Defense', as they called him, was also an evangelical minister, and had the pretty cool custom of praying with players from both our team as well as the opposing team after games.

Now, that whole topic of mixing sports with Christianity can get pretty sketchy, I know. Like for instance there are those who say that the capital "G" on the Packers helmets stands for God (WHAT?!?), and yeah, that is a little too far fetched. Actually, it's way too far fetched, just like this picture you got on your left, which is just plain creepy no matter how beautiful those Packer colors are (creepy I tell you - creepy as in Brett Favre playing for the Vikings... and that is pret.ty. creepy).

But things like praying after games - I think that's cool. I remember I used to do that with my basketball team and it was a great opportunity to show the opposing team, that win or lose - there was something more important than basketball that we lived for, and that was God.

I don't know if you caught it, but do you remember in the Super Bowl on Sunday how after his first touchdown, Greg Jennings kneeled down and made a short prayer? I don't know what he prayed, but the fact that he did, and the fact that he did it in front of 111 million US viewers alone (and that's not counting me for example - who was watching it out in the boondocks of Colombia), the fact that he did that shows that in no way is he ashamed about his faith, or about his God.

Sure, Matthew 6:5 says, "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full" ...but I don't think that was Jennings' attitude. I think it was probably a little more like Daniel's, who, despite the persecution of his time, customarily got down on his knees and with his windows opened toward Jerusalem, would give thanks to his God (See Daniel 6).

Besides that, a CNN reporter wrote in his blog that during the post game coverage, "A jubilant Jennings repeatedly told Fox's Pam Oliver, "To God be the glory."

Amen bro, I'm glad you're a Packer.

P.S. The above picture is what my sisters and I looked like after the devastating Packer loss of Super Bowl 32, but that's old news, man. WHO ARE THE CHAMPS NOW??? Yeah, I thought so.

--------------------------------
Works Cited:

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/07/the-super-bowls-faithy-moments/

Pictures Cited:
http://survjustice.blogspot.com/2012_07_01_archive.html
https://www.pinterest.com/assistman/green-bay-packers/
http://uglyfours.com/ugly-fours/tag/greg-jennings
http://www.packers.com/

The Only One Worthy

I was reading Hebrews 11 last night and there was a small parenthesis that really caught my eye. It was this one: (men of whom the world was not worthy).

A friend once sort of poked fun at me for my fascination of parenthesis (or rather my excessive use of them haha), but in my opinion this parenthesis is worth extra mention: (men of whom the world was not worthy).

In Hebrews 11 verses 35 to 38 we read, “Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy) wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.”

Just think about that for a second: (Men of whom the world was not worthy)… If this world was not worthy of the types of men and women described in Hebrews 11 who suffered so much for their faith in a future Christ, how much more unworthy then do you think the world is to have received the object of these people’s faith, the person Jesus Christ, who came to dwell among us approximately 2010 years ago?

Extremely unworthy.

And yet it was this Christ that we did not consider worthy enough even to be given a decent place in which to be born.

We considerd Him unworthy even though it is us who aren't worthy of Him... just like this world considered the heroes of the faith unworthy when it was really the world that wasn't worthy of them.

It says about these men and women in Hebrews 11 that they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground… well, so did Christ.

In fact, Jesus started out his ministry by wandering in a desert, and even more, Jesus once said that “foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9:58).

Hebrews 11 says that these people were, “stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword, they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill treated…” and well, so was Christ.

The gospels do not record Jesus as being stoned or sawn in two, but Luke mentions that there were some from a synagogue who wanted to throw him off a cliff (4:29).

And as for being tempted: Jesus was too. The writer of Hebrews refers to Jesus when he says that our high priest was tempted in all things as we are, yet was without sin (4:15).

And what about being put to death by the sword? Jesus wasn’t put to death by a sword (he was rather put to death on a cross - a method far worse); but regardless, the weapon here stated reminds me of John 19 where it says that a soldier pierced Jesus’ side with a spear which caused both blood and water to come gushing out as proof of Jesus’ death (v.34).

And how about the garments that Jesus wore? I do not know that Jesus ever went about in sheepskins or goatskins, but as he hung there dying on the cross, John 19:24 says that the very clothes that Jesus did have – even those were taken away from him by those standing by.

And as for being destitute, afflicted, and ill treated: that was practically Jesus’ trademark. Isaiah 53:3 describes him as being “despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”… and a few verses later in Isaiah 53:7 it also says, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth.”

Concerning Jesus’ mockings and scourgings: Mark 15:16-19 says, “The soldiers took Him away into the palace, and they called together the whole Roman cohort. They dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; and they began to acclaim Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling, and bowing before Him.

And as for being tortured and not accepting His release: Mark 15:29-32 says, “Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, He saved others, He cannot save Himself. ‘Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!’ Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.” … all the while, these people did not realize that this Jesus whom they were insulting very well could have accomplished all these things that they were demanding of Him (and a whole lot more as well), but instead He chose not to.

And finally, as for His resurrection: in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 Paul says, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”

But it is Paul’s recognition of himself as being the one who is unworthy as being the correct assertion.

We are so unworthy to have had the Son of God come into our world, but we are even less worthy to have had His Spirit come into the hearts of we who believe. And yet this is precisely the reason why the Son of God came into the world – to give us the opportunity to be forgiven and to have His Spirit come into our hearts.

Isaiah 53:3 says, “He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

We did not esteem Him, yet the following verses show that Jesus did not view us in this same light. Verses 4 and 5 continue saying, “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried… He was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the chastising for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.”

Amazing.

It is actually us, the truly unworthy ones, who have been given the opportunity to be forgiven by the only truly worthy One – the Son of God.

Verses 39 and 40 of Hebrews 11 go on to say that "All these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect."

All the things that these men and women did in gaining their approval from God, they were really done because of the faith that they had in the one who would eventually suffer like them - in Jesus Christ. It was Him that they were looking forward to; and as a result, they considered their persecutions worthwhile because of the faith that they had in the coming Messiaha. They considered their trials unworthy of their care in comparison to the care for the faith that they had in the only one that is worthy.

In an opositely similar way, Jesus also considered His sufferring worthwhile, but it was for the sake of our souls and because of that (and also a whole lot more), that we are not worthy of Him, but somehow it is because of this that God considers us worthy to enter in His presence.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 says this: "Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

So be it.

Slimy Skinned Brethren

A little while back I was explaining to a friend what it meant for me to come from a “Brethren background” (yeah, I know, veeeeery complicated topic), and so part of my explanation included something about how among our circles we often think of the word “denomination” as kind of like a cuss word haha.

So I’m pretty sure that my friend thought that I was pretty crazy for saying something like that because she was like, “I don't see why you would say denomination is like a cuss word. They are so apperent.  An evangelical church is nothing like a brethren church* and a presbyterian church nothing like a baptist church. Not only are they different but they are identified differently. It's like distinguishing a frog from a toad- the words have to be there or part of the meaning is lost.”

Randea

And so that definitely got me thinking because I actually think that presbyterian, baptist, evangelical, and brethren congregations are in fact pretty close to being something like each other [and so naturally, I had to Google up the words “frog” and “toad”, and guess what? Toads are frogs! haha (and you can ask Google here if you don’t believe me)].

Toad

But anyways, apparently the word “frog” is the broader name for the various types of amphibianatic type animals such as toads and ranidea (and you can look at the pictures to see some of those differences), but even among these two sub-groups, apparently there can at times be some ranidea that seem very much toadish and similarly, at times there can be some toads that seem very much ranideaish. In other words, while most toads are dry and warty skinned, "It is not uncommon, for example, to find a warty skinned frog that isn't a toad, or even a slimy toad!"

And so what I told my friend [and what I’m telling you right now (whether you would like to be my friend or not is your call)] is that in my mind it’s like the word “frog” would kind of be like the equivalent for the word “Christian” and so it’s like - why ever even bother with the word toad?… they’re still frogs haha … and so along the same thread of thinking - why ever even bother with the words brethren or evangelical or presbyterian or baptist? ...we’re all still Christians, right? (yeah, that was a rhetorical question, and the correct answer is yes, we are - if we believe in the Lord Jesus).

And so that is the point.

Sometimes I feel like the whole concept of denominations can detract from the point that if we believe in Jesus, then we are all part of the same body and that we all have the same Spirit and that we all share the same hope, and Lord, and faith, and baptism, and God and Father of all who is over all and through all, and in all (Ephesians 4:4-6).

And so I think that those things are really important.

And I also think that hey - those things are even more important than our differences.

So let me explain. Because sure, we each have our own distictives [and I would even try to defend my own distictives with a lot of zeal and a lot of Scripture (and if on some point I couldn’t defend them over someone else’s zeal and use of Scripture, I hope that I would change)]… but the point is that even within the Scriptures, there are noticeably some doctrines that carry a whole lot more weight than others.

And so that is not to say that all true doctrines are not important, because all true doctrines are important, but it is to say that some true doctrines are more important than other true doctrines… like for instance the main one that all of us Christians agree on - that by believing in Jesus as the Son of God we are saved from our sins.

Martin Luther

And so see, I really believe that all Christians have the ability (and I think we should also all have the desire) to study the Scriptures for ourselves (and by the way, that was one of Martin Luther’s main points that he fought for as he challenged the Catholic church) but undoubtedly, as we are engaging in this process of studying the Scriptures for ourselves, there will inevitably be some instances in which we will come to a point where we will disagree with one another… perhaps with a brother, perhaps with a sister... and it will be as though we are taking two different sides and neither one of us will want to budge.

And so, I can almost guarantee it that as this starts to happen it will start to be very tempting to forget to love one another… But let me ask this: what is the second greatest commandment? [That’s another rhetorical question by the way… and the answer is to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:38)] And you know something? The last time I checked, that commandment went before the one that says “Thou shall defend thy beliefs with all thy heart and soul and mind” {where that one is located I’m not exactly sure, [but it sounds a lot like the one that says we are to “love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind (Matthew 22:37)”… (and so I think that that’s why a lot of us get them mixed up you know? - because the second one I mentioned is actually the first, but they both sound pretty similar)]}. [And in case you didn’t get the joke, “Thou shall defend thy beliefs with all thy heart and soul and mind” isn’t really a commandment in the Bible (or at least it’s not an explicit one)].

Ok, At least it’s not an explicit one… hm. But wait a second! What if it is - implicit? (uh-oh, here we go again)… Some may argue that defending Scripture actually maybe could be a part of loving God… and well - I have to admit that that is a pretty great argument.

The thing is that the first commandment of loving God and the second commandment of loving our neighbor – they are both very much intertwined - in fact, 1 John 4 verses 20 and 21 say, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”   

  

So let me say this: there is a very fine line between passionately defending Scripture and loving our neighbor while we do it, and passionately defending Scripture and not loving our neighbor while doing it. Obviously, I would argue for the first.

Because see, I’m all for debating and arguing what we believe in (because doing so will ultimately make us sharper), but we have to understand that when we do it we have to do it in love because otherwise we will have lost the battle even before having started it.

It is ironic because the Brethren background which I am a part of originally found its strength in challenging certain doctrines or practices that clearly were wrong within the Anglican movement of the initial part of the 19^th century; but this same movement which I am a part of has since found many of its own weaknesses in challenging certain doctrines or practices that are clearly not so wrong even within our own movement in both part of the 19^th and all of the 20^th Century (will it also be characteristic of the 21^st?).

So I hope that we can know how to choose our battles well, because it is true that there is strength in numbers. It's just that at times it seems like us Brethren have some kind of numeric phobia haha, and we divide ourselves before we ever get too big (and I’m talking like my dad right now… but wouldn’t it be better if we multiplied?), of course it would.

But another funny fact is that right now I’m living in the 21^st century and I find nothing wrong with reading books by John Stott and C.S. Lewis (who actually are both from Anglican backgrounds), while at the same time reading Jim Eliot’s journals or books by Alexander Strauch (who contrarilly are both from Brethren backgrounds). In fact, I find myself being edified by reading books from all four authors. [Or with reference to C.S. Lewis and Jim Eliot – maybe it should be “were,” because I know that they have both gone on to glory (… or maybe that would actually still put them in the “are” section, right? - like since they are currently living with God in heaven?)].

And so that’s another funny thing, isn’t it? That C.S. Lewis and Jim Eliot are probably both in heaven right now having a great time uniting with each other in their worship of the Father, while at the same time we’re here on earth still dividing ourselves over a few controversial issues... hm. Perhaps some of the division is valid (I’m not saying that it isn’t), but I still just think it's funny.

               

C.S. Lewis

Jim Elliot

Lastly, I just finished reading Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor [who incidentally also comes from a Brethren background (although he probably isn’t as proud of that heritage as some of us)], and in a very interesting way, he talks about his childhood and a special kind of merchandise that many people would buy which had verses strategically located on them so that those who read the merchandise would be edified as their eyes happened to fall upon the verses. Some of this merchandise included a telephone-book cover that said, “Let no corrupt communication pass out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying. Eph. 4:29”, a wastebasket (“Touch not the unclean thing. 2Cor.6:17”), and even an umbrella (“Giving thanks always for all things. Eph.5:20”).

Garrison Keillor

And then Garrison Keillor comments this: “I felt that so much Scripture floating around might tend to harden some hearts, that Scripture should be treated with reverence and not pasted to any flat surface you could find – at least, that was what I said when Brethren asked why I didn’t carry a “The Peace of God Passeth all Understanding” book bag to school. In fact, I was afraid I would be laughed off the face of the earth.

Then he adds a paragraph explaining his concern towards his relationship with a certain girl. He says, “My dad’s car sported a compass on the dashboard with, “I am the Way” inscribed in luminescent letters across its face, clearly visible in the dark to a girl who might be sitting beside me. “Why do you have that?” she might say. “It’s not mine, it’s my dad’s,” I’d say. “I don’t know why, I guess he likes it there.” I wanted her and me to be friends and our conversation to head in the direction of personal feelings, The Importance of Being Free and Sharing Love, and not toward the thorny subject of obedience, which tended to put a damper on things. The compass wasn’t easily removed; you’d have to get behind the instrument panel to remove the nuts. I thought of covering it with masking tape, but that might only draw attention to it. So I hung my cap on it.” (p. 142).

“I wanted her and me to be friends and our conversation to head in the direction of personal feelings, The Importance of Being Free and Sharing Love, and not toward the thorny subject of obedience, which tended to put a damper on things.” I like that.

Yeah, being obedient to the Word of God is definitely a really important thing, but I think that Garrison Keillor’s emphasis on “The Importance of Being Free and Sharing Love,” can at times be even more important. Perhaps always more importnt (provided we’re talking about agape love and the freedom that we have in Christ).

So therefore, whether I’m just a slimy skinned Brethren (which really means that I'm just a part of a sub-group of what it is for me to actually be a Christian)… or whether I’m just a purebred Christian who has a few Brethren tendencies; I don’t really know (and neither do I really care); but whatever I am, I know that all things are mine, and I am of Christ, and Christ is of God (1 Corinthians 3:21-23). 

 

And that's the main point.       

*Another disclaimer is that for us, the word “church”, when it’s used in this context is also considered kind of like a cuss word because we don’t really think we have the right to consider ourselves the church (we are part of the church, yes, but the church as a whole is everyone who believes in Christ) and so that being the case, we would generally rather use the word “assembly” or “chapel” or something like that haha… I know it’s kind of funny – but we tend to be pretty particular… what can I say?

--------------------------------
Pictures Used:

http://allaboutfrogs.org/weird/general/frogtoad.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther
http://www.inspirationalchristians.org/biography/jim-elliot/
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/joeljmiller/2012/11/giving-thanks-for-c-s-lewis/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrison_Keillor

I Fish Therefore I Lie

The day before last I went camping with five of my friends out to a lagoon... although it actually might have been a lake (I’m not really sure what the difference is)… but the point is that we went camping out near a larger body of water than a pond but not a large enough body of

water to be considered a sea or an ocean.

It was pretty eventful, and we caught a few fish.

Fishing is a new deal for me because I was a city slicker growing up so there wasn’t much opportunity for that kind of thing, and besides, my dad and I are the only ones in my family that eat fish so we never had too much incentive to go fishing even when we had the chance.

Fishing was cool though because it made me think a lot about Peter, Andrew, James, and John. They were all fishers of fish, but Jesus called them to be fishers of men (Mark 1:17). It’s interesting how Jesus associated fishing with evangelizing... as if maybe he intended that we approach the act of winning people over to Himself in the same way that we would approach winning fish over to our stomachs… or to other people’s stomachs haha.

But this was different because San Jose is rural and because scavenging for meat is a popular activity among my friends. Because of them, I can now say that I have experienced both aquatic and terrestrial meat scavenging! ... hmm, so I guess the only one remaining would be aerial, but don’t worry, I’ll try to get after that as well and when I do I’ll be sure to write you about it (I still don’t think scientists have discovered any astronomical possibilities, but if that ever happens, you can expect another entry along those lines as well).

In our approach to catching fish we used three methods: spreading out a long net across a substantial width of a part of the lagoon and leaving it there to see what would happen, throwing out and pulling in a smaller net into various parts around the lagoon to see what else would happen, and last and definitely least, throwing a nylon string with a hook at the end of it into a very small part of the lagoon to see if anything at all would happen.

So for starters, Eliecer, Sergio, and I went out to set up the larger net. It was so cool because just as we were doing it, we caught this really huge fish (they always say that fisher’s are liars and if you saw it you would probably be like, come on Sam, that is not a huge fish, but to me it was, and besides, it was the biggest one we caught all night)… but we caught it and it was like all three of us were really pumped and I started gutting it out but it felt more like I was dissecting it because it was just so awesome, and then Eliecer said that if you catch a good first fish, that’s a good sign of good luck.

And that made me think and so I said, “I don’t believe in luck” and Sergio asked, “why not?” and I was like, “because I believe in God” and so then Eliecer said “well, who’s the one that gives the luck?” and I was like, “God.” So I guess that settled it haha.

To turn this into an analogy though, an interesting thing is that since the time I came to San Jose, the first guy I
shared the gospel with is a guy called Elkin and to the right is a picture of him and me about a year ago. As of two weeks last Sunday he was the first one from our group to get baptized and underneath is another picture of him along with another girl who got baptized that same day and another man who helped me do the baptizing… I tend to consider Elkin a pretty big fish because I think he has a lot of potential for leadership. And Nelly (the other one in the picture who got baptized as well), she also has a lot to contribute and has contributed, but she's switching ponds because she's going to be moving to Bogota next week.

But back to the story… the next thing that Eliecer, Sergio, and I did was to go out and start fishing with the smaller net. Sergio would paddle in the back, Eliecer would throw the net in the front, and I would sit in the middle telling Sergio where to paddle and Eliecer where to throw haha. Pretty sweet set up huh? It was funny because Eliecer and Sergio started telling me that the next time they got close to the shore they would leave me there and pick up Fernando because all I would do was give them orders and at least Fernando would take pictures haha.  

The fish we caught in the smaller net were smaller ones and I wanted to gut all of them out but Sergio told
me I shouldn’t until we get back on shore. That being the case I would line them all up and count them every time we had some more come in. After a while Eliecer told me I shouldn’t do that because it was bad luck to count the fish.

  

That also kind of made me think because obviously I don’t believe in luck, but I always thought it was interesting how in the Bible one of King David’s big mistakes was to count his soldiers (2 Samuel 24:10). At first it’s like, come on, what’s so bad about having a little census every now and then? But I guess the reason why God didn’t want David to have a little census every now and then was because when you’re doing a little census you never want it to be little, you always want it to be big, and when it is, you want to use that fact to help you feel good about yourself. Either that, or David would then base all of his military decisions exclusively on the amount of soldiers he had, and he would cease to give glory to God and he would forget that the battle belongs to the Lord (Psalm 20:7).

I’m not saying that numbers aren’t important, because they are (Acts 11:21, 24-25), but the truth is that God is the one that causes the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6). Sometimes I get annoyed at the fact that there’s this one gentleman from Bogotá who calls me up pretty frequently, and I mean I know that all he wants to do is help and I know that his heart is right for sure, but it’s just like the first question he always asks is, “and how many people showed up to the Sunday morning gathering last week?” And it’s just like man, well maybe if we were growing like crazy I wouldn't mind telling you about it, but some weeks we’ll just have like 15 and once we even had as low as 9… BUT (and this is an old Indian trick I recently discovered)… if you really believe in prayer, then maybe it’s better you just mention the low numbers because that way people will pray harder haha.

I don’t know, I think that maybe it’s good to not be so caught up with numbers sometimes because when you’re doing your best you know it, and when you’re not you know that too, but it’s not your best or your worst that controls those things, it’s God. And although we DO have to do our best and although we DO have to be strategic, the biggest thing is that we have to put our faith in the Lord of the Harvest and follow Him wherever it is that He leads us. I mean, for me here in San Jose, a gathering of 9 people is pretty small, but then again if I was a missionary say in the 10-40 window man, 9 people coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and meeting together to pray, break bread, study the Word, and fellowship in one year would be ridiculously awesome!               

So hats off to those of you serving in the 10-40 window.

 

In this picture we actually all have our hats on.

But another lesson I learned on our fishing trip is that sometimes following the Lord’s will can be uncomfortable (See Luke 9:57-62).

Since I was the one sitting in the middle of the boat doing nothing but giving orders and asking questions (but I mean honestly, it’s not like I was giving thaaaat many orders), I asked Eliecer “Why do you always throw the net to your left and never to your right?” And this time his response had nothing to do with luck. In fact, what I’m about to tell you is so interesting because it proves that Peter or whoever it was that was the one throwing the net in the story where Peter and the six other disciples went fishing after the death of Jesus – whoever it was that was doing it, was a righty as opposed to a lefty (awesome discovery right? haha, way to go Sam, you should be a detective)! See, Eleicer is a righty and so when I asked him why he never threw the net to the right, he told me it was because it’s uncomfortable.

If you’re right handed, it’s more natural to throw the net with your right hand in front of your left and swing

your arms out towards your left as you release the net. In the story of Jesus and the disciples in John chapter 21 it says that Jesus, while standing on the shore of the lake told the 7 disciples to throw the net to their right. I’m sure that must have been like the most ridiculous thing for them to hear in the whole world because it’s like what difference would it make, right? Left. (That was supposed to be a pun, get it, like instead of saying wrong? haha). I’m kidding. I think it was ridiculous enough, but I mean they hadn’t even caught anything all night, so why not give it a shot? I’m sure it was the most clumsy, ungraceful net throw in the history of net throwing, but it was also the most miraculous. The passage says the disciples weren’t even able to haul the net IN because it was so full of fish (v. 6)!

Now I already told you that fishermen like to lie, but this is God’s word we’re talking about and I know that  It’s interesting that the disciple who threw the net had to do it in the most uncomfortable and ungraceful way possible. I wonder if I’m willing to do what Jesus is calling me to do even though I know it’s going to be really uncomfortable and really awkward. I know that there are a lot of times that I’m not willing. So Lord, please help me be willing.
God doesn’t lie, so it must be true (Numbers 23:19). They caught tons of fish because they threw the net into the water on the right hand side just like Jesus told them to. And it didn’t have anything to do with luck. None whatsoever. It had to do with the fact that God ordained it that way and they obeyed. And so we also have to obey whatever it is that God ordains.

But I want to ask you if you’ve been neglecting to do the Lord’s will simply for the sake of your personal comfort? You never know, there could be a huge catch just waiting to be caught on the other side. Lord, please save us from comfort. Whether there is or whether there isn’t a huge catch, is irrelevant (Habakkuk 3:17-19), our responsibility is to obey. So Lord, please help us obey.