The Opposite Sects

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
- John 3: 16 

All the Christ followers of the world believe this, holding it to be the foundation of their faith.  John 3: 16 is the most recognizable verse in the Bible, and it simplifies everything we believe into one simple thought: Jesus died for our sins, and because of that love, we will live with Him forever. 

This ought to be enough to unify all believers, right? 

We Christians can be a petty bunch.  Since the creation of the church, it has been split into countless denominations, often based on differences that are comparitively trivial.  We have fragmented our faith due to things that are insignificiant compared to the one thing that should hold us all together: the blood and the salvation of Jesus Christ.  The fragment is so great that some people refer to the different denominations as different religions, as though Baptist and Lutheran are so incompatible that they are now different systems of belief. 

While we may not be able to quick stitch all the denominations back together, what we can do is not allow petty differences to further fracture our lives and relationships.  There have been instances where families and churches have been torn apart because of differences in doctrine.  These differences are often relatively minor, but we give them more power than they deserve.  We create denominations within our own families, and relationships are often burned because of what side someone stands on.  If we all follow Jesus as our savior, what else could possibly have the power to tear us apart?  It should not matter what the issue is or on what side you stand, for Jesus is the great unifier, and causing a rift based on anything else means you're giving that issue more power than you're giving the blood of Jesus. 

We must try and view things the way Jesus views things.  He looks down upon His followers from Heaven, and what does He see?  He sees a kaleidoscope of people.  Yes, there are different colors and genders, but there are also different opinions and doctrines.  Is His salvation only available to those who belong to a particular church, or are on a particular side of some trivial issue?  No, He loves all of us equally, because we are all the children of God.  Did the thief hanging on the cross beside Him have all the same doctrinal opinions that the disciples of Jesus did?  Surely not, and yet that thief is now in the kingdom of Heaven. 

We are meant to be the body of Christ - one body, not several.  We are meant to be strong, but how strong can we be if we are so easily fractured?  We must learn to let go of the things that do not comprise the foundation of our faith.  We must come and stand together as the body of Christ, standing unified on one foundation.  We must be one in the name of Jesus.

The Myth of X

Maybe it's just me, but I think X is getting a bit too much credit. 

X wasn't the one and only son of God, sent to Earth in human form. 
X was not born in a manger, visited by shepherds.
X didn't heal anyone, or raise anyone from the dead. 
X wasn't hung on a cross to die for sins it didn't commit. 
The blood of X did not save me from my sins. 
X didn't come back to life. 
X isn't in Heaven right now, preparing a place for those who believe. 
I don't call X my lord and savior. 

Thus, I will never use the phrase "X-Mas," because I don't celebrate the birth of X. 
I celebrate Christmas, because it was Jesus who did all those things. 
The world may want to turn Christmas into simply "the holidays," but that doesn't mean I'm going to. 

Thus, Merry Christmas!

Cosmetically Speaking

Makeup.  I know, where do I get the audacity to delve into such a profound theological topic?  And you thought this blog couldn't get any deeper. 

First off, there is, of course, nothing inherently wrong with women wearing makeup.  There are certain time when, perhaps, it has uses.  That being said, I wish women wouldn't use it. This is not because of any opinions I have on how someone looks with makeup, but it has to do with a deeper issue.

Women, this is for you.

You're beautiful.  Whoever you are, you're a beautiful creation of God, knit together in your mother's womb, made exactly as He wanted you to be.  You do not become beautiful when you put on blush or eyeliner or mascara.  You don't become beautiful, because you already are beautiful.  You don't need something that comes in a bottle in order to become what God already made you to be. 

The danger is when a woman begins to believe that they are never pretty enough without their makeup.  It creates a mindset of I'm not good enough.  I need extra help to be found attractive.  I need to spend money to be noticed.  On my own, I am nothing special.  Cosmetic company commercials and advertisements all want to send the same message: you need this product to look good. 

Except that each of these things is wrong.  In fact, each of these things is a lie from the evil powers at work in this world.  Such thinking also makes women believe that their value is solely found in their appearance, and such thinking is damaging to one's self-esteem and self-worth.  Women, know this: you are so much more than how you look.  You are worth so much more than you can possibly imagine, and it has absolutely nothing to do with your body.  Do not cheapen your own existence by placing so much worth on how you look, because you don't need to worry about it.  You are beautful without having to do anything. 

Some women cling to their makeup bag as though it was their life.  They can't imagine going anywhere in public without makeup on their face.  I honestly think this is so sad.  Such thinking is only part of the corruption in the world: placing great amounts of value on things that are ultimately worthless.  Celebrities spend large amounts of money to stay youthful looking, ensuring they look their best each time they emerge into the spotlight.  It is foolish to live life in such a way, for what value is there in spending so much time and money on one's looks?  You are beautiful just as you are, without spending a dime.

A woman's confidence should not come from how they look.  Their confidence should come from the knowledge that God created them, loves them, and is with them every step of the way.  God loves you no matter what, and thinks you're beautiful no matter what.  Any good husband would think the same.

To reiterate, makeup is not evil.  It is the reasoning behind it that can be destructive to one's self-esteem.  Why do I wish women would not wear makeup?  Because they think they need it.  Because they don't believe they're beautiful without it.  Because they think themselves to be unattractive without it.

None of these things are true.  Women, realize that beauty cannot be bought.  More importantly, it doesn't need to be bought, because you already have it.  You were born with it.

Your Will Be Done, Unless

Your will be done, unless it makes me afraid. 
Or anxious. 
Or angry. 

Your will be done, unless I'm uninterested. 
Or busy. 
Or lazy. 

Your will be done, unless it makes me leave my comfort zone. 
Or leave something behind. 
Or leave the couch. 

Your will be done, unless I don't understand. 
Or believe it's possible. 
Or think it wise. 

Your will be done, unless I don't trust you. 
Or other people. 
Or myself. 

Your will be done, unless it costs me something. 
Or changes something. 
Or ends something. 

Your will be done, unless my way is better. 
Or simpler. 
Or easier. 

Your will be done, unless I can't see the beginning. 
Or the end. 
Or the point. 


This is often how we think.

We sometimes see God as distant and apathetic.  We don't believe that He has any interest in our lives: not the big things, not the little things, not the day-to-day things.  We wonder why we would pray to a God that doesn't care about us, doesn't love us, doesn't even know us.  We know the world may judge us for relying on the wisdom of a being they cannot see and do not believe in, so we give in, and we take a step on the path of the world.  We save our ego, and our pride, sacrificing a relationship with the one true God.

This is the way the human mind works.

We cannot understand God, and thus, He cannot be all we are taught that He is.  We cannot see Him, so How can He be there?  We cannot touch Him, so how can He be interested and active in our lives?  We cannot hear Him, so how can we believe that He speaks to us, nudging and prompting us?  The world tells us to "look out for number one."  Make your own path.  Do your own thing.  Be your own person.  Trust only yourself.  How can we be a Christ follower in a world that rejects Him?

It starts with faith.

Faith that He is more than myth.  More than stories.  Faith that He is as real as you and as real as me, and as real as anything you can touch with your hands.  Faith that when you pray, you are not merely making noise.  Faith that the only true source of wisdom is the exact thing this world rejects.  Faith that the wisdom of God is greater than the wisdom of man, and that we should always follow Him and His leading, no matter what worldy objections there are, and no matter what excuses our human minds can conjure against it. 

And it continues with perspective.

We are the tools God uses.  We must understand our place in the kingdom of God.  We each have a purpose, a part to play, in that kingdom.  The world needs Jesus, and knowing that should change how we look at everything.  We begin to make decisions through God's eyes.  We begin to put Him first.  We begin to go to Him in prayer about everything.

We do not allow ourselves to be influenced by the ways of the world, for we are living to be used by God, and we do not desire God's uses for us to be diminished by our own foolishness and flaws.  We see other people as God sees them: His children, greatly loved and cherished by the one creator of the universe.  They are no longer simply nameless faces we walk by, but real people with one real need: they need Jesus.

Instead of being Sunday Christians, who give glory to God once a week and then continue as though He is not relevant, we allow Him into every part of our lives.  We grant Him authority in our financial, occupational and relational choices, because we know that His plan encompasses every aspect of the way we live.  We do not shove him away from the decisions that affect our family, because we want our family to live according to His wisdom.  We choose the will of God over our own desires.

While we do not and can not understand the vastness of God's plan, to consider our own ways better and wiser is foolish.  It is the wise person who seeks the will of God in all they do, following Him down any path and in any storm, knowing it to be the right path.

Your will be done, even if it makes me afraid.
Your will be done, even if I don't understand.
Your will be done, even if it costs me something.
Your will be done, even if my way is easier.

Your will be done, God, in all we do, so that you may be glorified, and that the world may be reached with the good news of Jesus Christ.

The Art of Me

(I wrote this in 2006, and except for a few minor edits, it remains unchanged.)  

We are each uniquely made by God.  I’m sure you’ve heard that before, but have you actually accepted what that means?  Imagine a painter who is creating the largest work of mosaic art in the world.  This masterpiece is a combination of billions of smaller pictures, that together, form a beautiful and perfect image.  He spends hours meticulously creating each piece just the way he wants it.  In real life, the painter’s life would end long before the piece could be completed.
 
However, this is what God did with us.  The Bible says that God is the beginning and the end.  Having been around for an eternity into the past, He had more than enough time to personally create each person.  The universe is one large mosaic; each person and thing is created as one piece of a massively large puzzle, but each piece has its perfect place.  He created us just the way He wanted.  Our personalities, our bodies, where and to whom we would be born, who we would know, our strengths, our weaknesses, everything about us.  For God is greater than all the imaginations of all the peoples of this Earth, yet He still uses us for his infinite purposes.  Even me, even you.  God knew my purpose before I was even born.  He knew my purpose before He created this Earth. 
 
As I look out at the world, there are many things to see.  Beautiful architecture, great works of art, brilliant colors, great diversity.  But all of the beauty in the world cannot change one of the absolute truths that affect each and every person of every race: we all need Jesus.  This is what I see when I look out at the world: millions of people who are living it up, going about their daily lives unaware that they are lacking the single most important thing that they could ever need.  They are lost in this world of sin, and they need forgiveness.  Without the mercy and love of God, this world means nothing. 
 
We are each works of art; each unique, each beautiful, each loved by our almighty creator.  The art of me is different than the art of you, and the art of you is different from the art of your friends and relatives.  We were each hand crafted by our Lord, divinely shaped for our own distinct purpose.  God sees the completed picture of me, but I only see fragments.  Things look fuzzy or incomplete.  This is because we are not made to fully understand everything God is doing through us.  We are made to live through faith, and always follow Him despite our lack of knowledge concerning our purpose.  God knows, and at the end, when we are with Him in Heaven, we will be able to see that completed work of art, and fully understand everything God did through us.

Each of us is a masterfully made work of art.  Even though there are billions of us, each one of us is masterfully different and brilliantly complicated.  There is nothing else in this Earth than can contend with the levels of detail that God has put into us.  We are constructed and designed with beauty and with purpose.  God is the almighty artist, flawlessly maneuvering his brush or chisel and never making a mistake.
 
Sometimes, however, we do something to chip the paint or crack the marble.  We all make mistakes.  God is the great artist, we are the clumsy people he has entrusted his great works of art to.  One of the many (or better said, one of the infinite number of) great things about God is that He is also the great repairman.  No chip or crack is too great for Him; He is always there to welcome us back.  Our entire lives seem to be like this.  We make mistakes, and go in for repairs, only to make another mistake.  This is the way of things.  A problem arises, however, when we decide that we do not need God’s repairs.  The cracks can become large, and we can crumble.  Only a life lived with God’s hand is a fulfilling one.  All others will crumble and be blown away by the wind.

In job interviews, and life in general, it always seems that two of the hardest things to come up with are your strengths and weaknesses.  Inevitably, listing your strengths is always easier.  For instance, I am honest, loyal, and friendly.  I am slow to become angry or irritated.  I have fairly good written communication skills.  By society’s standards I am a very moral person.  I have never smoked a cigarette or a cigar or had any drink of alcohol.  I have let slip a total of three vulgar words in my life, and I didn’t even know one of them was considered profane when I said it.  I did not engage in any sort of sexual relations until my wedding night, six days after my twenty-fourth birthday.  I was raised in a strong Christian home, the son of a pastor.  The Bible’s teachings were instrumental in the way my parents raised me.  I am infinitely thankful for my foundation in Christ.
 
Well now, that wasn’t so hard.  Look at me; I’m such a good person.  Or not.  Fortunately, while God has equipped us with strengths, he has not spared us from weaknesses.  Through our weaknesses, He can show us how much we truly need Him.  It keeps us from letting our ego swell too much; it keeps us humble.
 
My weaknesses are plenty; I, like everyone else, am swamped by imperfections.  I am over-sarcastic.  I can sometimes be judgmental.  I have relatively poor verbal communication skills.  I am not very good at expressing my emotions.  My mind loses functionality when presented with a confrontational or tense circumstance.  I can be socially awkward.  I can be one heck of a procrastinator.  I’ve had struggles with lust in the past.
 
What a mess, huh?  But will that stop God from using me?

The Bible says, “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.  Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!  Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.  You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.  You saw me before I was born.  Every day of my life was recorded in your book.  Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed” (Psalm 139:13–16, NLT).

God knew what He was doing when He made me.  My personality traits are designed to go perfectly with my experiences, so that I may be able to fulfill my purpose.  I believe whole-heartedly that God is able to use my negative experiences and flaws, in conjuncture with the personality he developed just for me, to make into the person He wants me to be.  Through God, I can do His will.  And so can you.

Can I Be A Witness?

Truth be told, I've never witnessed to someone about my faith in Christ.  I have the things I've written, and I've been a part of things I find to be a powerful witness, and I try to live my life in such a way as to be an example to others, but I've never actually witnessed.  Most of us really haven't, I would guess.  Why is that?

Honestly, there's no excuse.  There are reasons I could come up with, but in the end, they all fall short, due to the gravity of what we're dealing with.  Witnessing about Christ is not simply an attempt to change someone's opinion about something.  It's not about getting someone on your side, or to see your point of view.  It's not about making a connection or creating a new friendship.  It's not about showing people things in their life that are causing them to stumble.  It's not about showing people how to make better choices and live happier lives.  Such things may be a side effect, but this isn't why we should witness to others about Christ.

Here is the absolute, non-sugar-coated reason why we witness about Christ: because those people who end life with Jesus as their savior have no destination but Hell.  It's a terrifying thought, and yet we allow people to come in and out of our worlds every day without being the hands and feet of Jesus in their lives.  When we allow our own fears, our own pride, or any other of our own issues to come in the way of showing the love of Jesus to another person, we are giving our present circumstances more worth than that person's eternity.  There is no question that we should value the eternities of each and every human on this planet more than our temporary feelings of discomfort.

I pray that God brings people into my path to allow me to be the witness for Him that I should have been all along, and that when that happens, He will provide me with the words to say, and that I will not back away into the shadows because of my own fear.  I pray that God will show me that that person is loved, just like I am, and that he or she needs the forgiveness and grace that I have already accepted into my own life.

Love

What is love?  This question has many different answers, for there are many different kinds of love.  Love is one of those things that is exceptionally powerful, and yet very dangerous.  Used correctly, love can change lives for the better.  It can bring people closer and make people stronger.  Used incorrectly, however, it can bring pain.  Here is a look at different kinds of love.  This is not meant to be technical and comprehensive, but practical and applicable.

The greatest form of love is the one that can only come from one source: God.  The love that God has for us is beyond our own comprehension.  It is greater than any love we could give out ourselves.  The unconditional love of God is the reason us Christ followers live how we live and do what we do.  We have based our life on this love, following it with all our heart, despite the fact that we do not fully understand it.

The greatest love we ourselves can give out should, in fact, not be for each other, but for God.  Everything we do should be in devotion to Him, not to each other.  God is our creator, our Father, and our savior, and what He has done for us far outweighs anything that another human could ever do for us.  There should be no question as to who is atop our love list.

There is no question that the human in this world that I love the most is my wife.  When we make the marriage commitment, we are devoting ourselves to our spouse.  Good marriages are built upon many things, including love.  Such love does many things.  It makes me place more importance on my wife and her happiness than I do on myself and my own happiness.  It creates an environment of unity and absolute trust.  In our marriage, there is an absolute trust in each other.  We know that neither of us will be unfaithful, and neither of us wants to be, or would ever consider being, unfaithful.  Such love means that we work out our differences in a respectful way.  It means we tolerate each other's faults and shortcomings.  The best marriages are not simply a legal union, but they are sacred institutions, blessed and made holy by God.

While I have not experienced this in my life, the love one has for their children is a very sacrificial love.  Parents work hard in their occupation and at home to provide for their children.  Having a child changes everything that happens in the home, and the best of parents do not see such changes as a burden.  They see such changes as what needs to happen to give the child everything they need.  They do what they must because they love their children, and they would do anything in the world for them.  This love compels parents to give their children all the opportunities they could hope for in their life.

There are, of course, many other groups of people we have love for.  This includes our parents and family, and close friends.  These people are an essential part of our lives, and we have great love for them.  However, God does not say to simply love those people close to you, but to love your neighbors.  And your enemies.  So this is something I try to do: love everyone, even people I've never met before.  Everyone else is in the same predicament I am: they are sinners, separated from God.  The same salvation, the same love, that is available to me, is available to them.  The same God made them, and the same God sent Jesus to die for them.  They are no better or worse than I am, for we are all broken.  So why would I withhold love from any of them?  Do I believe them unworthy?  If they are unworthy of love from me, then I am ever more so unworthy of the love of God.

The last form of love I'm going to discuss here is car love.  That's right, car love.  This concept covers not just cars, but anything made in and limited to this physical world.  The truth is this: I love my car.  It's my favorite possession.  It's great fun to drive, and even though I've owned it for nearly four years, I still get excited by the fact that I get to own such a vehicle.  I love my car very much.  That being said, it's car love.  Car love is having very positive feelings toward something of this world, yet placing the proper weight on it.  I love my car, yet would I put more value on my car than I would another person?  Would I die for my car?  Would I become depressed and think my life was over if my car burst into flames?  Of course not.  People who live in such ways do not have car love, they have an obsession, an idol in their life.  A car is just a car, and while I have great car love for my car, car love is weak and meaningless compared to any of the other loves discussed here.  A car can be replaced, as can a house, or a boat, or anything else made by the hands of humans.

Love is a very powerful thing, but when used incorrectly, it can bring pain to our lives.  Taking the love meant for marriage and applying it elsewhere leads to adultery, cohabitation, and divorce.  Loving any human more than you love God puts that person on a pedastal, at a high place where only God should be; it is a form of idolatry.

In closing, whoever you are, I love you.  I really do, and, more importantly, God loves you too.