Sowing in Tears, Reaping in Joy

In the Kingdom of God, it appears that every appointed process produces an opposite outcome from what one would expect.
I had blogged about this idea earlier in a more general sense, so if you are interested in what I mean, take your time and do some reading (the post is hyper-linked above). But even looking over history with the eyes of "The Faith" we can see how this paradox has played out many a time:

The Israelites were appointed to be enslaved in Egypt only to come out with a mandate from YHWH of becoming God's holy chosen people meant to flourish and occupy a holy land.

The Israelites, after forsaking their God in their new land, were appointed to be conquered and brought into captivity by neighboring nations only to come out humbled and dedicated as a nation to serving their LORD once again.

But don't get it twisted. It's not always because of correction that God orchestrates His purposes this way. Jesus Christ Himself, the holy anointed One, lived a perfect life but still found Himself in this paradoxical pattern of pain and purpose.

Jesus Christ Himself was appointed to be betrayed by His followers and executed through Roman crucifixion only to be resurrected and elevated to the right hand of the Father―to establish an eternal Kingdom and bring life and hope to all peoples and nations that would choose to put their faith in Him.

With that groundwork laid, I pondered something today that was quite significant to me. It's counter-intuitive and uncomfortable at the same time soooo... the more I think about it, the more I'm pretty sure it's in the will and ways of God haha:

"Sometimes in the body of Christ, it's when we're most different with one another that real strong, Christ centered fellowship can flourish."
Now let me emphasize that word "can" before we proceed. You can have good soil in your garden (Mark 4). You can have a heart positioned in the right place. But that doesn't mean that anything will grow. Growth doesn't just come out of good soil. Growth comes out of seeds in good soil. Seeds need to be sown for there to be growth. In other words, in this example, you can't just be positioned to fellowship with people different than you and expect that strong, Christ centered fellowship to flourish on it's own. It doesn't naturally happen. That's the whole point! It requires the supernatural! It requires life! But I do believe that the ground of diverse and unexpected relationships is where those supernatural seeds, when sown, "produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown" (Mark 4:20).
How many of us have become frustrated in our inter-personal relationships because they are not as deep and fruitful as we would like?
How many of us have wanted to engage with others further than the surface but have had trouble initiating? Those of you that have this problem, I say to you "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3). It's in the realization of our lack that we gain the opportunity to be filled with the supernatural, with the ability to sow. Those of us that crave in order to grow deeper in righteousness for the sake of God's kingdom (Psalm 23:3) have opened ourselves up through humility to receive blessings from heaven, "blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled" (Matt 5:6). In fact, others that seem to be "cool" are actually in a worse place than you. Comfort is where idleness is born. Comfort is where blindness is formed.
For those of us in a place of comfort, we have a different calling. Our calling is to forsake what we know in our comfort and let Christ redefine our norms.
Instead of being filled with the enjoyments of this world, you are to mourn as though you were not comfortable in order to receive an eternal comfort that is not dependent upon your surroundings. Seek to humble yourself before God in your blessings before He humbles you out of them. Then your life will speak these words of Jesus in all seasons, "blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." But those who do not have the luxury of comfort on the surface level have no choice but to connect on a human level―a level that many of us don't want to show. But a level that we were meant to show nonetheless. How can I connect with this person that is so different than me? We don't like the same food. We don't have the same interests. We don't wear the same clothes. We don't listen to the same music. We haven't had similar upbringings. What do we share in common? Humanity. Struggles. Issues. Sin. Forgiveness. Jesus. This is where real strong Christ centered fellowship can flourish.

 And last but not least...

Don't tell God what your fruitful relationships should look like.
If you've never had the fruit before, what makes you think you are the one with the ability to identify it? And if you have had strong God led relationships in the past, who are you to say the ones that God has planned for you in the future will be the same? Fruit comes in seasons. As seasons change you may get different things here and different things there. But fruit of the Spirit is never seasonal. What you need, it will be grown, and it will be grown in you―love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Your job isn't to make it grow. Your job is to tend to the crop. Your job is to sow the seeds. You don't know what it's supposed to grow into. Whether in happiness or in tears, count it all joy because by faith you can know that He's at work.

Deep Blood Red

The gospel is a beautifully eerie story. It's beautiful because God, the creator of the universe, out of his own goodness and grace, reaches out to save those who will put their trust in him, a people that deserves death as a reward for their innate and irreversible heart of rebellion. And it's eerie because that death was instead given to his son, whom they killed.

Imagine that you could be forgiven for every bad thing you have done and will do in your life by being covered from head to toe in the blood of the innocent person that you wrongfully murdered. Now imagine that person being God himself. That would be the gospel of Jesus Christ. From the gospel, all self-righteousness dies. From the gospel, all bragging rights die.

"That's why deep blood red is all I see. Deep blood red, is what I wanna be. Oh how I'd shine! Oh how proud I'd be if when you saw me, you would see, Deep Blood Red..."

Only God could take something so sinful and make it beautiful.

 

Nomads

I've had this post as a draft for a while but for some reason knew it wasn't finished. I just got that feel about it that it was missing it's bite because it was lacking something. And I think I figured out what that was recently.

I love sharing stuff that God shows me. It blesses others, it blesses me as I process the truth, and it is biblical "Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done"(Psalm 105:1). But in this case, I wasn't praising Him as much as I was focusing on sharing. Turns out I was neglecting the personal application of this message by focusing on how to share it first. And recently, He reminded me that this message was personal, so the magnitude in which I received it might not even be for everyone. (*GASP!) Who would've thought? A personal God can give personal messages. So now, I've kept the original post for my records and personal meditation and I'm posting this draft to more generally share with you any truths I've been learning in the process. Maybe that was an unnecessary preface, but I like being transparent when I can. So if you want to know more about that then ask me! Ok here we go.


It was a while ago. I was hanging out with some friends out of town for a weekend. Spring Break I think it was. You know how sometimes you can wake up one day and look back on the day before like it was a blur? Has that ever happened and you felt convicted because the day before you can't recollect connecting with God or even allowing Him into any of your decisions? Ever felt like you've just been on automatic pilot for a while, and all of a sudden you remember where you are and who you serve? Yeah, this was kinda like that. So I woke up the next day in this foreign place that wasn't my home (You know that initial shock you get when you wake up somewhere that you forgot you fell asleep at). And as I went to read my bible in my year-bible-plan, I was in Deuteronomy at the time. I think it was Deuteronomy 11. And if not, it definitely has the heart of what I received:

The Lord spoke to me through this passage, about how we are called to be holy no matter where we are and what we are doing. There's a crazy strong allusion to the Israelites in the desert out of Egypt and the Christian "journey." And it makes sense seeing how the old covenant from Moses and the new covenant from Christ are comparative but different. One being carnal, and the other being spiritual.

• God saves you out of slavery:
• Israelites? Egypt.
• Christians? Sin.

• God blesses your possessions:
• Israelites? Left plundering their oppressors (Ex. 3:22 & Ex. 12:36).
• Christians? Left with the spiritual inheritance of heaven (Eph. 1:3).

• God lives among us:
• Israelites? As a holy people through the Lord's Sanctuary (Ex. 25:8).
• Christians? As a holy people inside of us spiritually (John 14:23 & 1 Cor. 3:16).

• God instructs us to live separate and be holy for the purpose of exalting His name:
• Israelites: As a new nation of people (Ex. 19:5-6).
• Christians: As a new breed of priests (1 Pet. 2:9-10). 

•  God promises us a land he will provide for them where our holy calling is fulfilled as citizens:
• Israelites? The Land of Israel (Deut. 11:8-12)
• Christians? The Kingdom of God. When he either returns or our time is up, but also in the present as He uses us to establish His kingdom (2 Corinthians 5:1-5 & Luke 11:2). 

All this to basically say that this parallel was speaking to me. We are  called to live holy as nomads. Our citizenship is in a spiritual kingdom that is "at hand" so to speak. So it doesn't matter what we're doing, where we are, or who's around us. We're called to have integrity in being children of God regardless of the opposition. It's kind of funny that later this year, at the same house I was visiting, I ended up writing the lyrics to this track I recorded.

The Heavens (A Song of Integrity)

I think there's something to be said about places and spiritual atmospheres. In the Old Testament, especially Genesis, when God spoke to people in certain places, they would make an altar to the Lord there and name the place. Though it's not the focus of this post, I thought it was interesting and I'm sure I'll learn more about it as I walk with Jesus.

This topic of integrity can sound really obvious on the surface, but a lot of times it's easy for me to fall into holding back my opinion or to agree to "go with the flow" of a situation because I don't want to be "overbearing" or "judgmental." But that's not the meekness that Christ preaches. That's being deceived. It's a slippery slope that leads into the pit of moral relativism, where the hope is to please everyone, or as many as possible, or those over you, or sometimes just a specific person other than God, maybe even yourself. But how can one stand for something they believe in if it's power is only relative? And what would even be the point in believing it yourself? The truth tends to be more black and white than we make it out to be.

in·teg·ri·ty... /inˈtegritē/

Noun:     1. ...is when you represent those truths, regardless of the opposition found around you.

By this definition, integrity is best shown in moments of opposition. In case you still believe in a door-mat Jesus that defines "love" as doing what makes everyone feel good so that people are cool with Him here's an example that proves that pretty dead wrong:

And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.

―Mark 3:1-5

There's TONS of other accounts of the life of Jesus that the American church doesn't like to dwell on too much but here's just a few that come to mind: John 2:13-17, Matthew 12:33-37, and basically all of Matthew 23. This Man was NO PUNK! And I say I follow Him. Turns out that the natural outcome of being obedient to this call of integrity will set us apart.

⁸ I have become a stranger to my brothers,
And an alien to my mother’s children;
⁹ Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up,
And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.

―Psalm 69:8-9

We have to be willing to live lives as nomads. We are to be living our lives out of a tent, "so-to-speak," like Abraham. We are to be living as if this world does not satisfy us and as if we seek a heavenly citizenship (Hebrews 11:13-16). It's not an easy call. Our nature tells us that we wont be satisfied until we get A, B, or C. What has helped me immensely is Psalm 23:

The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.

―Psalm 23

I won't break down every line but the first two speak profoundly to me. "The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want." David didn't write, "I shall not want; the LORD is my Shepherd." There's an order to things. Because the LORD is our Shepherd, we are able to say we shall not want. When God is with us as our Shepherd, He satisfies us in a way that allows us to say I am content with what I have (Hebrews 13:5-6). We need to be able to survive in desert like situations. It's difficult but you are assured by this Psalm that you are being led by your Shepherd to still waters (even in the valley of the shadow of death) rather than relying on wells here and there with your canteen (even as a Nomad).

And through this obedience, He has something to bless You with. One thing I just noticed about Deuteronomy 11 is in verses 22 to 25. He actually told them exactly what the borders of their land was: "Your frontiers will stretch from the wilderness in the south to Lebanon in the north, and from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west." What has God promised you? What will you receive from Him by loving Him and living in integrity?

Thanks Lord, I really needed to hear this.

James 4:4-10

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"?
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:

"God Resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble."

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

―James 4:4-10 

My Favorite Scripture

I think this is my favorite scripture. If not, definitely in the top 5:

When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered. And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with His disciples. Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, "Whom are you seeking?" They answered Him, 'Jesus of Nazareth.' Jesus said to them, "I am He." And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. Now when He said to them, "I am He," they drew back and fell to the ground. Then He asked them again, "Whom are you seeking?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus answered, "I have told you that I am He. Therefore if you seek Me, let these go their way," that the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke, "Of those whom You gave Me I have lost none."

―John 18:1-9

I don't even wanna say nothing. This speaks for itself, hahaha! GLORY!

The Paradox of God's Kingdom

"For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it."

―Jesus Christ (Luke 9:24)

This sounds ridiculous at first, you gotta admit. But this is sort of a thesis statement to "The Paradox of God's Kingdom," and if not a thesis, at least a main supporting point. So what does he mean?

Think of it like this:

It's not until you surrender to God what you want the most, that you actually get it. In this case he was talking about life itself, but this goes along with everything.

To walk in authority and power, you need to live a life of submission .  I've been taught my whole life that those who surrender in nature are the weak ones. Whether the "survival of the fittest" in evolutionary theory or the focus on individualistic entrepreneurship in capitalistic America, I've been socialized, as well as many others into thinking that submission, in it's simplest form, is contrary to exercising power and authority. I'm here to tell us that submission to God is the only way to walk in true power and authority. Backwards? I know. It doesn't make sense. But that's the point! God chooses to work through the "weak" things on purpose. By raising up those who submit to Him in their weakness, He makes them strong through the cross of Christ just to prove His glory. Take a look at this.

'The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. As the Scriptures say,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
 and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”

So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.

But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.
Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.
God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.” '

―The Apostle Paul (From writings to the church in Corinth, 1 Corintians 1:18-31)

If you don't believe it look at me, an ex-pervert and ex-doubter who's only known personal assignment from God is to be a father and impact lives. And it's all because God's message of love reached my ears by His grace, and I responded in submission. Jesus died for my sins and defeated death so that I could live in life and connection with God forever. Now I have power. Now I have authority. Now I have hope. Now I have Jesus and now He has me. He has plans and purposes to use me that have eternal consequences I never would have dreamed of. If you know me, know that I'll always make myself available to talk. This is serious business and I am not typing it lightly. Once we hear the truth about Jesus and what He did, we have a choice to either accept Him and receive eternal life, or reject Him and receive eternal death. One of my friends was really hurt by this truth. He called it a manipulative ultimatum, a power move on God's end. Many people feel this way, but we're not justified in our logic. We're rebellious against God and our souls are what need justifying. Don't let your feelings or your intellect stop you from gaining the one thing that everyone is looking for but can't see. It has many names―love, acceptance, intimacy, security, hope, adventure, purpose, drive, strength, power, confidence―and they are all found in one name, Jesus Christ the Son of God. I'm begging you to look into this. If you know me personally I want to let you know that I am never too busy to help you make that informed decision. Please hit me up if you have any questions. Because if you choose to only look at one side of a story then that makes your decision biased. If you don't know me, ask a friend who does, a friend who's life shows the power of this paradox.

To be fully satisfied in all of the desires God has given you, you need to "hate them" 

"If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple"

―Jesus Christ (Luke 14:26, NKJV).

Another translation fills the gap on the interpretation of this scripture really well. It says:

"If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple."

―Jesus Christ (Luke 14:26, NLT).

Whether its family relationships or even your own life, if you love these things more than Christ then... Well most importantly He says you "cannot be My disciple." Let that sink in for as long as it needs to, don't just overlook it. I was tempted to overlook it when I was writing this blog post. If you call yourself a disciple of Jesus, then He said these words just for you. And without his leadership as "teacher" in your relationship, you will never be taught how to enjoy these desires in the fulness of how they were designed. All these things―love, acceptance, intimacy, security, hope, adventure, purpose, drive, strength, power, confidence―they will be abused and twisted into issues, pains, and temporal ecstasy. The purpose for all your desires is to enjoy the Giver. And when you enjoy Him through them, their purpose no longer becomes short lived and temporary but long lasting and eternal.

Some examples:
Sex
Power
Wealth
Dream Job
Hobbies
Future Spouse
Relationships

My God, my God....

Wait… sooo…..
I never knew how God brought Judah out of the Babylonian captivity until now. Read it for yourself, it’s a trip. For exactly 70 years they were brought into exile because of their disobedience to Him and His law. God told them beforehand through Jeremiah, that they would be in captivity for exactly 70 years, and they didn’t listen. And then, God let Nebuchadnezzar take them captive in Babylon, where they would be captives for 70 years. Why 70 years? I didn’t know this either but the 70 years made up the Sabbath for the land that Judah didn’t keep in disobedience.

“And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.”

-2 Chronicles 36:20-21

There's no mistaking God's sovereignty in this. Everything perfectly lines up. It's not like he was like, "oh well, I guess I'll let them fend for themselves and see what happens..." No, this was a parent disciplining his children. His eyes never left them. Even while He "removed his hand of protection," He was in complete control. And then how does he get them out? This is crazy. Ok, first imagine living in captivity for 70 years (assuming you weren’t killed by the sword when Babylon invaded, and assuming you survived the 70 years, and assuming you were young enough when taken captive to not die of old age). At least more than half of Judah after 70 years had to have been born in captivity. They never even knew their homeland. They didn’t know what it was like to be a people group set apart for a purpose, let alone a nation that governs themselves. Ok with all that in mind, in comes God. I don’t even want to paraphrase this one, here it is:

“Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,

Thus says Cyrus king of Persia:
All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.”

-Ezra 1:1-4

Nuts right? And what about the Israelites? Sure they're freed, but they've been in exile for 70 years. How can God expect them to find unity under one banner, to gather the strength and hope needed to believe in Him now that they are on their own? Oh, let's look at the next verse:

"Then the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem."

-Ezra 1:5

God raised up leaders. His spirit had moved them at the necessary time. He is sovereign. He is loving. My God, my God....

A Prescription for Your False Humility

False humility. Ever heard of it? It's that thing that says "I suck, but it's a good thing I think this about myself, otherwise I'd be prideful." Or it says "I'm not worthy to enter God's presence, I mean He forgives me and I believe it, but I'm not about to ask Him for anything until I get my stuff together." NO! We are meant to enter boldly into his throne of grace to receive mercy (Heb. 4:14-16)! The tricky thing about false humility is that half of it is true. But the other half is deceitful and holds you in chains. Yea we suck to a certain degree, enough to be called "children of wrath" because of our sin nature (Eph. 2:1-3). But don't miss this part: that verse is in the PAST TENSE! That's who we were!

The really trippy thing about false humility is that it's actually pride with a mask. False humility comes from shame, shame comes from evaluating your relationship with God based on how you perform, and that's never gonna get you anywhere. Luckily for us, shame has no place in the kingdom of God. If we have it and He has us, it should be ripped out of our clingy hands with the truth of the gospel. He loves you. Period. His Spirit is a seal on you that proves it (Eph. 1:13-14). Christian, as you've decided not to live off your own rules but God's in this new life, here's one I read recently that really set me straight, Romans 7:14-8:11. Paul writes:

¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. ¹⁵ For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. ¹⁶ If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. ¹⁷ But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. ¹⁸ For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. ¹⁹ For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. ²⁰ Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

This isn't just a cop out. This is what the word of God says. If you sin in your new life in Christ, it is not you who does it but indwelling sin. There is a distinction made between a believer, and their indwelling sin. Why? How...?

²¹ I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. ²² For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. ²³ But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. ²⁴ O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ²⁵ I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

8 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.³ For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

...because when you believed in Christ, He took your place on the cross and you DIED to your old self. Then He gave you a new identity, His! Indwelling sin is of your old identity. It isn't even you anymore. That's where the distinction between the inward man and the flesh comes into play. Yeah it's still in you and a part of you. Christians are still sin-"full." But we are dead to sin. In Christ, you choose to follow the Spirit of God.

⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. ⁷ Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. ⁸ So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

⁹ But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. ¹⁰ And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Bottom line, Christ Jesus has done it all already! There's the prescription for your false humility. The Father has raised you up to the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:4-6)! Walk like you're forgiven! Live like God loves you, no matter what you do, because it's true (Romans 8:37-39)!

Don't Tell Me What's Impossible

Don't tell me what's impossible...

...when a religion that became euro-centric, to the point of justifying racial enslavement and oppression in an entire nation for hundreds of years, ended up becoming the hope, drive, and power of the very people it was aimed at to oppress.

Miracles do exist, let's not overlook them. Sometimes they don't look the way we want, but they exist.

...when after being a people exploited and oppressed for generations economically, socially, sexually, mentally, and physically by the leadership of white America, many blacks today choose to trust in Jesus Christ (the One preached to them by their oppressors) enough to follow Him into churches and assemblies of white leadership.*

...when 80 years after the "Sundown Laws" of Californian cities, black and white brothers and sisters in Christ are worshiping their Lord in the same churches.

So the next time slavery comes up in conversation and someone is told to "get over it," remember the impossible thing that many blacks have already done

Forgive.

#JustKeepinItReal cause #KeepinItQuietHelpsNoOne

Ran into -->this<-- while I was writing this post. I like it. You should read it. :D

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*I am aware of the fact that Christianity had already spread to Africa before the time of the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade and that some African slaves who were taken were already believers. This would make their particular case of keeping the faith even more of a miracle. Imagine the injustices they had to experience from people that they were reborn to call "brother" and "sister."

A Gift of Knowledge?

I've been having some experiences that I've overlooked the importance of. Because I lacked the ability to comprehend what just went down, I haven't thought of them as such a big deal. It's possible though that they are the manifestation of a spiritual gift.

Sometimes, when people talk about spiritual gifts they tend to get carried away in all the categorization. I want to make sure that doesn't happen to me and by sharing this, hopefully it won't happen to you either. The fact is, if God has blessed you with the ability to empathize, receive wisdom, and teach, these gifts cannot and should not be separated in you.

God has specific purposes for all the gifts together that he blesses us with. He doesn't use these gifts, he uses you. Think of it this way:

It's not like you're collecting God's gifts in your possession and you whip out one when he tells you to. He uses the wholeness of who you are as his new creation to complete what he wishes through you. Your gifts are more like a color made from an RGB grid then puzzle pieces.

The empathizing, wise teacher for example could make an exceptional counselor where not everyone else with the gift of teaching would. When we look at it this way it increases the diversity of the body of Christ. There's not one right way to express the gift of teaching. There's not one right way to express the gift of prophesy. There's not one right way to express the gift of music. When we tend to separate these things in us into these nice and neat boxes we can loose sight of who God wants us to be individually. Plus, if you care more about explaining your gifts than actually functioning correctly in them, chances are your motives are compromised. But hey, that's the state of humanity and Jesus was killed and resurrected for us to be forgiven of it. As long as we repent, we're pretty good (sarcastic understatement, in case you didn't catch that).

But with that said, it is sometimes helpful to better understand who you are as a whole by seeking what things God may be stirring up in you separately.

Oh, look at that. I started preaching again. Can you guess what my gifts are? I dunno, they're pretty blended together, don't miss one, haha.

So the next time I get an out of body experience coupled with a revelation of truth, the next time I feel and understand but have issue explaining in words what I just received, the next time I can clearly see God's sovereignty over carnality as a present reality, I'll know not to ignore it (not that it's easy to). This is just what I've experienced for me. It probably sounds mystical, and for people that know me personally I'm not big on "overly spiritualizing" things. But God's opening me up, slowly but surely. I don't know how you function in the Spirit, but if you have Him, chances are you already are. You just might not have the eyes for it yet.

The Hardest Thing to Prove

So I was attempting to learn this song today on guitar...

which is a bit ahead of my skill level but it is introducing me to some cool chord voicings lol. Anyways these lyrics hit home for me as I'm sure they do for many and the song got me to start thinking about love. And what's the strongest human expression of love? That's right. Marriage.

The idea of marriage seems great and I really look forward to it, should it come my way and I step out on faith (I pray that it does and that I do). But of course there's a lot of romanticism that puffs up the idea, especially in the Christian community. This might sound kind of strange considering that those who believe in and follow God should, in theory, understand His design of marriage best. I don't believe that's necessarily true. It's just that we have supernatural help should we choose to submit and ask. But that's another thought for another time.

Yes, Christians tend to romanticize marriage. Women in particular tend to place their hopes in finding that perfect guy, or in many circles, specifically that perfect guy finding them. I definitely agree that people should not just settle for whoever is around because they are lonely, and getting into a relationship with someone who is that much less spiritually mature than you can be detrimental to one's well being. I'm not touching that, that's gold. But here's some things to think about:

• Love grows: You should find someone who loves you, but if you expect them to love you perfectly when you first meet them, you should probably rethink that. It's contrary to our culture's perception of love, but marriage is designed so that as you grow old with your partner, your love grows.
• Love is a commitment: It's only through a commitment that two people can grow in love. Without dedicating yourself to someone in some way, shape, or form, you will get sick of them and decide to leave when they "mess things up" or when they don't meet your standards. When you say "I will live my life with you regardless of what happens" it creates a foundation of grace where both parties can learn from their mistakes and grow in their patience.
• Love is God: Whatever it is you're looking for in a man or a woman is not gonna be your saving grace. Yes there's got to be a reason why God looked at man before creating woman and said, "No, this won't do," but if you let your significant other be your source of love, you will be unhappy very soon. Think of it this way: If marriage is when two become one flesh, seeking your spouse as your source of love is like being single and seeking yourself as your source of love.

I feel the need to sandwich these meaty points with the bread of what I shared earlier. This doesn't mean you shouldn't look for someone who is dedicated to loving you and knows who Love is. That is gold and I'm not touching that. I just feel like the whole picture gets overlooked sometimes.

Oh look at that, I started preaching. And yes, I am barely out of my teens. Deal with it haha.

Now honestly, I share these points because I have been bound by them for a long time. Because I can at times be very sensitive about my maturity in Christ, to the point where it becomes an idol, I trick myself into thinking I am light-years away from any type of romantic commitment. Writing this out is a kind of therapy for me really. If the woman's issue is expecting their "man" to be their perfect "knight-in-shining-armor", then perhaps the man's issue may be "how do I or could I respond to such a radical call?" Think about it. That may be why for many guys it’s a lot more “desirable” to have a partner but not define the relationship with a commitment.

Ok, one last thing though. Sorry I just had to do it haha. Every Christian girl out there is "waiting for their Boaz" right? Girl, have you read Ruth? She did not wait. She sneaked into his room when he was sleepy and tipsy aaand.... well you should read it for the context. I'm just sayin, get the story right. Boaz was pretty old too. If I remember right he was old enough to be Naomi's husband.

Wait a minute...

Who else knew about this?

John 11:45-53:

Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.
“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”
Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” 
 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. So from that day on they plotted to take his life.

So this is the section in the gospel of John right after Jesus brings Lazarus back to life after being dead for 4 days (the text even said his body was starting to smell. In the next chapter he's chillin eating a meal with them!). Though that's incredibly amazing, it's not the "wait a minute...." realization I had.


The Pharisees tend to have many negative connotations on them. And rightfully so. They were labeled as "hypocrites", a "brood of vipers", and "self-righteous" by John the Baptist, a messenger of God as well as Jesus himself. Yet despite all this God chooses to reveal specifically to the high priest that very year, the holy calling of Jesus as Messiah.


For some reason I never knew this: that even though the Pharisees were corrupt people that brought Israel away from it's original God fearing roots, God was still choosing to have them represent Him. In his faithfulness and patience, He never stopped honoring his commitment of delegating his authority to them.

The Madman: God is Dead, and We Have Killed Him

Dear Nietzsche,

I wanted to share some of my thoughts on your writing “The Madman.” I’ll start with a quote.

“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers? What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us? What water is there for us to clean ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?”
-Friedrich Nietzsche

Yes we did kill God. And everything that you’re saying would be true if he still remained dead after we killed him. He only died by our hands because that was in his plan of redemption, for him to suffer for us. The whole point is that we don’t need to rely on ourselves with any “festivals of atonement,” or “sacred games.” That was the atonement. It’s crazy because in actuality, the blood of our God that we want to wipe off of ourselves is the very water “for us to clean ourselves.” Maybe this is coincidence, but I’m thinking of the part in the story of the crucifixion where

the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

Friedrich, he doesn’t want us to live in shame regarding this fact. He wants us to embrace it. That’s where freedom and forgiveness are found. That’s where grace is.

And yes, I’ll say it is a mystery as to how we could kill the God of the universe. Wouldn’t we need to be gods? “Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?” Well, no actually. Not if God instead chose to become a man. Man cannot kill God, but man can kill man. But Jesus is God right? Yes, but he is also man. That’s what I mean by “it is a mystery.” We were able to kill him, because he is man, but he was able to rise from the dead because he is God.

And Nietzsche, I apologize for only taking a part of your work and expounding upon it without context first. I personally hate it when people do that with the bible so I figure I should talk about your whole essay. I just found it so fascinating that the questions that you pose perfectly match the accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion.

Now I’m not sure exactly what your goal was in writing “The Madman,” but your focus in my opinion doesn’t seem to be talking about a specific event of death such as the crucifixion of Jesus, but more about the result of humanity’s general actions: how people have killed God by ignoring him. In this you do make an interesting point. You even end your thoughts by saying

“the madman made his way into different churches on the same day, and there intoned his Requiem aeternam deo. When led out and called to account, he always gave the reply: “What are these churches now, if they are not the tombs and monuments of God?”

It’s as if you’re saying that by ignoring God and confining him only to a building or church, these chapels have become his monuments in his death. But I’d ask “How can the actions of those given life, affect the life of the life-Giver?” This reminds me of a section of Saint Paul’s speech, or “essay” if you will, to Rome in the first century:

God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.

It was fun reading this work of yours in the University and I do admire the thought that you’ve put into your writing. I don’t say this to disrespect you in any way, but I just find it ironic that even though I wrote this to you, there’s no way you can you can read it. Because you yourself have died. Maybe I’ll see you in the afterlife. Maybe not. Father knows best.

Peace,

Thaddeus

Rooted and Grounded in Love

 Ephesians 3:14-21
¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ from whom the whole  family in heaven and earth is named, ¹⁶ that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, ¹⁷ that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— ¹⁹ to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
²⁰ Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, ²¹ to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
______________________

I was thinking today how important it is to be rooted in God's love. For me personally, this is something I tend to overlook because I assume that I understand what God's love means for me. Essentially I become unteachable because I assume I already know. In fact, I see God a lot like I see my earthly dad. He says he loves me and I take his word for it. He has definitely shown his love for me by providing for me all the necessities of life, but when it comes to showing affection (a declaration of how I am accepted by him), he's not always so clear. Even though I knew, in theory, that he does love me, and he has said it occasionally from time to time, I have had acceptance issues in that relationship. Whether it's because of me or him I don't know but the point is that it was there. While both characteristics are expressions of love, there's a difference between being provided for and being accepted. Both need to be present for the fullness of love to be known. You can't only provide for someone and expect them to know that you accept them (Ex: Prison officers feed their inmates, it doesn't mean they accept them). And at the same time you can't just give someone lip service about how you care without doing anything (Ex: my love life... haha jk but you get the point (ok that wasn't that funny)). I feel like Christians, specifically men, can tend to look at God's love as only being provisional and not accepting because that's all we expect from him. But if both of these characteristics exist in the nature of God's love, how are we going to see something that we aren't looking for?

We have a tendency, men specifically, to deny our need of being accepted. Acceptance is huge. It drives us. Everyone is looking for it and when we play it off like we're above that, we'll end up seeking it in ways that are self destructive and be too prideful to even notice. Ultimately we would be short changing ourselves out of God's intention for the desire— to be fulfilled by him, "to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge." It's not just about cerebral knowledge, it passes that. It's about experiencing the "fullness of God" who "is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think". When we deny his acceptance, we limit our perception of the fullness of his love. How drastically would our lives change if we seeked to understand God's love by his definition and not by our own? What kind of radical freedom would we experience? Let's ask for God to open our eyes to what his love means regarding our acceptance. And no this isn't a cop-out ending to my note. This isn't a Christian-ese tag to wrap up my statement. I'm dead serious. Prayer actually changes things. The Apostle Paul, the man of the century (behind Jesus), couldn't get around prayer. That was how he started this whole section in Ephesians (not to mention every other part of Ephesians and the planting of the church itself)

"For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole  family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

Did you read it differently?

John Project

John Project

Up to 5 tracks!

The John Project

Click to Listen: JohnIntro

So I've been reading through the gospel of John. It's been really good and I've been receiving some stuff from the text I never have before. It's been hitting me that a lot of Christians today, me included, suffer from what Shane Claiborne calls "spiritual bulimia."

I did my devotions, read all the new Christian books and saw the Christian movies, and then vomited information up to friends, small groups, and pastors. But it had never had the chance to digest.

I started feeling this too and I wanted to find some way for me to meditate on the book now that it's so fresh. I decided on memorizing the book.

....didn't get that far....haha

So instead I got inspiration to do something a little more practical that I can also enjoy. I want to create a project of the book of John where through art I express the things God's been showing me in the text. It helps me process and, like a journal, I can refer back to it whenever I want. I say "art" because I've noticed that when I decide a detail of a project beforehand, I usually get really anal about it and quench creativity. I don't want to just limit it to music. I don't want to just limit it to chapter by chapter. But so far that's what it looks like.

This is far different than anything I've done before because it'll take a lot of commitment and patience. When I'm in the creative process, I've never really done stuff big picture oriented. This is really gonna take some discipline. With that said, I shouldn't isolate myself. I would love for people to know about the process and keep it in prayer. So please, pray for me as I share this journey track by track. I'm also way down for doing collab stuff on this. I don't want to be alone in this project. That just wouldn't feel right. God's design of community makes everything better. If you have a gift you wanna share in this, holla at me. Music's not the only gift.

I know this post may look like a form of "spiritual bulimia." Maybe it is. But I assure you my intentions for the project leave no room for such a thing.

I pray that it be a uniquely beautiful project that brings glory to Your name. And Lord, I also want to acknowledge now for sake of Your glory and my freedom that I do not expect this project to represent every truth in these chapters. I pray that I point people to Your word and acknowledge that it could never be a substitute. What I do pray is that what you wish me to apply and others to learn from it would be represented. Amen.

The Possible Impossible

I've been on a one year bible plan since the start of January and I've never done it before. But because its early on in the year I've been reading through Genesis and it's really been hitting me how personal the relationships are between "the LORD" and the people he chooses to make covenants with (mostly Abraham, but also Noah and Isaac too). What also hit me was the promises that the LORD makes to them and how we tend to take for granted the patience and faith that would've been required for them to believe.

Like Abram. This mess is crazy. God tells him his descendants will be as numerous as there is sand on the beach or as there are stars in the sky (this was before light pollution btw o_0).

And sure, the LORD spoke, so of course it's gonna happen right? But what was in front of Abram? What could he see?

• He was 75 when he first heard this promise (granted his life span was 175 years but according to scripture, at that time, 175 was a "ripe old age").
• He already knew that his wife, Sarai couldn't have children
• 10 years- he still didn't have a child from Sarai. He took the LORD's promise into his own hands and conceived Ishmael through Sarai's servant. To this heir the LORD said NO.
• 24 years- the LORD appears to him again saying the same promise. This is when He changes Abram's name to Abraham and Sarai's to Sarah (and homeboy had to get circumcised at the age of 99 as well as every one of his male servants).
• Sarah doesn't believe she can have a child and laughs at the idea, just like Abraham did (funny how God named Isaac and his name means "he laughs"). God says next year it'll happen.
• 25 years- Isaac is born
• 25 years + "some time later"- Then God asks Abraham to kill his son Isaac and use him as a burnt offering for Him.... I don't even..... man..... Of course God was testing Abraham and told him to stop and He provided a sacrificial animal. But He definitely waited until the very last moment. I woulda been like..................................................... I don't even........

I've been hearing people say that we tend to romanticize blind faith a lot and that that's not exactly what God asks for. I didn't really understand that until now but through reading Abraham's story again I'm starting to get it. I mean Abraham was real with God. Sure he believed in God's promises. But when he was struggling with them he made it known and God spoke further.

Some time later, the LORD spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, "Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great." But Abram replied, "O Sovereign LORD, what good are all your blessings when I don't even have a son? Since you've given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir." Then the LORD said to him, "No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir." (Genesis 15:1-4)

Then the LORD told him, "I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession." But Abram replied, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?" (Genesis 15:7-8) (15:9-16 is God's response if you want to read it. It's kinda long tho.)

Then Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief. "How could I become a father at the age of 100?" he thought. "And how can Sarah have a baby when she is ninety years old?" So Abraham said to God, "May Ishmael live under your special blessing!" But God replied, "No-Sarah, your wife, will give birth to a son for you. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my covenant with him and his descendants as an everlasting covenant" (Genesis 17:17-19)

I don't know that preachers ever show this side of Abraham. He's still a man. That's all he offers up to God and that's all that the LORD asks.

Even for Isaac after Abraham passed away:

• His wife that the LORD hand picked for him through divine appointment was also barren (o_0)! Really God? That sounds pretty counter intuitive for making descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky...
• But Isaac was persistent in prayer "Isaac pleaded with the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children. The LORD answered Isaac's prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant with twins."

Has God ever told you anything about your life? Like a promise for the future? a detail? an abstratction?
Maybe it was through prayer? other people? getting in your bible? What have you done with that promise? Do you believe it? Have you been expectant towards it? Do you doubt it?

This story here's proof that you can't judge how God is working based on what things look like. It can only be based on His words, His covenant. God fulfilling this promise for Abraham was crucial for the expansion of His name throughout the known world by the nation of Israel. But he still chose to use two barren women as child bearers and throw some other stuff in the way. Why? Who knows?

Maybe we doubt because we're not being real with God about it. We should tell Him when something seems too big for us or we feel like something's impossible. He knows anyway, it's not like we're fooling him to look faithful. It wasn't until after Abraham told the LORD his beef with His plan that "Abraham believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith."

Maybe my faith isn't as strong as it could be because when I'm not real with God about what I don't understand, I'm honestly not being dependent and vulnerable.