I know you’re worthy, Lord, but I’m like Thomas; my faith in you is as frail as a flower, withering and blooming. Lord, take this heart and make it yours forever. We’re humans, and as such we’re a very needy sort. But among our many needs, the greatest is this: to love and be loved. This is but a reflection of the divine nature in us. To truly live, we must learn to love and be loved, without condition, regardless of cost. This is the one way God can use a person.

Before we can change, we must realize we need change. We must see ourselves in God’s divine eyes, and only then can we come to realize that we need Him to change us.

James 4:8

On the Preparation of the Prudent Christian

Matthew 25:1-13:
25:1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps [1] and went to meet the bridegroom. [2] 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

I think it’s quite tempting, particularly for the modern Christian, to fall into the trap of complacency in relation to God. Often I find myself battling the same legalism and self-righteousness which Christ denounced so many times throughout his ministry. Perhaps I have a certain penchant for discipline and order, but I believe the issue goes deeper than that. We must not only learn, but also come to accept, the fact that our salvation is from God and not ourselves. Such a realization produces in man a constant readiness, indeed an eagerness, to serve the Lord daily, removing the sense of ritual and mundane servitude that Jesus so vehemently opposed. In the aforementioned parable, the two sets of virgins aptly characterize these respective attitudes. While many purporters of the Christian faith and doctrine fail to “tend their lamps” – that is, cultivate a relationship with God and others through the Holy Spirit – true believers in God and Christ give constant attention to their walk. If we are to be effective in ministry, this entails the daily practice of dependence on God. While “practicing dependence” may well sound like an oxymoron, the two terms are not at all mutually exclusive in this context. Dependence on God is the result of an active opposition to the flesh and its desire to control you. Letting go of your desires, hopes, and dreams and dying to yourself involves a very real commitment to disciplining your body and mind. Only then can we say with assurance that we will meet our blessed bridegroom for the long-awaited wedding feast.

Bible Reading on Campus

At 10:00 PM Sunday, members of University Christian Fellowship began a three-day journey through the word of God here on campus. The public reading will come to a close this evening. I am glad to have been able to witness and participate in this event, and have also had some good conversations with passers-by as a result. Unlike with volatile street preachers, we encountered minimal opposition in our efforts. There were, however, a small number of dissidents, one of whom urged us to cease what we were doing. Another individual quipped “God’s not real” before walking away, avoiding a conversation with one of us.

And they say we’re close-minded…

Deliverance

Deliverance from my past has been an issue made painfully apparent to me today. I am at home, where I grew up, where I was raised by parents who I thought were flawless and lived a life seemingly blissful. Hindsight has taught me that this was a grievous error. People cling to death here because it’s the only thing around. They’re absorbed with themselves to the point that they have lost track of reality. I have seen a number of addictions manifest themselves in the people around me. These are the people with whom I grew up – the people with whom I shared my hopes and dreams. I try to share my faith with my family, but they won’t hear anything of it. I am just a religious nut and self-righteous because I’ve made it out [of this place]. I don’t put myself on a pedestal. We all need forgiveness. But I have been entrusted with the truth and I must say that the truth is not embraced here.

I told someone very close to me that we can live free from the power of sin. She insisted it was a lie, and that sin will always reign in our lives.

Pray for eastern Kentucky.

Come out, come out, wherever you are…

I have been a bit of a web recluse lately. Hopefully I’ll post something meaningful soon.

Be Jealous…

I am going to see John Mayer and Ben Folds in Cincy tonight.

Something About Being Outside…

The wind cascading through my hair as I glide effortlessly down a hill on my bike. It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon, and as I whizz by the joggers, the singles walking their dogs, and the young children on their rollerblades, I smile inside. Life is good. I think the weather has something to do with my jovial spirit, but I begin to think about greater things, like the fact that I am able to enjoy being alive. I think my creator for everything, and a peace beyond understanding envelops me gently, like a tide slowly rising to cover me. I arrive home in a peaceful spirit, grateful that we have a God who believes in second chances.

Identity

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:12-17, ESV)

A tried-and-true aspect of humanity is this: everything we do, believers and nonbelievers alike, flows from where we find our identity. I have found this to be true on both sides of the coin – walking with God and rebelling against Him. In both cases, my actions were an attempt to identify with what I perceived as my reality. Before we knew God, the Word declares, we were as sheep without a shepherd. It is natural, then, that the world struggles to find itself through a variety of means. The promise of the Gospel, however, is made profoundly clear when Paul declares we are children of God.

Things that once seemed insurmountable become petty and insignificant when looked at through the eyes of God’s child. Insults no longer diminish your character because you cling to the love of the Father. Anxiety disappears as you look with eager expectancy to the revealing of Christ in the earth. Purpose is found. Reconciliation with others is made totally possible. This is because, as we die to ourselves, the Spirit of God manifests itself in our very being. It is my prayer that we will all continue to seek God and find our true identity in following Him.

Futility

My life before Christ identifies closely with the wretch Paul describes in the first chapter of Romans:

But God’s angry displeasure erupts as acts of human mistrust and wrongdoing and lying accumulate, as people try to put a shroud over truth. But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse. What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn’t treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand. (Romans 1:18-23, the Message)

When we refuse to honor and worship God (volitional acts of free will on our part), God seems distant and unreal. It requires effort on our parts to nurture any relationship, especially the one with our creator.

The Ten Commandments and Evangelism

So I wanted to take down some thoughts about tonight’s evangelism team meeting. We watched the first part of a series of evangelism teachings featuring Ray Comfort and (gasp) Kirk Cameron of growing pains fame. The whole idea behind the teaching is that, in our efforts to spread the good news of Jesus Christ, we must first establish a clear sense of the need for salvation. This can come only when someone realizes two fundamental principles upon which the biblical worldview stands:

1) The Holiness of God
2) Man’s inability to meet God’s standard of holiness

It would be ridiculous and insulting to inform someone of his or her need for salvation when the very thing from which he or she is being saves has not even been mentioned. This is why the Bible says the gospel is foolishness to the unbeliever. They cannot accept the fact that they must be saved when they are not yet convinced that they are in any immediate danger.

Moreover, a powerful way to illustrate just how short we fall from God’s holiness is to look at oneself in the reflection of the Ten Commandments. When witnessing to an unbeliever, particularly one with experience in the Church, this is an invaluable tool of evangelism because it clearly and concisely illustrates our own depravity. From this fundamental assumption, the conversation can move to God’s salvation plan through Jesus, and the new believer is equipped with the priceless knowledge of God’s true gift.