Freedom and It's Correlation to Good and Evil
The purely emotional issue so many people seem to have with God is that how can there be a loving and caring God with all the evil we see in the world? The answer is quite simple: freedom. Where freedom abounds both good and evil abound all the more. Freedom seems to be a necessity for both good and evil. God gave us free will and so evil is a natural byproduct from that, not from God's choices, mind you, but our own. If we had not chosen to sin, there wouldn't be any evil. However, if we had not the option to chose sin there wouldn't be any good. God being the Good made a world where good could thrive as much as possible, a world where man had free will, the freedom to sin. We must relinquish our grasp on this notion of fairness in regards to the evil and cruelty of this world and understand that there are consequences for our actions and the actions of others. Our decisions don't simply affect us, they affect those around us as well, wether they be good or evil. We aren't willing to accept this notion and cry foul rather than work on it. So long as we live in a corrupted (by our own doing) world, the dichotomy of good vs evil will always be a constant struggle and a very present reality. Let us therefore take hope in the God who has already overcome evil rather than fault him for the very same evil we helped to construct in the first place.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Short Sightedness
Short Sightedness
For as long as I can remember I have faced the onset of depression, which is something I am thankful for because it spurs me in my growth and introspection, but last year I remember it was starting to get a little overbearing. So I prayed for a break or time off of sorts from it and my prayer was answered. I felt rejuvenated and had never grown so much in my faith like that before, but then some issues arose, which I mentioned in a previous writing "Texts With a Friend," and it became overbearing again. I talked with my friend Zach about it and he began to laugh. Now for me, I was opening up to him in a very serious manner and began to be upset with him as he was laughing. I asked him what was so funny. He said, "so let me get this straight. You prayed for a break from your depression and you got that?" I nodded. "And now you are frustrated when it came back, as you had prayed?" It hit me what he was saying. I began to laugh a bit myself. How foolish and how short sighted I am to not be able to recall my prayer from only a few months back. At that moment the depression was no longer overbearing and my peace of mind had been restored. I am truly thankful for friends like Zach and for being able to share my personal struggles with the body of Christ, something that is vital to our walk.
For as long as I can remember I have faced the onset of depression, which is something I am thankful for because it spurs me in my growth and introspection, but last year I remember it was starting to get a little overbearing. So I prayed for a break or time off of sorts from it and my prayer was answered. I felt rejuvenated and had never grown so much in my faith like that before, but then some issues arose, which I mentioned in a previous writing "Texts With a Friend," and it became overbearing again. I talked with my friend Zach about it and he began to laugh. Now for me, I was opening up to him in a very serious manner and began to be upset with him as he was laughing. I asked him what was so funny. He said, "so let me get this straight. You prayed for a break from your depression and you got that?" I nodded. "And now you are frustrated when it came back, as you had prayed?" It hit me what he was saying. I began to laugh a bit myself. How foolish and how short sighted I am to not be able to recall my prayer from only a few months back. At that moment the depression was no longer overbearing and my peace of mind had been restored. I am truly thankful for friends like Zach and for being able to share my personal struggles with the body of Christ, something that is vital to our walk.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Nightly Reflections and Introspections
Nightly Reflections and Introspections
Far too often I lay down at the end of the day and feel like the day has been wasted. I do not put in the discipline or the effort in order to progress. Will this become of my life? I don't wish to wake up at 19 and lie down at 30 seeing nothing change. My dream in life is to produce. To produce something fruitful. To benefit others with what I make or craft. That is why I love to write so much. I have had people tell me that my writings have changed their way of thinking. What a privilege that is and what a compliment that is to receive. Changing someone's mindset is such an intimate connection and it is a connection or a bond I desire to share with many people. I desire to make a mark upon this world, but not for my own sake. I have abandoned ship of my own sake for it was a sinking and fleeting cause. Thank God for that life vest. I apologize for my tangential writing, but that is what is on my mind tonight.
Far too often I lay down at the end of the day and feel like the day has been wasted. I do not put in the discipline or the effort in order to progress. Will this become of my life? I don't wish to wake up at 19 and lie down at 30 seeing nothing change. My dream in life is to produce. To produce something fruitful. To benefit others with what I make or craft. That is why I love to write so much. I have had people tell me that my writings have changed their way of thinking. What a privilege that is and what a compliment that is to receive. Changing someone's mindset is such an intimate connection and it is a connection or a bond I desire to share with many people. I desire to make a mark upon this world, but not for my own sake. I have abandoned ship of my own sake for it was a sinking and fleeting cause. Thank God for that life vest. I apologize for my tangential writing, but that is what is on my mind tonight.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Rich Young Man
Rich Young Man
(Mark 10:17-25)
That passage is simply known as “The Rich Young Man” and is a rather popular story in the church, but the message is often overlooked. Jesus is saying that we can't hold on to anything, that we must fully submit our lives to follow Him. The Rich Young Man was holding on to his materials, it may be different for some of us. But overall, I believe that whatever we hold on to, it is because we consider that a success in our life. So for me, it all boils down to success. Being a senior in high school that word is really thrown around a lot, and rightfully so. These are the last few steps of our lives under our parents’ shadows and we have to venture out on our own and make something of ourselves. It is like the little bird that is dropped out of the nest and expected to fly, we’re in free fall and we don’t want to hit the ground. And the reason we so desperately seek this success is because we are stricken with fear. There is a fear deep down in each of us that our lives won’t have any true purpose. We crave for purpose to our lives, that our lives might mean something, and that’s why we become obsessive over success, because we are at that point of no return. But what I think is so important from this passage is our definition of success. You see this man; he based his entire success on his possessions, his wealth. This man had obtained so much and was still young, that is the epitome of success in this world. I have many friends like this man who tell me that if they aren’t making millions in the next 10 years that their lives would be considered failures, but take it from the Rich Young Man. Can you imagine how devastating that must have been for the man to see all he has accomplished and all the purpose he thought he had in his possessions only to hear that it is all worthless? It’s meaningless; there is no substance, no true worth in possessions. The Bible says that he went away grieving. So how should we define success? Well, success is meeting our goals, and our goals are built off of our purpose. In order to establish our goals, we must first establish our purpose. So what is our purpose? Many Christians would tell you it is to glorify God, which is absolutely correct, but if that were it then why make us at all? God has angels who glorify Him, and much better than you or I could ever do here. Our real purpose is to have a relationship with Him, but in order to have a relationship; you have to have free will. You can’t force someone to love you. So God gave us a rule, a single simple rule. He said, “I give you this whole Earth for you to do as you please, but just don’t eat the fruit from this one little tree over here.” How easy is that? It’s not like it was even a difficult rule to follow, but we still messed it up, causing a chasm in the relationship. Because God is a just God, there had to be consequences for our sins. Someone or something had to die to take away our sins, so the practice of sacrifices began. And the sacrifices were good; they got the job done, but temporarily. But God said He’d fix it, He came down as man, was mocked, brutally beaten and tortured, spat upon, and He ultimately died to be the Perfect Sacrifice that would take away the sins of the world, both now and forever. And the beautiful part is, all we that have to do in order to receive this sacrifice, our very own redemption, is to just say “Yes, that happened”. He gave us the easiest command in the world, and we broke it, He then went through all that pain and torment for us so that we can be reunited to our purpose if we just accept his gift; a free gift, open for everyone. I could give you $100 dollars, but it would do you no good if you don’t accept it. So our purpose is really twofold; have a relationship with God, and bring others back into their relationship with Him as well.
You know, I went through summer football 4 days a week this whole summer with usually around 5-8 other guys with me. We would have a 2-hour practice from 6-8 every morning, an hour of lifting and an hour of running. It wasn’t uncommon for us to have to sprint over 2 miles a day. Towards the end of practice, for the last 10 minutes all I could think about was taking a shower, going home, taking a nap, and do nothing for the rest of the day. Sure enough practice was over, I survived, and I would do just that. Before you know it, it’s 4 in the afternoon and I am just resting on the couch watching TV and I think to myself, “You know, I’m not doing anything else this whole day, that was all the workout I got for the whole day, I could have ran a little more, I could have done one more lap.” And I pray that that isn’t what I say at the end of my life, I pray that isn’t what you say at the end of yours. This world is full of trials and difficulties and it can be so easy to be caught up in the pain and torment and just seek that comfort, but I promise you that an eternity of comfort is right around the corner. You see at most we have 100 years, if even, on this Earth. But what is that compared to an eternity? You know how each year seems to go by quicker? That’s because it is a smaller fraction of your life. To a 12 month old, a year is literally a lifetime. So a million years or so down the road, this life will literally be but the blink of an eye. We need to focus on the things that last, do you honestly think that 5 years from now you will care about what someone will think of you, or how we are presented right now? We need to focus on fulfilling our purpose here, because nothing else will matter, but we can’t sellout for comfort. Because that comfort is temporary, it’s fleeting, but the comfort that God promises us is eternal. Don’t get to the end of your life and say “You know, I could have helped save one more person, I could have shown God to one more friend.” This is our only opportunity to share God, and much like that success I mentioned before, there is no shot after this, this is it. Don’t waste this life.
So what is true success if our purpose is to have a relationship with God and bring others to have that same relationship with Him as well? This is something I have always thought long and hard over, but for me, I would consider my life a success if I can help bring one person closer to Christ. And I am so thankful to be able to tell you today that my life, as short and trivial as it may be, is already considered a success, just like yours may be. But that doesn’t mean we stop now and call it in because God literally gave us everything, we should strive to give something back, we should share our joy with His children. If anything, we should do so out of empathy for our brothers, our sisters, our friends, and our neighbors. And I know that value of success to be true, but I still have trouble accepting it, which is our human nature. But we can’t get caught up in the trials and tribulations of this world, we can’t seek that temporary and artificial comfort that goes with the wind, we have to stand firm and fulfill our purpose. We can’t look back on our lives with regret saying there’s something more we could have done, but rather find peace in knowing from this day forth, we did all that we could. Our comfort is coming, and it will be here before you know it, but it can wait, it has to.
(Mark 10:17-25)
That passage is simply known as “The Rich Young Man” and is a rather popular story in the church, but the message is often overlooked. Jesus is saying that we can't hold on to anything, that we must fully submit our lives to follow Him. The Rich Young Man was holding on to his materials, it may be different for some of us. But overall, I believe that whatever we hold on to, it is because we consider that a success in our life. So for me, it all boils down to success. Being a senior in high school that word is really thrown around a lot, and rightfully so. These are the last few steps of our lives under our parents’ shadows and we have to venture out on our own and make something of ourselves. It is like the little bird that is dropped out of the nest and expected to fly, we’re in free fall and we don’t want to hit the ground. And the reason we so desperately seek this success is because we are stricken with fear. There is a fear deep down in each of us that our lives won’t have any true purpose. We crave for purpose to our lives, that our lives might mean something, and that’s why we become obsessive over success, because we are at that point of no return. But what I think is so important from this passage is our definition of success. You see this man; he based his entire success on his possessions, his wealth. This man had obtained so much and was still young, that is the epitome of success in this world. I have many friends like this man who tell me that if they aren’t making millions in the next 10 years that their lives would be considered failures, but take it from the Rich Young Man. Can you imagine how devastating that must have been for the man to see all he has accomplished and all the purpose he thought he had in his possessions only to hear that it is all worthless? It’s meaningless; there is no substance, no true worth in possessions. The Bible says that he went away grieving. So how should we define success? Well, success is meeting our goals, and our goals are built off of our purpose. In order to establish our goals, we must first establish our purpose. So what is our purpose? Many Christians would tell you it is to glorify God, which is absolutely correct, but if that were it then why make us at all? God has angels who glorify Him, and much better than you or I could ever do here. Our real purpose is to have a relationship with Him, but in order to have a relationship; you have to have free will. You can’t force someone to love you. So God gave us a rule, a single simple rule. He said, “I give you this whole Earth for you to do as you please, but just don’t eat the fruit from this one little tree over here.” How easy is that? It’s not like it was even a difficult rule to follow, but we still messed it up, causing a chasm in the relationship. Because God is a just God, there had to be consequences for our sins. Someone or something had to die to take away our sins, so the practice of sacrifices began. And the sacrifices were good; they got the job done, but temporarily. But God said He’d fix it, He came down as man, was mocked, brutally beaten and tortured, spat upon, and He ultimately died to be the Perfect Sacrifice that would take away the sins of the world, both now and forever. And the beautiful part is, all we that have to do in order to receive this sacrifice, our very own redemption, is to just say “Yes, that happened”. He gave us the easiest command in the world, and we broke it, He then went through all that pain and torment for us so that we can be reunited to our purpose if we just accept his gift; a free gift, open for everyone. I could give you $100 dollars, but it would do you no good if you don’t accept it. So our purpose is really twofold; have a relationship with God, and bring others back into their relationship with Him as well.
You know, I went through summer football 4 days a week this whole summer with usually around 5-8 other guys with me. We would have a 2-hour practice from 6-8 every morning, an hour of lifting and an hour of running. It wasn’t uncommon for us to have to sprint over 2 miles a day. Towards the end of practice, for the last 10 minutes all I could think about was taking a shower, going home, taking a nap, and do nothing for the rest of the day. Sure enough practice was over, I survived, and I would do just that. Before you know it, it’s 4 in the afternoon and I am just resting on the couch watching TV and I think to myself, “You know, I’m not doing anything else this whole day, that was all the workout I got for the whole day, I could have ran a little more, I could have done one more lap.” And I pray that that isn’t what I say at the end of my life, I pray that isn’t what you say at the end of yours. This world is full of trials and difficulties and it can be so easy to be caught up in the pain and torment and just seek that comfort, but I promise you that an eternity of comfort is right around the corner. You see at most we have 100 years, if even, on this Earth. But what is that compared to an eternity? You know how each year seems to go by quicker? That’s because it is a smaller fraction of your life. To a 12 month old, a year is literally a lifetime. So a million years or so down the road, this life will literally be but the blink of an eye. We need to focus on the things that last, do you honestly think that 5 years from now you will care about what someone will think of you, or how we are presented right now? We need to focus on fulfilling our purpose here, because nothing else will matter, but we can’t sellout for comfort. Because that comfort is temporary, it’s fleeting, but the comfort that God promises us is eternal. Don’t get to the end of your life and say “You know, I could have helped save one more person, I could have shown God to one more friend.” This is our only opportunity to share God, and much like that success I mentioned before, there is no shot after this, this is it. Don’t waste this life.
So what is true success if our purpose is to have a relationship with God and bring others to have that same relationship with Him as well? This is something I have always thought long and hard over, but for me, I would consider my life a success if I can help bring one person closer to Christ. And I am so thankful to be able to tell you today that my life, as short and trivial as it may be, is already considered a success, just like yours may be. But that doesn’t mean we stop now and call it in because God literally gave us everything, we should strive to give something back, we should share our joy with His children. If anything, we should do so out of empathy for our brothers, our sisters, our friends, and our neighbors. And I know that value of success to be true, but I still have trouble accepting it, which is our human nature. But we can’t get caught up in the trials and tribulations of this world, we can’t seek that temporary and artificial comfort that goes with the wind, we have to stand firm and fulfill our purpose. We can’t look back on our lives with regret saying there’s something more we could have done, but rather find peace in knowing from this day forth, we did all that we could. Our comfort is coming, and it will be here before you know it, but it can wait, it has to.
Day of Fred's Funeral
Day of Fred's Funeral
I had just gotten back to college after burying my uncle today when I went to a time of worship in front of the tower that some friends were putting on and I just began to ball my eyes out. The past few months I've lost two uncles and a grandfather but to be honest with you, although I miss them greatly, I felt nothing but joy for their passing. The reason why I began to cry is because I saw and experienced how much hurt and sorrow the rest of my family and even friends were going through, and yet I am so incredibly grateful that I was able to be apart of it. Seeing pain in others is the thing that honestly hurts me the most, but what a privilege it is when someone opens up so intimately to you as to allow you to see their hurting. There is nothing more that I wish than for me to be able to bear such a burden as theirs in their stead, but although that's not possible, I do feel as though sharing and opening up to others helps to lighten the load or at least share it. Sure, had they never opened up to me I would have never felt their pain and would have never cried tonight, but I would hate to be ignorant to the pain of this world. It is better by far for me to experience it than to live in ignorant bliss, and it is better by far for others to share such an experience than to face the brute strength of it all on their own. The sorrow I feel is a sorrow I am eternally thankful for. My uncle whose funeral was today was a man who for as long as I can remember faced such adversity and struggles in life and he suffered greatly from them. I can not recall anyone else I know that has been through all that he has and although he was ready to give up a few times, he never did. He fell victim to his circumstances, but he was no less a man for it because such issues could only be resolved by the supernatural and on Friday morning they were. His life was a constant wave of highs and lows and I can't help but resent the fact that he went out right when he seemed to be overcoming it all because I felt like he could have truly started to enjoy this life and be content with it, but how foolish am I to forget that he is experiencing that more than ever now and it is far greater than anything he could have felt here on earth. Thank God he went out on a high note. During that moment of worship tonight with tears streaming down my face as all I could feel was the agony of those I love I began to listen to the lyrics of the song that we were singing. At that moment, when all I could feel was pain and anguish I heard the body of Christ sing out the words "When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory, And I realize just how beautiful You are, And how great Your affections are for me." The song goes on to say "And we are His portion and He is our prize, Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes, If his grace is an ocean, we're all sinking. And Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss, And my heart turns violently inside of my chest, I don't have time to maintain these regrets, When I think about the way that He loves us." No matter what adversity we face or what hardships we have to endure, none of it comes close to measuring up to God and what He has done for us through His love. Though it's hard to accept at times, as I certainly wasn't accepting it today, there is nothing too big for our God to handle. There is no pain too great for Him to heal. There is no death too difficult for Him to overcome because He has already overcome death, He has defeated the grave and it is exactly for this reason that we can rejoice because death no longer has its sting. Let us be thankful when hardships come our way because after we breathe our last here, whatever we have faced here is gone, it is wiped away forever by an eternity of comfort and peace found in Christ Jesus alone. Jesus said "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." (Matthew 5: 4) Our comfort is coming, but it must wait. This thought is no better summed up than by James when he says "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1: 2-4) Today, in this season of thanksgiving, I am thankful for the lives and deaths of those I love, I am thankful for the pain I feel when those I love open themselves up to me with their burdens, I am thankful for the trials of this world that far too often seem like more than I can handle, but mostly, I am thankful for a God who has already overcome it all.
I had just gotten back to college after burying my uncle today when I went to a time of worship in front of the tower that some friends were putting on and I just began to ball my eyes out. The past few months I've lost two uncles and a grandfather but to be honest with you, although I miss them greatly, I felt nothing but joy for their passing. The reason why I began to cry is because I saw and experienced how much hurt and sorrow the rest of my family and even friends were going through, and yet I am so incredibly grateful that I was able to be apart of it. Seeing pain in others is the thing that honestly hurts me the most, but what a privilege it is when someone opens up so intimately to you as to allow you to see their hurting. There is nothing more that I wish than for me to be able to bear such a burden as theirs in their stead, but although that's not possible, I do feel as though sharing and opening up to others helps to lighten the load or at least share it. Sure, had they never opened up to me I would have never felt their pain and would have never cried tonight, but I would hate to be ignorant to the pain of this world. It is better by far for me to experience it than to live in ignorant bliss, and it is better by far for others to share such an experience than to face the brute strength of it all on their own. The sorrow I feel is a sorrow I am eternally thankful for. My uncle whose funeral was today was a man who for as long as I can remember faced such adversity and struggles in life and he suffered greatly from them. I can not recall anyone else I know that has been through all that he has and although he was ready to give up a few times, he never did. He fell victim to his circumstances, but he was no less a man for it because such issues could only be resolved by the supernatural and on Friday morning they were. His life was a constant wave of highs and lows and I can't help but resent the fact that he went out right when he seemed to be overcoming it all because I felt like he could have truly started to enjoy this life and be content with it, but how foolish am I to forget that he is experiencing that more than ever now and it is far greater than anything he could have felt here on earth. Thank God he went out on a high note. During that moment of worship tonight with tears streaming down my face as all I could feel was the agony of those I love I began to listen to the lyrics of the song that we were singing. At that moment, when all I could feel was pain and anguish I heard the body of Christ sing out the words "When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory, And I realize just how beautiful You are, And how great Your affections are for me." The song goes on to say "And we are His portion and He is our prize, Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes, If his grace is an ocean, we're all sinking. And Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss, And my heart turns violently inside of my chest, I don't have time to maintain these regrets, When I think about the way that He loves us." No matter what adversity we face or what hardships we have to endure, none of it comes close to measuring up to God and what He has done for us through His love. Though it's hard to accept at times, as I certainly wasn't accepting it today, there is nothing too big for our God to handle. There is no pain too great for Him to heal. There is no death too difficult for Him to overcome because He has already overcome death, He has defeated the grave and it is exactly for this reason that we can rejoice because death no longer has its sting. Let us be thankful when hardships come our way because after we breathe our last here, whatever we have faced here is gone, it is wiped away forever by an eternity of comfort and peace found in Christ Jesus alone. Jesus said "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." (Matthew 5: 4) Our comfort is coming, but it must wait. This thought is no better summed up than by James when he says "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1: 2-4) Today, in this season of thanksgiving, I am thankful for the lives and deaths of those I love, I am thankful for the pain I feel when those I love open themselves up to me with their burdens, I am thankful for the trials of this world that far too often seem like more than I can handle, but mostly, I am thankful for a God who has already overcome it all.
Connection
I wish to share in the experiences of other people's lives. I wish, if for just a moment, partake in their own story. I wish to make some sort of positive impact on others even if in the slightest degree. I wish to connect, not for my own sake but for theirs. I wish not to intrude nor burden. I wish not to exclude nor guilt. I wish to be a man who stands for others upon the shoulders of character and righteousness. I'll even do the heavy lifting.
My Life's Prayer
I refuse to fall to the temptations of this world any longer because there is so much more at stake here than just me and my wants, there are other people's lives on the line, their eternity. This life is not about me. This life is about God and about His children. From now on, may every single one of my actions be used as a way to serve God and to serve others. I resign my freedom and my wishes to God and by doing so I put my complete faith in Him in knowing that He knows what's best for my life and will carry it out far greater than I ever could. This is my prayer and this is my life's motto, may it be etched into my heart as long as it continues to beat.
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