This is a funny video

My buddy and I made this while we were still at school. This is for your own enjoyment. Hopefully you'll find it as amusing as we did.

House of prayer

After attending the men's breakfast this morning, which is an accomplishment for me being that it is at 7:00 AM, I felt like I should post something that was on my heart. God has really been teaching me lately that without him, I am totally inadequate. I hope that my life, and my church can be so dependent on God, that I truly come before him in prayer on a daily, hourly, and even minute..ly (if that's a word) basis. What does the apostle Paul mean when he calls us to pray without ceasing? Is that even possible? Well, according to my own human ability, no! However, when I am completely relying on God and dependent on him, I will be drawn to prayer.

I think of a passage found in all the gospels but specifically in Matthew 21:12-13 (in the context of Jesus cleansing the temple) "12 Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 "It is written," he said to them, "'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a 'den of robbers.'"

If Jesus was so motivated to emphasize the aspect of prayer in His Father's house, why have I missed the importance of prayer in my own life. I hope and pray that I can reflect this principle, and that our church can reflect this principle as well. We are fallen, imperfect sinners who, only by the grace of God, have the ability to be called sons of God. Without him, we are nothing. What makes me so prideful, that I don't even consider his will on a daily basis?

Wedding day countdown

Only 11 days until I get married. I thank God everyday that he has blessed me with such an amazing future bride.

Dust Pan

Recently, I had the opportunity to watch a video entitled "Dust" which is from the Nooma video series created by Rob Bell. In the video, Rob explains the idea of being a disciple. It was a great change in perspective for me when I realized the history of the Rabbinic system in 1st century Israel. With this backdrop in mind, it really makes the idea of a disciple come to life.

Nearly every child in Israel was expected to take part in learning the Hebrew Scriptures in some capacity. Every child was expected to memorize the Torah. That's right. MEMORIZE. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy all by heart. What if we were required to do that today? Anyways, if a child was considered very versed in the Torah and was more advanced than others his age, he would continue on in his schooling. The rest of the children who weren't good enough or smart enough, would go and learn their family trade.

The next level of study would require the child to learn the entire Hebrew Scripture by heart. 37 BOOKS! MEMORIZED! At this point, they were around 15 and they were now ready to approach the Rabbis about becoming a disciple. Only the best were accepted even at this point and many are turned away to go learn their family trade. Those that would move on had to prove to the Rabbi that they could do what he does, that they could be his disciple.

Why tell you all of this? Why is this important for us to know? The idea of being a disciple in today's world doesn't do justice to the original term. In modern day America, we think a disciple should know what their teacher knows. However, in Jesus' day, a disciple was much more than that. He was supposed to DO what his teached DID. The thing that is interesting about Jesus is that he didn't call the best of the best. He called fishermen, tax collectors, etc. This clearly implies that these men weren't good enough for any other Rabbi. Jesus believed in his disciples. He believes in us.

The best part about this is that Jesus already knows that we aren't good enough. He was perfect and to be his disciple would require us to be perfect. That's impossible! Yes, that's true. Humanly, it is impossible. But Scripture tells us that Christ becomes our righteousness (Romans 3, 1 Cor. 1:30). He intercedes on our behalf (Romans 8:26-27). He paid the price for our sin (1 John 2:2). And my favorite, he started, and will continue his good work (Phil. 1:6). THAT'S AMAZING. We now have the ability to be his disciple because we are no longer slaves to sin (Romans 6), and we can live by his strength and not our own.

Picking up the story again in first century Jerusalem, the disciples of a Rabbi would follow him everywhere he went. They would follow behind him on the dirty, dust filled roads and by the end of the day, whatever the Rabbi stepped in was embedded in their clothes and covering their faces. When expressing a challenge to the disciples of Rabbis, people would say "May you be covered in the dust of your Rabbi," implying that they would follow close after him and become like him. I hope that can be said of us. I want to be covered in the dust of Jesus. I want to follow close in his steps so that people would recognize that I was following him.

There is a verse in Acts that clearly describes this principle and with this I close:

Acts 4:13 "Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John, and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were marveling, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus."

Cosmic Plagiarism?

Continuing with the theme of life challenging lessons, C.J. Mahaney continues to point out inadequacies in my life in his book (Humility). Chapter six has an intriguing idea: Cosmic Plagiarism. What's that? Well, he prefaces it by giving a story about some famous writers who were accused of plagiarism for their works and he begs the question: "Do we plagiarize God?" God, the creator of the universe, created us and everything in our lives should be attributed to him. He deserves all the "citing." I wonder how many times I plagiarize God and take credit for something that he does without mentioning him.

This illustration really made me evaluate my pride problem. We, as Christians have A LOT to be thankful for. I am probably the most ungrateful person in the world so this challenge is extremely difficult for me to hear. The truth is, we don't have anything to brag about. The Bible even tells us that our righteousness is like filthy rags to God. What makes me think that I'm so great? What gives me the right to believe that my gifts and talents are because of my own hard work and ability?

I offer this same challenge to you: Let's stop plagiarizing God and give him the glory that he is due! If we are constantly focusing on his glory rather than our own, we're beginning to understand what it means to live a humble life that seeks to worship God rather than ourselves.
I leave you with this verse, be encouraged:
Psalm 34:2 "My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear it and rejoice."

My first real post

I figure, since my "first" post was only an introduction, that I should really post something that has meaning to someone outside of the church office. Well, where do I start? I've been reading a really challenging book by C.J. Mahany called Humilty. It's a gut check for me to read something that challenges me on how prideful I am. One of the most insightful statements C.J. makes is in regards to the Cross. One of the ways he practices humility is to focus on the cross at all times.

If you think about it, when we are constantly thinking about Christ's death and resurrection, we can't help but feel thankful and unworthy of it. When we put ourselves in that mindset on a daily basis, we're constantly looking up instead of looking down to others. I know that this is a tall task, but hopefully, with some practice, it can be a daily habit of my life to bask in the presence of a Savior who loves me enough to die for me. I'll be chewing on this for a while. Maybe you should too?

Finally, I've come around

I've heard that blogs were the next "new thing" but, I had quickly rejected that notion. I'm one of those that prefers the old fashioned "email" and "instant messaging." This new technology is driving me crazy. Really, the main reason for my change of heart is because Jason and Danny are twisting my arm as we speak, it's hard to type with one hand...but I'll manage. Okay, that's not really true, but bear with me as my ineptness in "blogging" becomes more and more clear.