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A New Sense of Awe

January 27, 2012 in Living our Faith with 16 Appreciated Comments

Photo Credit: Alive in the Word blog

The past few days, I’ve been reading through the book of Revelation.

It’s not in my top favorite books of the Bible.

I don’t turn to Revelation when I am having a bad day. I don’t study the book when I’m trying to get something from God. My first instinct isn’t to read about the world falling apart and the tribulation believers will face and all the doom and gloom and crazy metaphoric images that are found in the book of Revelation.

Maybe I’m just weird that way.

So when I finished reading Jude and turned the page to start reading Revelation, I wasn’t looking forward it.
I even thought about just skipping this book and starting back in Genesis.

But as I pushed past my initial hesitation, I’ve begun to see God in a whole new light.

Waiting on Us

January 25, 2012 in Living our Faith with 16 Appreciated Comments

Photo Credit: Eirik Solheim (Creative Commons)

I am not a very patient person.

When I get an idea in my head, when I make a goal to accomplish something, when I feel God giving me a promise, I want it as soon as possible.

I don’t want to wait a few days to get my haircut.
I don’t like waiting for the book to come in the mail.
I don’t want to wait six more months until I can go to Czech.
I don’t like waiting until I’m at home to check my email (thank you iPhone!).
Sometimes, I don’t even like waiting the 30 minutes for a meal to cook.

I hate waiting for what I want.
And I know I’m not the only one.

We live in a microwave kind of world.

Doing What is Right

January 23, 2012 in Living our Faith with 9 Appreciated Comments

Taken in Stratford Upon Avon, England during my first trip to Europe.

Until just recently, I alway thought of God’s favor as something that was earned.

If you read your bible, if you prayed, if you spent time in worship, if you pushed past your sin, tried to be a better person, did everything correctly, tried your best not to make a mistake, stepped out in faith, acted courageously, had the goosebumps of God that come when you feel Him and did something crazy big for Him, then His favor would be upon you.

Getting God’s favor, receiving His blessing, having Him push obstacles out of the way and open doors we couldn’t open on our own was all dependent upon what we did.

It’s a prevalent teaching in the church. God’s favor comes to those who earn it.

But as I’ve been studying this idea of favor, as I’ve delved more into scripture, I’m realizing that favor is a gift.

Tearing Apart

January 20, 2012 in Life, Living our Faith with 22 Appreciated Comments

Photo Credit: Marcel Oosterwijk (Creative Commons)

I’m a pretty sarcastic kind of guy.

Follow me on Twitter, watch my Facebook comments, interact with me in person and you’ll see how true that statement is. I’m always cracking jokes, always giving an ornery response, always teasing, over-exaggerating and trying to get a laugh. I make up nicknames based on something funny a friend said or did. I’ll tease about something that happened months ago. I joke around, give as much as I take and hand out empty, funny threats (like shaving off your eyebrows while you sleep).

It’s how I show I care.
In fact, it’s only when I stop teasing you that you have to worry.

My sarcasm is usually returned with the same level of teasing, sarcasm and joking around. It’s kind of how I got the nickname, grandpa. Those boys love to tease me.

But over the past few days, God has been challenging my use of sarcasm.

Right Beliefs Lived Out, Not Argued

January 16, 2012 in Living our Faith with 25 Appreciated Comments

Last week, the video “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” by Jeff Bethke made a pretty big splash on the inter webs.

This video made its rounds on Facebook, Twitter, personal and ministry blogs. It was liked over 11 million times on Youtube. It was brought up countless times in conversations. It even made for a ton of likes and reblogs on Tumblr.

Most people liked it. Some people hated it. Others thought the theological understanding of the author on the topic of what constitutes religion was grossly misinformed. Others still were on a mission to point out every flaw in the video and get it discredited as anything worth watching.

There were debates. There was name calling. There were challenges made against peoples’ personal beliefs in following Christ all in the name of making sure people believe what is right.

It’s something we as Christians do all too well.

The Terrible Responsibility of His Favor

January 11, 2012 in Living our Faith with 33 Appreciated Comments

Photo Credit: Second Campus Blog

The last few days, I’ve done a lot of studying on this topic of favor.

I’ve searched scripture. I’ve looked into the original Hebrew and Greek definitions. I’ve researched the cultural implications behind favor, tried to understand what the Israelites considered favor and tried to find out how you gain favor.

What I’ve learned has drastically changed my thoughts on favor.

Before coming into 2012, my thoughts on walking in God’s favor were immature. Just like your typical “prosperity gospel” preacher, I thought having God’s favor meant that you just stood around as God gave you what you wanted. Want that new car? God’s favor will get it for you. Want a relationship? God’s favor will bring that right person into your life. Want an open door to do ministry? God’s favor will connect you with the right people. Want to plant a church, start a new business, or open your own non-profit? God’s favor will clear away the obstacles, pour out more finances than you know what to do with and make you successful beyond your wildest dreams.

God’s favor was just a way to get what I wanted without having to work for it. Everything I’ve prayed for, everything I desired, everything I wanted to see happen in my life would come about because of favor.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.