A Plankton in an Endless Ocean

Headed back to Williamsburg, VA on crowded and rainy I – 95, I decided to throw on a sermon. This was a J. Piper talk titled Magnifying God with Money… a topic sure to convict me!

I attempted to forget about the frustration of stop and go traffic in the pouring rain and methodical beating of my loud windshield wipers. John began to speak about what it means to worship our God. He defined the worship in this way:

“The inner essence of worship is the treasuring of God as infinitely valuable above everything. The outer forms of worship are the acts that show how much we treasure God.”

Dwelling on this definition I felt this flood of shame wash over me. A list of the many things I treasure started to real in my mind. My upcoming marriage to Jenn, my reputation in Blacksburg, the success of ministry, the ease of a comfortable life filled with good food. In my actions I often treasure these things above God.

Unable to focus on the sermon I pressed pause and prayed a simple, honest prayer:

“Father I’m ashamed at how I treasure you in my life. Right now I don’t even find myself looking forward to spending eternity worshiping you. It seems kind of boring in this moment. But I know this is not the truth so change my heart to treasure and desire you. Amen.”

Waking up this morning I found God was quick and faithful to answer this prayer! In my time in Psalm 145 this morning verse 3 stood out clearly.

“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised

and his greatness is unsearchable.” 

Unsearchable is a hard concept. It’s hard because we love to measure things and the ability to grasp our surroundings. Measuring the universe is a great example. Browsing through different astronomical sites, there are many different guesses at how big the universe is, with some admitting they have no idea (NASA).

This desire to discover our surroundings is a great, God given trait. I think we can react to the idea of infinity and immeasurability in two ways. The first is to be frustrated by it and to fail to have peace until the measurement is found. The second is awe and praise. We can take joy in the fact that something is so big, great, and expansive that we cannot measure it.

How true this is with our view of God! David claims that God’s greatness cannot be measured and will never be measured. For those that will dwell in Heaven with God for eternity, we will never reach a point in which we can grasp or measure the fullness of God’s greatness. For eternity we will continuously discover more of the endless ocean of God’s greatness.

David spoke of this earlier in Psalm 8:3-4:

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, 

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 

what is man that you are mindful of him, 

and the son of man that you care for him?” 

David saw the expanse of the universe that God holds in his hand and David was driven to a question that he couldn’t answer: “Why do you love me, such a small part of your creation?”  David was driven to great praise because of this love he couldn’t fully understand.

How much more should this truth bring us to praise our God as we discover much more of the expanse of creation than David ever knew. The ridiculousness of God’s love grows as we continue to discover that each one of us is a small plankton in this unsearchable, immeasurable ocean of God’s greatness.

And this infinite God sent His Son, Jesus, in fullness of God to save us! This endless ocean sacrificed Himself for the school of plankton within it. I am driven to the same question that David asked. Who am I? Who am I that you would love me?

How can we not be driven to treasure this God above all the fleeting comforts of our lives? There is no greater adventure to embark on for eternity; the constant discovery of the unending depths of God.

The Price Tag of Porn

In my past year and a half of being privileged to minister at Virginia Tech, I have witnessed a variety of struggles and sins amongst college men. There is one of these that boldly stands out among these and is or has been a sin struggle for most men I encounter. I am referring to the very prevalent presence of pornography on the college campus. Porn has become something that is increasingly casual and from my time in Greek life, it is almost expected in some circles.

I fear many are blind to the extremely detrimental effects of pornography on people’s relationships, intimacy, happiness, and minds. I’ve personally seen porn ruin intimacy in relationships, lead men into depression, and cause serious addictions.

Sean McDowell wrote a great blog, pricetag of porn, which includes some research that all different faith backgrounds can agree on.

Remembering 9/11

“Adam! Pick your head up and pay attention!”

Ms. Harson quickly snapped at me. I was currently losing my frequent morning battle to stay awake and pay attention in my 7:45 am Algebra class. Picking my head up off the desk I wondered if I was going to be able to make it through another bland morning at Jamestown High.

But this was not going to be an ordinary Algebra class. This tragic Tuesday would take a part in shaping our country and the history the American people.

Today, I had a hard time believing that it has been 10 years since I sat in my classroom, glued to the TV all morning, stunned at what I was seeing unfold.

I was touched by the way that some of my fellow fraternity brothers decided to spend their Sunday morning, remembering September 11th. Led by Kevin Young, these men (and one lady) spent the morning partaking in a symbolic act honoring the firefighters that gave their life that day.

Kevin, Connor, Steve, and Sara climbed 110 flights of stairs on a nearby fire escape, symbolizing NYC firefighters climbing the Trade Towers to save the lives of others.

Seeing my friends climb these stairs was touching to me and I hope these pictures can help you remember and honor those Americans that were lost 10 years ago. Thanks to Kevin, Connor, Steve, Sara, and Charlie for honoring them!

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

“How to Find Forgiveness from a Holy God” Dialogue

I recently finished watching a debate that was help in March 2011 between Thabiti Anyabwile, a Christian pastor and  Bassam Zawadi, a Muslim scholar. They set out to answer the question: “How can we find forgiveness from a Holy God?”

It was helpful for me to better understand the Muslim perspective and the need for Christians to properly articulate our hope in Christ. It takes some time to make it through all the videos but if you do watch one or two I would watch the Christian opening statement and the Q&A session. Let me know your thoughts if you decide to watch!

A couple things I noticed:

- The Christian perspective comes from a biblical basis however the Muslim perspective seems to be largely opinion based. You will notice that the Muslim scholar often uses the phrases, “makes sense to me” or “it seems to me” which points to the foundation of his theology, being his own logic. Thabiti (Christian Pastor) uses logic as well however his foundation of truth is in the Scriptures.

- By some of Bassam’s statements, he seems to be just trying to win an argument for arguments sake. Or in other words he does not seem very evangelistic about his faith. Thabiti on the other hand, has a genuine desire for his listeners to be persuaded to the Christian faith, not to win a debate, but to find eternal life in Christ.

Enjoy!

Giving God the Best Bite

Since I have been back from Hampton Beach Summer Project God keeps bringing me back to a conversation I had with a fellow staff member, Scooter. We were discussing what it means to sacrifice for God in the context of Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live…”.

Scooter had a simple statement that has been burned in my mind this whole week. “We don’t give up anything we really want or desire for God.”

The words fell heavy on my heart because I know it’s true in my life. Many of us have convinced ourselves that we make all these “sacrifices”  to God. But I only give Him the things that I don’t mind giving up too much. My practice of fasting is a great example. There are times when I feel the Spirit leading me to a fast but my selfishness is evident when I sit down to plan which days to fast. Looking through my schedule I’ll think:

“Nope, not Monday. I’m planning on going to the gym and I need to eat.”

“Well Tuesday won’t work. Jenn and I are planning to go to Red Robin and I love those burgers!”

“Ehhh probably not Wednesday either. I’ll do it next week…”

How ridiculously selfish and self centered! I will fast when the Lord leads but only on the day that is most convenient for me. And we do this to God in most aspects of our life. When is the last time you gave up some sleep, or time with friends, or your reputation, or your comfort for God? God commands and deserves our firstfruits but we give him the meager leftovers we don’t even really want instead.

Let’s go with a Red Robin analogy: I need to be giving God that hot, tick, juicy, bacon filled, dripping with BBQ sauce, amassed with union straws, filled with crisp lettuce, bulging with juicy tomatoes, bite of the burger (I described the Whiskey River BBQ burger). But instead we scarf down the whole thing and then give God the little leftover sliver of cold bun on the side that we weren’t going to eat anyways. The irony is that God made that burger. He paid for that burger. He alone deserves that burger. But in His grace He has given it to us.

I better stop with the burger analogy as analogies can only be taken so far before they break down.

Our Lord has blesses us in more ways than we can know but we are so slow to hold any of these things with open hands. We hold them in a tight grip as soon as God puts them in our life. We often love our comfort more than we love God. For me this is often because I have a near sighted view. I have worldly lenses instead of eternal ones.

Paul wrote about the discomfort of his life and the view we should have of it.

“For this slight and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)

Paul was able to face the sacrifices and discomforts for Christ because he knew that they were momentary. He knew there was a much greater picture of eternity that his persecutions were preparing him for. So what was this “slight and momentary affliction” for Paul? Maybe some Jews making fun of him because he wasn’t cool or he had to give up a couple hours a week instead of hanging with friends? Let’s take a look:

“Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.” (2 Corinthians 11:24-29)

Last time I checked, I don’t think getting stoned, beaten, and whipped consistently fits my definition of “slight and momentary affliction”. If Paul can describe these hardships so lightly then my fears of being disliked, seen as foolish, or disrupting my eating schedule seem utterly ridiculous.

But Paul can say these things are slight and momentary because the eternal weight of glory far outweighs even these harsh persecutions. Paul’s seemingly large pile of persecution is really a grain of sand in light of the looming mountain of God’s eternal glory. If that doesn’t get you excited about spending eternity with Christ then I don’t know what will.

Paul’s remedy is a continuous focus on God and His eternal nature. If we are found in Christ we have this eternity to spend with Him and to even be heirs to His Kingdom. I pray that our eyes would always be heavenward and that eternity would always be on our minds. God’s riches through Christ never cease and are ever present in our life. In the words of the author or Hebrews, “let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ²looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1,2)

The Courage of a Broken Heart

For those of you that don’t know, I’ve been in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire for the last 4 weeks staffing a Campus Crusade Summer project. I won’t go into the details of the summer but one aspect of the summer is equipping students to better share their faith. We use different surveys and such to meet people on the beech and initiate conversations with college and high school students lounging in the sun.

As I went out with one of my disciples, Cyrus, I was incredibly encouraged by his gracious attitude toward those he met. Most noticeable to me was his deep love for these people that he didn’t know and his desperate desire for them to know the truth about Jesus. Cyrus’ heart is so evidently broken for the lost that have not heard the good news.

With my Disciples: Cyrus, DaShawn, and Jon

Reflecting on our time on the beach, I could not help but think, “I really don’t desire these people to come to know Christ like Cyrus does.” This was a saddening thought. I have this deep desire for the lost that I have relationships with but for some reason I did not have the same feelings towards the unknown people here. Intellectually I should desperately desire the salvation of these people. Without the knowledge of their Savior, Jesus, they are completely lost and doomed for eternity. Jesus claimed,

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.“ (John 14:6)

How can I not care that much?! What is wrong with me?! Why am I so apathetic?!

It is not that I do not care at all but I know it is not the desperate desire I should have for lost souls. And then I felt God immediately say to me…

“It’s because you’re scared.”

Like a ton of bricks. I don’t love these people well, in part, because I am fearful. Loving these people that do not know God would break my heart. If I really, truly loved these people, my heart would be utterly broken for them and their lost condition. I am scared of giving my heart to these people because I know it will be painful. It’s scary.

It didn’t take me long to refer back to how Jesus related to the lost. He loved to the fullest. In his last days he told his disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.” (John 15:9) With the same, perfect, unimaginable love that the Father loves Jesus, he loves us with. But this love was not all smiles and laughs and hugs. Jesus’ heart was broken for his people.

“And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And  they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.’” (Luke 19:41-44)

His heart was utterly broken for his people to the point of weeping. Jesus was in despair because the people he loved did not recognize their Savior. In the same way I am reminded of the incredible act it is for God to love us. In his decision to love us so completely He leaves His heart open to be hurt. So many people that were created to know and worship their Maker, turn their backs on Him and in doing so, grieve His heart in a way I don’t think I can understand. And God did not have to do this! He is God. He doesn’t need us. But His love is so great that he would take the pain of many turning from Him.

So I find myself taking the easy and less painful road. It is like all those starving children around the world. Our heart breaks when we see those pictures of malnourished toddlers but often we would rather live life not knowing about them. If we are in ignorance then we would not have to experience the pain of seeing their hurt and we can live our happy, comfortable lives. But we were not created for this! Our sole purpose in life is not happiness, but holiness. We are created to carry each other’s burdens, to weep with those who weep, and to share in each others sufferings. We were created to love!

What courage love takes! This is just one of the ways that Jesus is the most courageous man to ever live. I want my heart to be like His. I want to love like Jesus does. I can align with Paul on his desire to be like Christ in Philippians 3:10,11:

“that I may know Christ and the power of his resurrection, and may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

Living a life for Christ is the most satisfying joy but is also painfully heartbreaking. When our lives are likened to Christ’s, he offers his joy, peace, and love that he himself has through his Spirit. But at times this this love comes with heartbreak, pain, and despair.

Jesus gladly accepted this pain and heartbreak as the cost for loving us. I pray that we would have the courage to love people. I pray we would have the courage to have our hearts broken for the lost. To Him be the Glory and the Honor and the Praise.

Whose Thoughts are Really Right?

There are an innumerable amount of world views and thoughts floating around in our generation. How do we really know which one is right? Do they all have some truth to them or is there really a right way to view the world and live our lives? Do we make up our own reality and morality or does someone/something else?

It is a very popular opinion in our generation to believe in a truth that is relative. How many times have your heard, “To each his own” or “as long as it works for you, that’s great!”? Is it really great though? Is everyone’s way of life acceptable?

I hear this same line of thinking being applied to God. Many say that whatever you believe about God is true for you. Is it really though? Think about it for a minute… Could the God of the universe, the creator of everything, really be determined by the line of thinking of the created being? It doesn’t seem quite possible that God is just whatever we make Him out to be or that he changes with each generations’ differing thoughts of Him.

Every one of us tries to fit God into the box that is our minds at some point. We do it because He is safe there. If God is in the box of our thoughts then we will always understand Him and can always rationalize what He does. But we can’t always do that because God does not fit in the minuscule box that is our mind. He even says to us through His Holy Word:

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,so are my ways higher than your waysand my thoughts than your thoughts.”    -Isaiah 55:9  (emphasis added)

Despite this, we often blame God when we do not understand why He does things. We want to be able to rationalize Him at all times so when we can’t do it, He must have messed up somewhere. Maybe he overlooked a couple pieces of His plan and screwed it up a little. But we could not be more wrong in thinking this way. We are the ones that do not see the whole picture. God does not fit in our small rational thinking boxes and His justice is far higher than ours could ever be.

Francis Chan is writing a book about Hell and gives an encouraging word on what our thoughts should be as we address truths brought up in Scripture. Hope you’re encouraged by it!

How can you have Joy Living in the Worst Circumstances?

I’m incredibly proud and excited for my sister Alex, who has been doing a mission trip around the world, called The World Race. She is on a team that ministers to people around the world. 11 Months in 11 different countries. Approaching 8 months of ministry in less than ideal living situations (that’s an understatement) she is beginning to feel the wear of long-term mission work. Alex is incredibly honest of her struggles in her most recent blog post. Her writings have been a huge encouragement and has blessed many. Check it out:

No place I\’d rather be

What an encouragement to hear that the Lord is our comfort when we have no other. Her words remind me of Paul’s in Philippians 4:11-13:

“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Let’s come alongside Alex in prayer for the homestretch of her ministry to the poor and needy. Let her know you’re thinking of her and send her your love!

Praise God that He is our faithful comforter and satisfaction in a world where nothing else is.

What made Brian Welch give up Korn?

Depending on your music taste may or not have heard of the band, Korn. The nu metal band has been around since the 90′s and is one of the most well known in its genres. After helping start the band and participating as lead guitarist for 12 years, Brian Welch abruptly left the band.

So what caused this abrupt leave? It’s a powerful story…Check it out!

God used a real estate broker, submitting to Christ, to change Brian’s life and later many more.

Who is God putting on your heart to be bold with today?

Holy Radiation

If we are claim to be in an active relationship with Jesus we are called to have our lives transformed to look more and more like his. 1 John 2:6 even says, “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” No biggy, right? This is an incredibly intimidating command. In this life we will never be perfect as Jesus is, but how do we start to become more like Him?

I’ve tried lots of things. Staying updated with the latest John Piper books seems like a good idea. Maybe if I listen to 90 percent of Francis Chan’s sermons I can be more like Jesus. How about taking really, really good notes at church every Sunday? None of these things are bad and listening to godly people is a great blessing to us. But they have a time and a place. And that time and place is not on the throne of our hearts that only Christ should sit. Too many of our pursuits of God are through other godly people.

Well what if we wake up in the morning and try really hard to love people more like Jesus did? I bet we could be more like Jesus if we really focus our will power to love more. We can try really hard to faithfully attend church every Sunday, join the choir, get in a small group, help out with volunteer activities, and be that person that is involved in everything. Again, most of these things (church, choir, small group, volunteering) are great, but there’s a problem with our thinking.

We are looking to others that know him. We are gazing at ourselves and our own self effort. We are looking at the wrong people to become more like Jesus.

I thought of this flawed thinking as I came across Psalm 34 this morning:

“Those who look to [the LORD] are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.”

- Psalm 34:5

This verse brought a couple other pieces of Scripture to mind. The first being that of Moses in Exodus 34. After being in the presence of God, “Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.” (Exodus 34:29)

The face of Moses was shining in radiance because he had been focused on God, the source of Radiance. None of the Israelites were radiant with God’s glory because they were looking at second hand radiation, not God’s radiance.

The next verse is a great promise that John wrote:

“Beloved, we are God’s children now and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when [Jesus] appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” (1 John 3:2,3)

John answers our question and tells us that we will be fully like Jesus when he returns. And this happens because “we shall see him as he is.” Our transformation to the likeness of Christ is based on how clearly we see and know him. The clearer we see and know Jesus, the more we will become transformed to his likeness. Jesus is the supreme Radiance in which our Christian lives should get all their radiance.

Like Moses, we can radiate God’s glory, but it is through focusing on the Author and Perfecter of our faith. No effort on our own can self will this radiance. May we, like David, have confident, radiant faces from gazing on the LORD. Even today, focus on Jesus and who he is. Contemplate what the Scriptures say about him. Reflect on his life and sacrifice. Talk about Him with others. Ask that God would give you a deeper revelation about His Son today, by the power of his Spirit that powerfully works in us. Let’s not seek out too much second hand radiation today, but instead focus on the Radiant One to soak up His Holy Radiation. In the end it is all for His Glory and His Fame, so let us praise Him for who He is today!