Jesus, Friend of Sinners

So, as most of you know, I'm a huge fan of music. I love it and I have to get my fix every day or I get a little sad. Amy bought the new Casting Crowns album (only because she got a gift card when she bought it). Let me just say... AMAZING! There's some average songs, but let me tell you what. It's got some super awesome lyrics. The song Jesus, Friend of Sinners is amazing. It basically punches the typical church in the teeth! It says

"We cut down people in your name with a sword that was never ours to swing"
"The world is on their way to you, but they're tripping overme."
"Open our eyes to the world at the end of our pointing finger"
"Nobody knows what we're for, only what we're against when we judge the wounded."
"What if we put down the signs, crossed over the lines, and loved like you did?"

Wow... Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. We cannot seek and we definitely cannot save if we avoid... Jesus told us not to judge, yet that is exactly what we do when we see a man on the street, a pregnant teen, a pregnant homeless woman... We say "She's homeless! She should be more careful to not get pregnant. She put herself in that position." I say shut up... Shut up and show that person that you care. Show that person that Jesus does indeed care for her. O, I know... you're busy. Your show is coming on in 10 minutes. The food needs to get started. You need to go to church... I'll just say that one day God is not going to say "Congratulations, my child. You were able to prepare meals on time all the time. You never missed an episode of your TV show. You never missed a church opportunity. Enter into the Kingdom!

He's going to do quite the opposite. He is going to say that when I was hungry, you fed me. When I was thirsty, you gave me drink. When I was naked, you clothed me. When I was in prison, you visited me. Jesus said that whatsoever you do to the least of these, you've done for him. How about we quit doing things for ourselves and do something for Jesus (aka. the homeless, poor, marginalized, hurting, sick, old, and dying. That's what Jesus would do...

I've been going to downtown Chicago on Sundays doing a program called "Sunday Snacks." We (students at Trinity) fix lunches and drinks and then walk the streets of Chicago and talk to and feed the homeless living down there. There are so many different people out there. Some are super friendly and love to talk, others don't so much at all. Some are so grateful and some don't care much. There's something that a few of them always tend to say. When you ask them how things are going, they will say, as they look upward, "He woke me up again this morning. I can't complain." AHA! That's it, isn't it. If we are grateful for waking up in the morning, maybe we won't get upset when we burn supper or when it seems like there is no time in the schedule for anything. I think we can all learn a lot from the "bums." We would all do well to spend some time with them. As Casting Crowns' song The City on a Hill, on their new album says: "It's the story of the poor man that needs to be told."

Anyways, the reason that I'm posting today is that I actually have an hour of free time between classes at school. So, thanks for reading and have a nice day!

Me... stressed?

I just wanted to let y'all know what I have on my plate now that I have started work.  As of tomorrow (Friday) I am going to start work at my new job.  While I am extremely grateful for this job, I am extremely worried and stressed about how I'm going to be able to get everything done for school and at home.  My schedule is basically Mon-Fri 11-9:30, except for Tuesday and Thursday which is 6:30pm- 12:00 am.  I'm only going to have weekends at home to spend with Amy and Lillian.  Of course, those weekends will be filled with homework and church.  It's one of the most difficult things I've had to face as of yet in my life.  I love my wife and that little baby girl, yet I will only see them, especially Lillian, a couple of times week.  I'm thinking that I'm going to try to stretch out my college to take four years and doing only three classes a semester.  Any other way would just drive me insane.  BAHH!!!  I even have a headache due to the stress.  Now I know how Amy feels when she gets stressed, haha.  I don't usually get stressed but here I am now, stressed beyond belief.  "God will make a way when there seems to be no way."  I sure hope so!

Job Update and an old lesson

So, my last day in the Navy was the 20th.  That also means that the last day of my paycheck was the 20th as well.  God wanted to wait until the last minute to come through for us.  God, in his infinite awesomeness, changed the minds of the company that I interviewed for and they offered me the job.  It is amazing that God took a pretty resounding "no" and made it a "yes."  I am supposed to start on October 3 and it should be pretty exciting.

I'm going to paste something that I wrote while I was on deployment a few months ago.  I like it and it's a bit in your face, but it'll be fine.  Remember, I'm not crazy, Jesus is :D.

6/26/2011; Acts 28

I just happened upon this chapter today. I don’t believe that it was happenstance, though. It talks about Paul’s journey to Rome while being held prisoner. He escapes the shipwreck and is safely on an island called Malta. Paul has already been delivered from death earlier, but now, while gathering fire wood, he is bitten by a viper. I’m not sure what kind of snake it is exactly, but apparently the locals thought that he was going to die. It’s funny because, according to the scripture, Paul doesn’t even give it a second thought. He just sits there and continues on and nothing happens. I guess if you believe that you have a purpose for God and you’re in danger, maybe there is nothing to fear. If God has something for you to do, He is going to ensure you do it. Beware, though, maybe that something that He wants you to do is die for His cause, but as Paul said “Death where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?”.

What is there to fear when you are in God’s will? The worst thing that can happen to you is that you die and get to go see Jesus! Do I fear losing my ability to financially support my family? If I lose that ability doing what God wants me to do, then I am storing up treasures in heaven. Some may say “you’re being a bad husband and father. You need to ensure your family’s safety and basic needs.” I say to them, Jesus told me that he knows each bird that falls from the sky and he provides food for them and he provides “clothing” for the flowers. If he cares enough about those things, then why should I worry about how I’m going to provide for my family? He cares enough and, trust me, he has enough resources to provide for my family. Should he choose not to provide for my family, I’m sure it is for HIS ultimate glory and in the end, my family and I will profit greatly by being his example. I will continue by saying to them that Jesus said that my closest relationships should seem like hate compared to my love for Him. That way, if you say to me “you must not love your wife, daughter, or son because they are near starving and you’re wasting your time helping others.” I can say that I have done exactly as Jesus directed and I can say that “I count it all joy to suffer to Christ.”

The real question is do I have the cohunes to follow through with all of this? Sadly, I fear I do not yet. I use my wife and daughter as an excuse. I don’t want to be too radical for her sake, but I also know that I am using that as nothing more than an excuse. I know that she would follow me through anything. It amazes me how much she and I have changed over the last two years or so, especially her. She is willing to part with large amounts of money for others. She has agreed to move to an area that neither of us has ever lived in or ever desired to live in. We do not have a house to move into when we move. I do not have a job, neither does she. We are kind of living in an unknown right now and she’s doing great! I thank God every day for giving her to me, even though we were completely away from God when we met. God is good! He brought us together to bring each other closer to Him. She has supported me through thick and thin. I’ve put her through so much and she’s stuck with me. God knows what He is doing.

The next part of the chapter talks about Paul’s journey from Malta to Rome. He stops at an island named Puteoli. Here they run across believers. It seems as though Paul had no idea that there were believers here, but here they were. This is awesome to me because we see that the gospel spreads farther than we even know. Notice that it seems that each “church” is just a group of people who have come together, not because they are supposed to, or because it’s the “next step after you become a Christian”, but because once you’re in a family, you want to be a part of that family. The family provides support and protection. Notice how they see Paul and they do not offer to put him up in a hotel or a nice place for a few days. No, they invite him to stay with them. Early Christian homes were not what they are now. They were where church took place. They were where traveling messengers stayed. They were the center of the church. I think that we would be better of if we got back to the home. We do not need an extra building for classes and stuff, we can have Sunday school at home.

I also like this chapter because it shows how Paul’s travels went. He suffered delays just like we do. He was stuck in Malta for three months and even though the Book doesn’t tell us what he did, I’m sure we can say that he spent the time teaching and preaching. Paul did not waste his time there, neither should we. Every moment and opportunity should be seized.

　

Now, I’m going to talk about his meeting with the Roman Jews. First off, Roman Jews? Doesn’t that seem strange to you? It does to me. So, he arranges a meeting with them to explain why he has been sent here from Jerusalem. The Jews in Rome had no idea that he was coming, but they do know about Christianity and says that “concerning this sect, we are aware that it is spoken against everywhere.” Doesn’t that sound familiar to today’s Christianity? It has been so watered down and institutionalized that everyone dislikes it. Almost every other religion in this day and age is accepted except for Christianity. Sure, we “dominate” America’s religion, but by dominating, we have disgusted the masses, anyway… Paul sits down with them and explains, get this, not salvation and heaven and hell and how to get to one and escape the other, but he tells them about the Kingdom of God. As I read the New Testament, it seems as though the Kingdom of God is what everyone cares about. The Kingdom of God is a ridiculously huge topic and I claim to know next to nothing about it, but Christianity is not all about getting saved, going to church, and getting to heaven. If you look at verse 24 & 25, the Jews are starting to believe but then Paul basically gives them an invitation to leave. He tells them what Isaiah says in Is 6:9-10. He tells them that they will not hear or see what this new “sect” is all about because their hearts are hardened. Then he goes for the knock-out punch and says that the Gentiles will listen. So now he is saying that the Jews will not listen, but the Gentiles (the unchosen ones) will listen and received. This of course angers them and they leave. I guess Paul, just like Jesus, feels like there is no room in Christianity for half-hearted devotion to Jesus’ teachings.

Here comes the last part, a part that I find interesting. Paul ends up in Rome with his own place for two years. For two years, Paul hangs out in Rome, maybe he worked, maybe he didn’t, but he was there in a house living. He had neighbors, friends, possibly co-workers. I can say that everyone knew that he was a Christian, because he welcomed all who visited him and proclaimed the Kingdom of God with FULL BOLDNESS without hindrance. This is kind of a wake-up call for me because I have friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Have I told any of them about the Kingdom of God? No, not really. I can definitely say that I am not proclaiming the Kingdom of God with full boldness without hindrance. I am working on this aspect of my life, but its hard when people tell you you’re crazy for wanting to do this or that. I will, hopefully, one day be able to live with being the crazy guy. I tell myself that I am now, but I know I am not. God, grant me the ability to publicly be the crazy guy.

As I said before, I stumbled upon this chapter, but I’ve found some awesome pieces of information in there. Not too long ago, I walked through Rome and Pompeii. All I could think about was that Paul lived here somewhere. Where did he live? He walked these same streets proclaiming the Kingdom. I was in a place that had a thriving Christian underground. The Christians in Rome eventually became tortured and murdered. They were on fire and now I look around and see Christian monuments built to honor a religion, a man, a God, who preferred to have nothing and preferred his followers to have nothing to their names except Him. I saw the Vatican and was awed and appalled at the same time. I saw the Coliseum and was saddened by the persecution and martyring that went on there. I couldn’t get the early church out of my head while I was there, and I wanted to know what they would think about Rome now.

As I walked through Pompeii I wondered if any Christians were living there when Mt. Vesuvius erupted. I wonder if there was a Christian underground there as well. The city worshipped the god Eros, the God of fertility (if I remember correctly). It was definitely not a Christian friendly environment, but it gave me a great perspective on how cities looked back in the early Church’s day. I got a somewhat decent idea of what things were like and what it must have felt to be around back then. I pray that God can give the church and us and individuals the fire to begin to proclaim the Kingdom again. I pray that I will be bold.

Gizmo

I LOVE how our dog hunts squirrels! One day, when I'm not as lazy as I am today, I'll post a video of it. Doesn't matter if they are high up in a tree or on the OTHER side of the fence, she still seems to think that she is going to be able to get to them. She walks so slow and lifts her paw in the air, holds it there, and then puts it down so gently. You can tell she definitely has beagle in her! I think they mess with her too...they will just stay in her sight and stand there and look down at her. One day, she will probably finally catch one in our yard, but you would think she wouldn't even try if they were on the other side of the fence. I do NOT love how we can't leave our dog out of a crate when we leave. In Virginia, we left her in the yard, but I don't trust the fence here and am pretty sure she could find a way out. We left her out in the house and she was doing awesome until she figured out that by the back door the carpet is loose and so she can pull it up. Well after 3 times of her pulling it up and us tacking it back down, its crate time for her. Hate doing it to her, but I don't have money to replace this dirty old carpet anyways.