Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Life is Like a Waterfall

Yesterday, I took a day off. To most of you, that isn't a big deal. Everyone takes a day off every now and then. To me, it's huge. Between two jobs and school, the only time I ever take a day off is for a wedding, funeral, or because I'm going out of town (which almost always means I'm the one driving, which means it isn't a day off). But yesterday, I took a day off.
My friend Lauren and some of the people she works with at Awanita Valley were going hiking at White Water Falls in NC, so I went with them. Hiking has been a favorite hobby of mine for a long time, although you wouldn't know it now because I hardly get the opportunity to go, and if you see me, I don't really have the look of a hiker, but I love to do it. So I took a day off and went hiking with some friends.
In the book I've been reading, The Way of the Wild Heart, Elderedge has mentioned that sometimes when he is at a stream or in the woods, God shows him a heart-shaped rock or something like that, to show him that God is constantly wooing him. So, as I hiked and played in the stream above the waterfall, I prayed that God would give me a heart-shaped rock somewhere on the hike to remind me that He is also constantly wooing me. Guess what! I did not find a heart-shaped rock anywhere, and I looked. As I continued to walk and pray, the thought occurred to me (or rather was placed in me) that it's kind of stupid for me to ask God to give me exactly what He gave someone else. God's love is infinite, so it makes sense that He could and would use and infinite amount of ways to show us that He loves us. So I changed my prayer. I prayed that God would show me in whatever way He wanted to that He loves me and is wooing me.
Something came to me a little while later. I don't know if it was God speaking to my heart about my life and about life in general, or if it was just a neat analogy that I thought up (although I find that most of the time I think something is just a neat idea I thought up, it really is God speaking to my heart). Life is like a waterfall. Well, more like the water in a waterfall. For a while, things are smooth. There isn't any turmoil, and it even sometimes seems as though we aren't moving at all. At other times, we come across obstacles in our way, rocks or trees, that make us change our path. Still other times, we go into a free fall and hit the ground pretty hard. At the end of this free fall, I also noticed there a couple of possibilities (which are not choices, but often forced on us). Either we can be pushed forward at the end of the free fall, moving toward other obstacles or smooth times, or we get churned under the water again and again. It's not that we are necessarily making bad choices or not following the Spirit's guidance, but we just get hit by things over and over. Often times, when we are in this churning stage, we don't notice it, but there are other people who are allowed to use us to avoid churning themselves (praise God that our trials can be used not only for our betterment and refinement, but also for that of others). All this is just a crazy thought that ran through my mind yesterday as I stared at the waterfall.
After hiking some more, another thought came to me...no two particles of water in a stream, river, or ocean, ever follow the exact same path, so why should I expect my life to follow exactly how someone else's has. In fact, I should expect that no one has EVER lived their life the way I have lived mine, but that my Almighty Infinite God still has all of our lives mapped our and He is waiting to reveal this map to us.
You are in a position in your life to do something for God that no one else on the planet is in a position to do. You are uniquely created and placed for some work that God wants to do in and through you. Think about it. Pray over it. Believe it.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

The Pursuit of Perfection

Last night Sarah and I watched The Last Samurai. It was not the first time we'd seen it, nor was it the first time I'd noticed what I'm going to blog about, but it was a reminder.
Background: In the movie, Tom Cruise plays Captain Nathan Algren, a Civil War hero who has suppressed numerous tribal rebellions of Native Americans and is hired by the Japanese to help them suppress the rebellion of Samurai leader Katsumoto. After the first battle, Algren is taken captive by the Samurai. I use the word captive loosely, considering he is free to roam the village of the Samurai freely, and it is also in the village where Algren finds freedom from his internal chains of captivity.
This is what Algren writes in his journal concerning the Samurai: They are an intriguing people. From the moment they awake, they devote themselves to the perfection of whatever they pursue. I have never seen such discipline. I am surprised to learn that the word "Samurai" means "to serve," and that Katsumoto believes his rebellion to be in the service of the Emperor.
The Samurai Algren comes into contact with pursue perfection in everything they do. There is no mediocrity in their lives, for mediocrity is a disgrace to them. Personally, I tend to be a perfectionist, but still at times I prefer to achieve mediocre things in place of putting in hard work to do the best I can. Maybe it's just me, but it really irks me when I see a person or people doing just enough to get by...just enough to not do badly.
This brings me to my reflection from this. Is my walk with Christ mediocre? Yes, I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior...I'm not going to Hell when I die. That's enough just to get by. But am I pursuing perfection in everything I do? Am I doing all things to the glory of God, as I have been commanded to? Is my performance as a Christian an adequate reflection of the great God that I claim to serve?
Don't get me wrong...I'm not contending for a works-based salvation. I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that nothing I have done or could ever do could earn me a place at the Table of my Master. It is by grace through faith we are saved, don't be misled. However, I do agree with James, who wrote "Someone might say, 'You have faith, but I have deeds.' Show me your faith without doing anything, and I will show you my faith by what I do" (Jas. 2:18).
Another thing, the word "Samurai" means "to serve." You can do things to the best of your ability for an infinite number of reasons, but whom do you serve? Do you pursue things to serve yourself? your family? your friends? your boss? how about your God? The great leader Joshua proclaimed to his people, the Israelites, "Now respect the Lord and serve Him fully and sincerely. Throw away the gods that your ancestors worshiped on the other side of the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord...As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord" (Jos. 24:14,15b). Choose this day whom you will serve.
So, today, as you read this and go about your life, regardless of what you do for a living or what you do for fun, devote yourself to the perfection of whatever you pursue. And as you devote yourself to perfection, do so in service not to Emperor of man like the Samurai, but to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
"As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord."

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

I <3 My Wife

Have I told y'all about my wife, Sarah? I know I've mentioned her in a few blogs, but I haven't really blogged about HER, so here she is:
My wife is the most godly woman I have ever met. When she reads this, though, she'll think to herself that I obviously don't know her too well if I think that she's that godly. However, to argue my point before she even brings it up, I've never met a truly godly person who believed they were godly. They believe they are trying, but know that they haven't achieved godliness. That's where my definition of godliness comes in: Godliness is the pursuit of godliness. Maybe I'll blog on that some other time, but this is about my wife. Sarah loves Jesus and she tries her best to pursue Him and seek His face, thankfully even moreso that she tries to seek me and my happiness (which is, by the way, more often than not very different than what Jesus desires for me).
Sarah is also the most compassionate person I know. When she sees others hurting or in need, she does her best to meet their needs and carry their burdens, even if it means she and I take on other burdens. For those of you who don't know us, I would never be angry or upset with Sarah for showing compassion to another person, no matter what the cost is to us. Sarah is always willing to go without things which she enjoys and things which would make her very happy so that she can help others and meet their needs before her own. I believe this is the very synopsis of the Gospel: loving others!
Sarah also puts up with a lot from me. I am currently working two jobs and going to grad school, and although my life is incredibly busy and most days are 14-16 hours long (if I'm lucky), Sarah is still the one who is sacrificing. See, Sarah's love language is quality time. One of the best ways for me to show her that I love her is spend time with her, but she understands that I do a lot, not to be doing stuff, but so that she and I can have a better life and that, a year from now, we will have more quality time than we expect to have. To some of you, quality time may not seem like a big deal. However, I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that Sarah's sacrifice of quality time is a bigger sacrifice than me being tired and worn out. I know that her understanding of me being gone shows her love more than me working to pay our bills (and occasionally taking her out on the town). I believe with all my heart that her willingness to love me, be kind to me, and allow me to just sit and decompress when I get home late at night, even when she has had a horrible day, is more of a sign of Christ in her than the fact that she and I both work for a church.
Sarah knows how to encourage me. She knows that I can get really discouraged by the wrong words, and so she makes it a point to encourage me both verbally and in her actions. For our 1 year anniversary, she spent 5 months getting friends of mine from the past and present to write encouraging notes and she put them all in a journal for me. THAT'S ENCOURAGEMENT! Sarah knows what it takes for me "love tank" to run on full, and she makes it a point to do what she can to fill it.
One more thing before I'm done for the day: it may seem like a small thing, but it's a big deal to me. Sarah works hard all day long, but if I have the evening off, she makes it a point to make sure her schedule is clear. Even if she had a really hard day, she still takes the time to fix dinner (even if it's a frozen pizza) and enjoy the evening with me.
There's plenty of other things I could say about my wife, but this is a blog, not a book. For those of you who know her, you know how awesome she is. For those of you who don't, too bad...you're missing out on a friendship with the greatest woman in the world...and she's mine :-D

Monday, July 23, 2007

Eudoxus

In a comment recently, someone asked what the significance of the word Eudoxus was, so here's a short blog explaining.
First of all, you have to know that I am a math geek. I love numbers and logic, and that's the way God made me.
That being said, Eudoxus was a Greek mathematician who contributed to the writings of Euclid (Euclid's Elements is the basis for just about every Geometry book ever written). He lived from 408 BC to 355 BC.
The word eudoxus actually means "good teacher." For those of you who don't know, I am in grad school to get my MAT so I can teach high school math, and hope to one day be called a good teacher.
Of course, if you want to look at this from the spiritual perspective, there's more to it. In the book of Mark, a rich young ruler said to Jesus, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus' reply began with another question: "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone." (Mark 10:17-18). They called Jesus good because He IS God. Jesus was known as a rabbi, and the word rabbi also means "teacher." Therefore, He was and is the true eudoxus. I am just trying to emulate Him.
Jesus was the ultimate because every thing He did and everything He said was from the Father, and so it was not just good, but the best, and I strive daily to be like Christ, and, as part of that, strive to be a eudoxus.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Warrior and Lover

Have you ever noticed that all of the hard trials and problems in life seem to either happen all at once or right after each other? According to John Eldredge, this is part of the Warrior stage of a man's life. These are the times when we are either forced to fight for what we believe in, or we choose to fight fight for what we believe in. Everyone needs to know what they stand for and do what has to be done to fight for it. This is where the Enemy steps in. If he can't beat us during the battle, then he'll continue to bring more and more battles to us. That's where I feel Sarah and I have been lately. Our faith has been strengthened as a result of several big trials we've dealt with this year, and yet we just keep getting tried. If the Enemy can't beat us, then he tries to overwhelm us in battle. This tactic isn't necessarily to eventually beat us, but to get us so tied up in battling that we forget that life is more than a battle.
That's where the Lover comes in. Even in the midst of the battles we face, God desires to woo us into an intimate relationship with Him. Battling for our faith is a very important part of life, but loving God and loving others is even bigger. The Enemy wants us to forget that. If he can keep us from loving, then he was won. Love is result of the grace and mercy we receive from our Lord.
My Challege to You: Even in the midst of your battles, make sure you've taken time to love God and love others.

Quote from Bryan, a friend of John Eldredge quoted in The Way of the Wild Heart:
"My heart rests more now than it used to...it knows that not everything is a fight...much of life is simply a romance."

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Date Night

For those of you who don't know, Sarah and I make it a point to have a "date night" at least once a week. Sometimes this means we go out to dinner or a movie, sometimes we rent a movie, sometimes it includes spending time with other friends, but its purpose is so that we can spend quality time together.
Well, last night was date night. Our plan was for her to cook a light dinner and for us to just spend the evening together, not really doing anything (considering we had no money, we couldn't do anything anyway). Yesterday morning, however, someone felt led to leave an envelope marked "Date Night Fund" on Sarah's desk while she was out of the office. Inside the envelope was $40. We don't know who left the envelope, but we were very grateful for it. So, instead of sitting at home eating a light dinner, we got to go out to eat at a Chinese buffet and we had some money left over, so we bought one of the new Nooma videos. Thank you, whoever you are, for being willing to follow the Spirit's leading.
Father, thank you for a wife who is happy just to spend time with me, even if we aren't doing anything specific. And thank you for burdening someone's heart to give us some money to go out to eat. You never cease to shower us with good gifts, and yet we seldom turn our hearts to You in thanksgiving. Help me to love you with my life, my everything, even if I never receive another thing from You. Amen.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

First Instincts

When I was a lifeguard, the people I worked with and I trained long and hard to make sure we knew what to do in case of almost any type of emergency. We studied first aid and practiced different procedures to help us save the lives of others. After all of the training and hard work, it became instinctive for us to act and react according to our training.
The Christian walk is the same way. I want to seek Christ with all of me. I want to be so close to Him that, when I'm faced with situation, I INSTINCTIVELY know what to do, because I know what Jesus would have me do. I want my first instinct to not be the one my flesh wants, but the one my spirit, fueled by His Spirit, wants for me.
Father, draw me closer to You every day. Help me to react in such a way that would honor You and bring You glory. Amen.

Friday, July 6, 2007

Friendship

Sorry I haven't blogged in a couple of days. I had two finals this week for summer school, and the next term starts this Monday. Does it never end! It's all good, though. God has taken care of me thus far (even when I've doubted), and I know that He'll continue to do so (even when I doubt again).
Today I had the opportunity to go back up to the camp I used to work at (Awanita Valley http://www.awanita.org ) with my good friend Jim. We went to visit our friend Lauren and just hang out for a few hours. After that we went to another camp to see a couple of other friends. I have to say that just a few hours with true Christian friends can totally pick you up and encourage your spirit in a way that few things can, even though the hours today were not filled with intentional encouragement. It's good to know that I have friends who are genuinely joyed to see me, and I hope they know I am joyed to see them.
Thank you, God, for not allowing us to go through this life without the companionship of true friends. Thank you for knowing that, although You are all we truly need, we often desire to have those friendships, and You use those friendships to bring us closer to You.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Offering

So, here's a song I wrote at work the other day. I'm not a musician, so feel free to mock and laugh. If any of you musical people want the lyrics, go for it, just make sure when you become famous I'm listed as having written the lyrics.


Offering

Verse I
I can feel Your Spirit moving
I can sense Your presence here
And I know it's me You're wooing
As You say to me, "Child, draw near."

Prechorus
And I
Want to be closer to You than I
Have ever been before and I
Want to dwell within You like I
Have never lived before

Chorus
I want to live in Your presence
I want to dance in Your Spirit
I want my life to bring
A smile to Your face
I want to live in Your mercy
I want to dance in Your grace
I want my life to be
An offering to You


Verse II
I can feel Your Spirit calling
I can sense Your voice in me
And I know that You want all of me
My heart, my head, my hands, my feet

Prechorus
Chorus
Chorus

I want me life to be
An offering to You

Prechorus



That's it...feedback welcome :-D