Monday, January 28, 2008
beautiful song
There is this extraordinarily beautiful song playing... and I am so close, I can taste it.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
blackout
I have recently discovered that I almost completely black out any and all memories that I have that are unfavorable. Unless I have a specific reason to remember them, for the most part, I believe that I automatically black-out all unfavorable events from my memory.
Just interesting.
Just interesting.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
What clothes are you wearing?
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2Cor5:17)
When Adam and Eve partook of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they became enriched in sin. This sin caused them to be separated from God, which Paul once described as the most terrifying position a person could ever be in. To regain a piece of their security, it what now seemed to be a violent and hostile world, God made clothes for them of skin.
Their seperation caused fear for their life, or perhaps one could even say, the fear of death. Their future became uncertain, and their life, both eternal and mortal was now on the betting table. Being separated from Him, God exhibited one of the greatest acts of love that exists in all the Bible.
His new creation, the image of his existence, instilled with a will and freedom of choice, chose the tree over Him. He was betrayed. The ultimate experience of betrayal, and God in His love felt the knife rip the deepest. If any of you have ever spoke long with me, you will know that for a long time, I have had a great fear of being cheated on. I have silly reasons for this, but the greatest wrong I think a person could ever do to me within a relationship would be to pick someone else over me. Through my eyes, that is what I see with the fall of man. Adam and Eve cheated on God... they betrayed Him. For whatever reason, they believed the servant over God, they trusted Him over their heavenly father who brought them into this world.
I cant even begin to imagine how hurt this must have made God. Once more, now that they were in "sin", God couldn't even look upon them, as it would have certainly killed them (as we saw happen to priests in the OT). And yet, in Genesis, we see a God that is a bigger man that I think I could ever hope to be. Though betrayed, he still loved. Seeing them afraid of the world without Him, he created clothes of skin for them, so that they would not feel too insecure in this new world. Knowing that life with Him would be fatal now that they had chosen sin, he took His new creation, the greatest act of his power and character, and separated them from Himself. Though His entirety was invested into their creation, and his only will was to live forever with them, he let them walk away, knowing they could never survive any other way.... and so, God removed Adam and Eve from the Garden, and guarded the gate with and Angel that would never let man in again. Though we often see God acting in great love by giving his only son, right then in that moment, He let two of His children walk away, as he knew it was what had to happen. (This is surely a God that would understand the prodigals father's reaction)
Fast forward several thousand years, and we find redemption. After God had lead all of mankind towards the greatest journey to His heart, God sent His son to die in the paints of mortality so that all of His creation may live, as he intended Adam and Eve to in the garden on day one of their existence.
Now, to my friends of the new creation, it seems that we are in the garden once again, or at least that is what I am under the impression of. When Jesus came, he wiped our sin clear, and sent the Holy Spirit to, for lack of a better phrase, walk with us in the garden once again. Now, knowing the history of all of creation, we have been given the same choice that Adam once had in the garden.
Do we walk with God in the garden, living in the Love of God, or do we once again choose to bite from the tree and adorn ourselves with clothes once again. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not necessarily talking about running around naked, though personally that doesn't sound like such a bad idea, haha. The clothes I speak of are the things created by us and even by God to satiate our security in a world without God. However, new creations, may I remind you that we are no longer wondering outside of the garden. The world we live in is safe and beautiful, as it is the kingdom of God. So, I ask you friends, what clothes are you wearing right now? What are the things that you once adorned in the world, that brought you safety and security while you were fighting with sin?
To a new creation, I do strongly believe, sin is inapplicable. To think otherwise is to believe that anything we can do as new creations would overturn the great sacrifice of the Son of God. I am strongly impressed that as a new creation, we are not bound by the limits of sin. The shackles of error and terror have been removed. Now that we are new creations, we have been instructed to "renew our minds daily". This, my friends, I do believe is because now as new creations, sin is a very different beast to your life. Whereas in the OT, sin was a physical plague, ensnaring all men who were trapped behind their error, the NT paints a new portrait. To those in the new covenant, the old has gone and the new has come. To you, my friends, sin is nothing more than a cognitive disillusion. There is no such thing (to you) as seperation from God. Yes, there are actions that are better for you and the kingdom of God than others, but dont think that they are always the most intelligent decisions either. May I remind you that it is our God tells us that he will use "the foolish things of this world to confound the wise", and we are still living in the disposition where as if a person wishes to become wise in the things of God, they must first become dumb to the things of this world.
Today, and forever, we live in the garden that God built. It doesn't make sense, and it hardly seems possible, but it is true. Today, as much as then, the Spirit of God walks with us still. Today, you know Him as the Holy Spirit. The errors of our past, by the grace of God, have been washed cleaned by the love and grace of God.
It is about time we stop wearing these silly clothes as if there was a world to fear, and start walking with God in the garden once more.
When Adam and Eve partook of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they became enriched in sin. This sin caused them to be separated from God, which Paul once described as the most terrifying position a person could ever be in. To regain a piece of their security, it what now seemed to be a violent and hostile world, God made clothes for them of skin.
Their seperation caused fear for their life, or perhaps one could even say, the fear of death. Their future became uncertain, and their life, both eternal and mortal was now on the betting table. Being separated from Him, God exhibited one of the greatest acts of love that exists in all the Bible.
His new creation, the image of his existence, instilled with a will and freedom of choice, chose the tree over Him. He was betrayed. The ultimate experience of betrayal, and God in His love felt the knife rip the deepest. If any of you have ever spoke long with me, you will know that for a long time, I have had a great fear of being cheated on. I have silly reasons for this, but the greatest wrong I think a person could ever do to me within a relationship would be to pick someone else over me. Through my eyes, that is what I see with the fall of man. Adam and Eve cheated on God... they betrayed Him. For whatever reason, they believed the servant over God, they trusted Him over their heavenly father who brought them into this world.
I cant even begin to imagine how hurt this must have made God. Once more, now that they were in "sin", God couldn't even look upon them, as it would have certainly killed them (as we saw happen to priests in the OT). And yet, in Genesis, we see a God that is a bigger man that I think I could ever hope to be. Though betrayed, he still loved. Seeing them afraid of the world without Him, he created clothes of skin for them, so that they would not feel too insecure in this new world. Knowing that life with Him would be fatal now that they had chosen sin, he took His new creation, the greatest act of his power and character, and separated them from Himself. Though His entirety was invested into their creation, and his only will was to live forever with them, he let them walk away, knowing they could never survive any other way.... and so, God removed Adam and Eve from the Garden, and guarded the gate with and Angel that would never let man in again. Though we often see God acting in great love by giving his only son, right then in that moment, He let two of His children walk away, as he knew it was what had to happen. (This is surely a God that would understand the prodigals father's reaction)
Fast forward several thousand years, and we find redemption. After God had lead all of mankind towards the greatest journey to His heart, God sent His son to die in the paints of mortality so that all of His creation may live, as he intended Adam and Eve to in the garden on day one of their existence.
Now, to my friends of the new creation, it seems that we are in the garden once again, or at least that is what I am under the impression of. When Jesus came, he wiped our sin clear, and sent the Holy Spirit to, for lack of a better phrase, walk with us in the garden once again. Now, knowing the history of all of creation, we have been given the same choice that Adam once had in the garden.
Do we walk with God in the garden, living in the Love of God, or do we once again choose to bite from the tree and adorn ourselves with clothes once again. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not necessarily talking about running around naked, though personally that doesn't sound like such a bad idea, haha. The clothes I speak of are the things created by us and even by God to satiate our security in a world without God. However, new creations, may I remind you that we are no longer wondering outside of the garden. The world we live in is safe and beautiful, as it is the kingdom of God. So, I ask you friends, what clothes are you wearing right now? What are the things that you once adorned in the world, that brought you safety and security while you were fighting with sin?
To a new creation, I do strongly believe, sin is inapplicable. To think otherwise is to believe that anything we can do as new creations would overturn the great sacrifice of the Son of God. I am strongly impressed that as a new creation, we are not bound by the limits of sin. The shackles of error and terror have been removed. Now that we are new creations, we have been instructed to "renew our minds daily". This, my friends, I do believe is because now as new creations, sin is a very different beast to your life. Whereas in the OT, sin was a physical plague, ensnaring all men who were trapped behind their error, the NT paints a new portrait. To those in the new covenant, the old has gone and the new has come. To you, my friends, sin is nothing more than a cognitive disillusion. There is no such thing (to you) as seperation from God. Yes, there are actions that are better for you and the kingdom of God than others, but dont think that they are always the most intelligent decisions either. May I remind you that it is our God tells us that he will use "the foolish things of this world to confound the wise", and we are still living in the disposition where as if a person wishes to become wise in the things of God, they must first become dumb to the things of this world.
Today, and forever, we live in the garden that God built. It doesn't make sense, and it hardly seems possible, but it is true. Today, as much as then, the Spirit of God walks with us still. Today, you know Him as the Holy Spirit. The errors of our past, by the grace of God, have been washed cleaned by the love and grace of God.
It is about time we stop wearing these silly clothes as if there was a world to fear, and start walking with God in the garden once more.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
backwards
As it turns out... I often am the victim of backwards conclusions.
When I try and be nice, it comes off as mean.
When I try to treat someone as my equal, it is taken as me looking down upon them.
When I try and speak calmly, I am taken to be argumentative.
When I do not speak at all to keep the peace, I am labeled as an instigator.
When I try to treat someone with respect, often times they are simply offended.
Will someone please explain to me what the HECK I am doing wrong here? Over the last several years, I have completely unintentionally (and not by negligence mind you, but by action) ticked off tons of people, and honestly, I have no clue why. Either their is some mental block between me and the rest of the world, or I am simply a victim of backwardness.
Still not sure about all this, but I am trying to sort things out.
When I try and be nice, it comes off as mean.
When I try to treat someone as my equal, it is taken as me looking down upon them.
When I try and speak calmly, I am taken to be argumentative.
When I do not speak at all to keep the peace, I am labeled as an instigator.
When I try to treat someone with respect, often times they are simply offended.
Will someone please explain to me what the HECK I am doing wrong here? Over the last several years, I have completely unintentionally (and not by negligence mind you, but by action) ticked off tons of people, and honestly, I have no clue why. Either their is some mental block between me and the rest of the world, or I am simply a victim of backwardness.
Still not sure about all this, but I am trying to sort things out.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
things that I know
Okay, here are some thing that I know:
1st - That it is vitally necessary for me to be in remembrance of God. For some reason, my life seems to quickly drift in bad directions whenever I loose focus of a Christ-centric world.
2nd - That with regards to education/ college, my specialties include (but are not necessarily limited to): website design, engineering/ physics, church history, Christian theology, debate, writing, business management, philosophy and any and all bits of seemingly useless information about how the world around us works.
3rd- I am in need of some serious help here.
4th - I am really bad at this whole "friendship" thing.
5th - I would really enjoy fitting in at some point in my life, aka, finding my "nitch"
6th - I am quickly forgetting what it even feels like to be in a relationship with a girl. I have lost memory of the feelings (both physical and emotional), and I barely even remember those brief moments were everything wasn't unnecessarily complex.
7th - I would like to enjoy that company of another, but I don't even know how to dream about that anymore... I can just remember it as a fact... that it is a nice thing to be in the company of another.
8th - I really have to get down this whole waking up a 7am. My life is a strange balance... on one hand, I am trying to let go and "just life", and yet on the other, I am trying to instill discipline into my schedule, because I know it is a good thing in the capacity I am trying to use it.
9th - I have no clue who even bothers to read this blog, lol.
1st - That it is vitally necessary for me to be in remembrance of God. For some reason, my life seems to quickly drift in bad directions whenever I loose focus of a Christ-centric world.
2nd - That with regards to education/ college, my specialties include (but are not necessarily limited to): website design, engineering/ physics, church history, Christian theology, debate, writing, business management, philosophy and any and all bits of seemingly useless information about how the world around us works.
3rd- I am in need of some serious help here.
4th - I am really bad at this whole "friendship" thing.
5th - I would really enjoy fitting in at some point in my life, aka, finding my "nitch"
6th - I am quickly forgetting what it even feels like to be in a relationship with a girl. I have lost memory of the feelings (both physical and emotional), and I barely even remember those brief moments were everything wasn't unnecessarily complex.
7th - I would like to enjoy that company of another, but I don't even know how to dream about that anymore... I can just remember it as a fact... that it is a nice thing to be in the company of another.
8th - I really have to get down this whole waking up a 7am. My life is a strange balance... on one hand, I am trying to let go and "just life", and yet on the other, I am trying to instill discipline into my schedule, because I know it is a good thing in the capacity I am trying to use it.
9th - I have no clue who even bothers to read this blog, lol.
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