this doesn't make sense.

Luke 6:27-36

"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Now most of us, myself included, have one intrinsic, instinctive thought when it comes to giving. It may be conscious or subconscious. It may come in this form or that. But nonetheless, at ground zero, it is there screaming at our heart from 18 inches above. It says simply this: "What will i get in return?" Of course we will all deny this flatly at first, but I guarantee you that if you will be honest with yourself you will find, as i have, that this is indeed the case. Of course there are obvious, more sinister examples like, "If i give money to X Charity, then a tax exemption will come year-end." Or, "Look, I gave the church $X, they should definitely put my name on a pew." But to be honest, i'd say that there are probably plenty of people who don't give in this way. Still, the mind is always asking, "What will i get in return?"

You see, we as humans give to people that are thankful. It makes us feel better. We give to our family, because we love them and we love the reaction they have on Christmas morning. We give to organizations that will update us on how our money and resources are being used tangibly. We give to places so that we can make a difference. Let me be clear. These are not bad reasons. But this is not the highest picture of Grace. And more importantly, this is not the way Jesus gave, nor is it the radical way He invites us to. This is what I'm getting at. The way we give is not the way Jesus gave. It surely is not what Christ said in Luke 6. He called for a radically new way of thinking about giving. A type of giving that would separate Christ-followers from the United Way. From UNICEF. From good people who give asking "What will i get in return."

I promise that you cannot get around that passage above. It is very concrete in its language. It has no qualifiers. It has no loop holes. It does not call the government to action. It does not call rich people or middle-class people or poor people. He doesn't single out Socialists or Capitalists. He singles out Christians. He singles out those who would call themselves "little-christs" as it literally meant in the Greek. This is not for the faint of heart, but only for those who seek radically after a Savior who actively demonstrated everything He calls us to.

To go back to the last post, here is what i think is the answer:The most unselfish thing you can do for another person is to give when they don't deserve it. To give when you know they will not thank you. To give not knowing of any tangible results. To give to your enemies. To give when it seems beyond hopeless, beyond helpless. "Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked." Then who we are will become what we are. We are sons and daughters of the Most High already, but then we will act the part.


i said earlier that Jesus did not give the way we give. This is the biggest part of what i'm trying to communicate. Ask yourself this: What would have happened if Jesus had come down to earth to die only for thankful people? For people who would accept His gift and let it change their lives? For people who would actually follow what He was trying to tell them? The answer is simple. HE WOULD NOT HAVE COME IN THE FIRST PLACE. The world (you and i included) has rejected Christ for over two thousand years. For goodness sake, WE CRUCIFIED HIM. The very race that He came to save from eternal slavery to sin scoffed at Him and nailed Him to a cross.

Its Grace. It comes up in everything. It IS everything. God calls Christians to join Him in establishing His Kingdom. He doesn't need our help, but He offers us a part anyways. He wants us to do it by taking the Grace He's given us and spreading it around the world. We need to stop giving only wondering "What will i get in return?" We need to start giving in a way that doesn't make sense.

ask yourself this.

What is the most unselfish thing a person could do for someone else?




i was asked that today by someone whom i respect very much, and it sparked one of the most meaningful, challenging conversations that i've had in a long time. If the first thing that comes to your mind is "dying in someone else's place" then good, but challenge yourself to really think about it conceptually. Go beyond a specific action and come up with an answer that can be applied to every day life. i think the answer is also very counter intuitive to human nature, and that's why you should question the first thing that comes to mind.

2008 + 1

20 years ago today I was in my mother's womb as she attended the 1989 Rose Parade in Pasadena, California.



I feel that 2008 was a tough year for the world, but that is no surprise because every year is. However, for the United States, we are spoiled (conservative word), and for our standards this year was quite tumultuous. I find no value in recapping all the events which made it so, but if you aren't sure what I'm talking about, then stop being an ostrich.

Even for me personally, it was an up and down year. I ended my first year of college and started my second year. God allowed me to enter into something exceptional, and then showed me that I needed to grow some more and took me away from it. It's interesting though, anytime I really sit down and think about the year in relation to the rest of the world, it was overflowing with a grace and mercy that is too much for words. I look at Mumbai and Darfur and Zimbabwe and Gaza and a host of other places and wonder how in the world I could ever complain. I look at families that I met in Boone who live in real poverty and am disgusted with myself for taking so many things for granted. I look at my church in Boone which is spending 6 million dollars on a new building and find myself angry and perplexed that college students with no money are taking care of those impoverished people in the same town. I am even more upset with myself for living almost 20 years on Earth before I really felt any compassion towards those less fortunate than I. I look at how I have hurt people and crave their forgiveness. I am sorry that I and so many Christians have turned people away from Grace and Love.

But this is 2009. it is New.

I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.

So I say, "My splendor is gone
and all that I had hoped from the Lord."

I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.

I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.

Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:17-23

the light of His eyes pierces darkness.

finals.

finals are no fun.

and oh yeah, Yeezy

I must confess, I am an avid Kanye West fan. Not an avid rap fan (at least not main stream), but definitely a fan of him personally. I can't put my finger on one thing about him. I certainly don't agree with his point of view on some issues (e.g., women and politics), but i just typed the word "issues." How many musical artists, especially popular artists will even come close to the issues? Not many, for sure. I respect that he has opinions. So many in our generation don't. I respect that he actually has a vocabulary and uses it. So many people don't.

He's just different. He does things no one else does. But most of all? He's passionate.

anyways, i don't have a man-crush on him. i just these past couple of days have felt a biggie-sized burden relating to Kanye. Lost = Kanye West. I don't think he really has a clue about why he's here on Earth. His mother died recently and he and his fiancee have split up. His new album 808s & Heartbreak is all about those two things. But the track that really kinda started all this for me is the last one on the album, Pinocchio Story. It's a six-minute live freestyle in Singapore. The fans are screaming because they don't know English, and it adds an eerie effect to what he's saying. Now, I know that people have been through much worse than Kanye, but it just goes to show that at the bottom of it all, the soul of humanity yearns for meaning. Some type of purpose beyond the temporal, day-to-day life that we live. He doesn't have it, and neither do people all over the world.

here's some of his freestyle:

Its so crazy
I got everything figured out
But for some reason I can never find what real love is about
No doubt
Everything in the world figured out but I can never seem to find what love is about

Do you think I sacrificed real life
For all the fame of flashing lights?
Do you think I sacrifice a real life
For all the fame of flashing lights?

There is no Gucci I can buy
There is no Louis Vuitton to put on
There is no YSL that they could sell
To get my heart out of this hell
And my mind out of this jail
There is no clothes that I could buy
That could turn back the time
There is no vacation spot I could fly
That could bring back a piece of real life
Real life, what does it feel like?
I ask you tonight, I ask you tonight
What does it feel like, I ask you tonight
To live a real life
I just want to be a real boy
They always say Kanye, he keeps it real boy
Pinocchio story is, I just want to be a real boy
Pinocchio story is to be a real boy

in some ways, maybe in the most real ways, Kanye West is no different than anyone else. Whether or not you have fame and fortune, you're still lost. And whether or not you're really lost or just barely lost, you're still lost. But that's the cool thing. A guy who was God carried His own cross up a hill called Golgotha and died on it. And the reason he did that was so that people like Kanye, people like you and me, could be found. We could never find ourselves, but Jesus can find us.

thanks

"So the administrators and the satraps went as a group to the king and said: 'O King Darius, live forever! The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or man during the next thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the lions' den. Now, O king, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered—in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.' So King Darius put the decree in writing.

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before."


Why is it that I am not thankful enough when living in a free country (which is my own)? Here Daniel is, already exiled from his home country, under intense scrutiny and he's giving thanks. Wait, he just found out that prayer to anyone other than King Darius would result in death by carnivorous lions. And he's still giving thanks. To recap, he's giving thanks, even though he's an exile, and even though it may cost him his life.

You see, I forget that Ephesians 5 says to give thanks for for "everything." Literally, everything. There isn't a lot of wiggle room in that word. I mean, certainly there are things that seem to lend nothing to the idea of thankfulness, but I think the idea is that we realize that God has a plan for us that is better than anything that we can come up with.

God has given me more than I could ever deserve. Do I know why? No. But today, and everyday, thanking Him for that grace will be something I do more often.

the profundity of simplicity.

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
~J.R.R. Tolkien.



Some of the most profound statements in life are expressed in the most simple forms.

here are some others to ponder:

"Love your neighbor as yourself."
-Jesus

"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life."
-Jesus

"Love God, and do what you will."
-St. Augustine

i am not, but i know I AM

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."
~John 1:14


I just started reading Louie Giglio's book i am not, but i know I AM, and was reminded of this passage from earlier this year when Mark talked about it at CRU. The more i read that sentence, the more and more i realize just how intense it is.

The Word. It stands for everything about Jesus: His character; His purpose; His attributes. But do you see and? Jesus didn't just exist in heaven with all those things. On top of His love, His grace, His truth, His mercy, His kindness...and. And means action. It means that the Son of God left the riches of Heaven to put on skin. He is not a god represented by ideologies and human thought, and the reason why is that He is and He became. He is the only God, and the reason why is that He is the only God who has represented Himself--through Himself--in the human form which He created after Himself.

And. The second one is just as cool. Not only did He come, but He dwelt. He took up residence on the earth He created. On the earth in a tiny corner of a tiny galaxy in a tiny corner of an infinitesimal universe. On the earth filled with a bunch of iamnots who often think much more of ourselves than we ought.

I cannot, nor will I ever be able to grasp this. God dwelt among us. He did it so that you and i could know Him personally. Personally! He dwelt among those He created and thus among those who hated Him. And yet the very reason He left heaven was to die for the very people who hated Him. He came to show grace. And because He shows grace, He gives us the truth. The truth is that He came to give us life. And not only life, but life abundant and full!

do you know the God who created you?

Chains be broken, lives be healed

"Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.

After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.

Let us acknowledge the LORD;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth."
~Hosea 6:1-3

What an amazing picture of God's grace! Knowing the whole story of Hosea makes this passage even more powerful, because it's an incredible picture of God's unfailing love and grace to His people Israel; the same love and grace He pours on us today.

This is the story of Hosea. He had married a woman named Gomer, and they had two children. Well, Gomer decided that she was done with Hosea. And so she became a prostitute. A prostitute. Can you imagine going through that? Can you imagine just how incredibly sickening it must have been for Hosea to see his own wife choose that lifestyle? I can't. All I can imagine is that that must be one of the very toughest things that could ever happen to anyone.
But the story doesn't end there, and this is where it gets really mind-boggling. Read this:

The Lord said to me [Hosea], "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods..." So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and 10 bushels of barley.

Wow. Here's Hosea--who for all intensive purposes is a widower because his wife was basically dead to him--making the conscious choice to love her still. And this is no cheap love. It's definitely not romantic, and I suspect it never was from then on. But it was still love, to be sure. He has to buy her back! He doesn't just say, "Oh yeah, I guess I love her, God." No, he has to buy her out of slavery!
The most exciting thing about this is that Jesus did the very same thing. We have prostituted ourselves to anything and everything. We've deliberately forgotten and even forsaken God. Yet He loves us so much that He sent His own willing son to die the death only we deserved. What love is this!