Are They Lost??

So, the other day while I was at work, an IT guy was there helping to switch over the computers and their systems. He happened to ask if I was married, and upon saying yes, he said he was sorry for me. I responded by saying that I loved being married, to which he didn't respond. Later, I came to find out that he had at some point gone through a divorce. He mentioned how his children's mother, not his wife or ex wife, had probably gotten rid of something that he used to own.
It was so sad for me to hear this man's thoughts on marriage and life. It makes ones heart break and wish that you could take the time to sit down and try to explain through the scriptures how marriage is supposed to look. God lays out such an amazing picture of marriage in the New Testament and yet so many people view it only as a way to get what they want and to fulfill their own needs.

"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit fin everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband." Ephesians 5:22-33

These verses do not merely talk about submitting to one another, but help to show the amazing love that Christ has for us. For, he treats us as HIS bride, the to love, care for, and he definitely gave himself up for those that believe in him. I think those whose eyes have not been opened to the truth lead a sad and empty life. They say that they love life, wouldn't change a thing, and yet they are still searching for what is missing.

The Beginning of the Rest of My Life

It has almost been two months now since my marriage to my wonderful and beautiful wife. It seems like time has been moving so swiftly. I have loved every minute of it, and yet know that with time it will only become better and better. God surely knew exactly who to create for me to marry and His wisdom and mercy never ceases to amaze me.
It has been several months since I took the time to write, and there has been so much to happen in that time. First, I thought that surely by now I would have a job, at least one that pays more than the hotel, and that it would be in the field of higher education. I mean, that is what I just spent the past two years of my life preparing for. So, as the summer turned to fall my mindset went from one of worry, to one of wonder. Knowing that no matter what happened within the near future that my Lord and Savior would be right by my side taking care of me every step of the way, just as he has from the moment I was brought into existence. For a while I was worried that living in this house, without a better job would be the most miserable thing ever. However, I soon discovered that this was completely untrue. I have two amazing things with me, that seem to completely offset and take the balance away from a mediocre job. First, I have an amazing and gracious Lord that has blessed me with some many wonderful things, sometimes things that I am not thankful for. Then at times like these I sit back and look at the wonders that He has done for me. For, in caring for me He has blessed me with my mediocre job, blessed me with the most beautiful wife, given me great friends, many of which are also family members, and provided me with a house to live in.
I seem to never to be able to give enough thanks for all of the many blessings that God has poured into my life, and yet He never seems to falter from pouring them continuously into me. I am blessed beyond understanding and measure.
There are no words to express the joy that comes from being content with what the Lord has deemed right for you in any specific moment, and yet here I am trying to do just that. The only thing that I can say to try to express what I am feeling is that there is a peace and joy that comes from relying solely on the Lord that cannot be found in anything else.
To be able to ride into work in the mornings with my wife and read scripture, to be able to see the many blessings that accompany each and every day, to be able to attend a church where the sovereignty of our Lord is put on display, and to know that my family loves and cares for me, no matter what I am doing. It truly is a blessed life that I lead.
To everyone who is down on themselves and thinks that there isn't any hope in what they are doing, know this: that the Lord has placed you where you are for a specific reason and that He does "all things for the good of those who love him and are called according to HIS purpose."

Living the Cost

Many times people talk about what they want out of life. They talk about what life can give them, in the short amount of time spent here on earth. Yet, so many times people forget, or more likely, choose to never even consider what they can give to this life. Jesus talks about this very issue in the book of Matthew.
"Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?" (Matthew 16:24-26 ESV)
This is a snapshot of what it is like to follow Christ. We are not called to gain the biggest pile of possessions while here on earth, but rather to reach out to those around us with love and grace. So many people look at life as our one chance to be happy, and therefore miss what life is truly about. Life isn't about the stuff we gain, the stuff we lose, or the positions we hold. However, it is about bringing the beauty and glory of Christ to a world in need of great healing. When we die, we won't be bringing our mounds of material possessions with us, in fact not even the clothes that we are buried in will be ours. Rather, we will then be able to truly see what it was all about.
There are many people that think that this life is it, that there isn't another thing worth living for or working towards. I would argue the opposite. We see in the Bible the many different ways that Jesus portrayed this idea while on the earth. He did not merely go through the steps and finish his earthly life without working towards a goal. No, he lived out his whole life for one purpose: to bring salvation and forgiveness to the world, by bringing glory to his name. As his disciples we are called to the same purpose. We are to preach the gospel, the truth of God with conviction and power to those who are in need of salvation and grace. Just as the apostle Peter, along with the other apostles, was arrested in the book of Acts for preaching the name of Jesus, so should we. Not that our goal should be to get arrested by the authorities, but rather that our goal should be to continually preach the gospel in a manner that causes the name of Christ to be heard and experienced. In our preaching/declaring of God's goodness, we will be despised, just as he and every one of his disciples have been throughout the ages. It is when we are not despised that we should have cause for concern. For Jesus told us that we would be hated and despised because of him.
By taking up our cross every day, and being willing to lay down our desires in order to see and experience the kingdom of God being brought about in our world we gain a deeper and more rich understanding of the blessing and mercy of God. He tells us that we will have nothing to fear and that he will always care for us. Many people take this to mean that they will never have any need or want in this life. This could not be further from the truth. Jesus tells us that he will care for us and never forsake us, not that he will spoil us and cause us to forget him. Rather, each and every day we need to see and be thankful for each and every blessing that we are given.

Learning

       Why do we learn? There are many people that would give a ready response to this question. Their responses would range from the typical; we learn to gain a better place in the world, we learn to get a better job, we learn to better ourselves in our overall state, or the least popular idea, we learn because we love it. When I first entered college I would have declared many of the same answers as the former listed above. However, during my time spent at Geneva College my view on this issue has changed immensely. I no longer look at learning and study as a means to gain a better place in life or a way to make money. I have come to love learning and everything that comes with it. Through the classes that I have taken in the Higher Education program I have seen the beautiful truths that a life of learning can lead to.
      If we love learning, not only will we love learning new things about subjects that are commonly taught at institutions of higher education, but we will come to love learning new truths about the grace and mercy of God. The more we learn about the world that we live in, the more we will learn about the different aspects and the depth of the person of Christ. The beauty that is displayed all around us through the creation should cause us to be amazed by the greatness of our God. Yet, there are many times that we look at things that are not of a primary interest to us as useless or pointless. This is a very poor, and harmful, way to look at the things that God has created. If our primary interests are in areas of literature, education, or philosophy we may not have as much interest in the sciences, medicine, physics, or engineering. However, this does not mean that we should not have a great appreciation for those things.
      God has created the world with such order that we can be amazed at the greatness of the universe while still beholding the beautiful intricate parts that exist. Learning should not be about what it will get us, but rather about how much we can know about our creator. A love for learning gives fuel to the fire that now burns within me. I want to know as much as I can about a wide array of topics, not so that I can posses a certain amount of knowledge, but rather so that I can know more about my savior. The more I study the Bible, the more I see the beauty of God's sovereignty shining forth in every part of creation. The more I study creation and the creatures in it, the more my eyes are opened to truths found in the scriptures and the magnitude of how great and powerful our God is.
       Learning is not about things that fade away, things that do not last, things that "moth and rust destroy". Rather, learning should be about the knowledge that we can gain about our savior, Jesus Christ, and the work that he did on the cross for those that love him. It should be about striving to gain an understanding of the universe that God created to sustain the lives that we so often take for granted. Learning should be about a love for the truth. The only truth comes from God, so a search for the truth should only lead us closer to the Holy and Righteous One.

Suffering

Why is there suffering in this world? There is one answer that sheds light on this topic very easily. That answer is sin. I am NOT saying that you suffer because of a direct sin that you have done. This could be the case with certain sins, ie. murder, theft, or other such things, you will suffer punishment from earthy powers. However, all suffering is the direct result of the sin that permeates our lives and world. As Christians we need to try to combat sin through the righteousness that has been imputed to us through Christ's work on the cross. We oftentimes hear the phrase, "but they are such a good person" or "what did they do to deserve such suffering?" These statements are not true anyway. I was recently listening to a song by KB and it brought about these thoughts. It said, "Why do the good always suffer and die, they don't, that only happened once." That simple statement has caused me to think deeply the past few days. There has only ever been one good person to live upon this earth. Since that is the case, there are never any "good" people that suffer here on this earth. We only suffer because of the effects that sin has had upon our world, yet, the only reason that sin exists in this world is due to our direct disobedience to the command of God. Therefore, because of the sin that we have brought into the world, we suffer.
Yet, suffering is not always a bad thing. Yes, sometimes it can be very painful and very hard to go through. But would we rather say to God that we wished our life was easy and knew and trusted him little? This rather than to suffer some in this world to be enlightened with the mercy and grace that God has shown to us and to know the great mercy he shows to us daily, to learn how to trust God in everything that we do. Because of the way that God has shown throughout the history of the world that when, the church as a whole  or individual Christians, we suffer we grow by amazing leaps and bounds. The church throughout the world has grown in persecuted countries, while here in America the numbers grow while the church does not. I do not mean by church a building and amount of people inside that would claim to attend because of faith. Rather, I mean the church, those that truly worship God in their hearts, not because it looks good, not because it is the easy thing to do, not because it is what their family has always done, but those that serve Christ daily, with or without food, with or without shelter, with or without the promise of life.
We need to suffer as Christians. If we are not suffering in some way, then we are not stepping out of our comfort zones enough. Suffering brings about a change in the way a person sees the world. Many times it brings about two different responses. The first is to curse God and blame him for our suffering. The second is to take joy in knowing that through your suffering you have the gift of being able to express the wonderful grace of God. We can see amazing examples of this throughout scripture. Two great examples are that of Job and Paul. Job has his whole world taken away, all but his wife. Yet, he says that the Lord gives and takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. This is an amazing example of the way that we should approach suffering. Every good thing that we have on this earth is a gift from God, there are no good things that we deserve. Paul's example is also truly eye opening. We see the amazing way that he shares the gospel of Christ with those that he comes in contact with throughout his whole life, and yet he is beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, and left for dead more times than not. Yet, he says, "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead."
(Philippians 3:8-11 ESV)
Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ take great joy in your suffering. Learn what God has to teach you through those trials that come, for they will come. Life will not be easy, but you will be held safely in the arms of Christ if you truly trust in him. No matter what trials come or what dangers you may face, you can take comfort in knowing that you have a savior that intercedes for you each and every day. The Lord of all creation cares for your every NEED and will always carry you through to the end. Use your sufferings to bring glory and praise to His name and those around you will see His glory shining through.

Music

In many Christian circles today there are large arguments about music. What is appropriate in church, what should we listen to out of church, and even the occasional question of whether Christians should listen to people in the music industry at all. There are a few things that come to my mind when talking about music. When it comes to what is appropriate in church, I would say that as long as it brings glory and honor to Christ alone, then it can be appropriate. I do believe that there are certain congregations that are in different places musically then others. Part of this reason is due to their upbringing and things that they have been exposed to. I do think that there are some styles of music that are less appropriate for a church setting. Not because they are in and of themselves bad, quite the contrary, but merely because they make it harder to understand and are not as easily understood. For instance, musical styles like rap or heavy metal/screamo. These styles may have many good things to say about Christ and his glory, but they may not be able to be understood by a congregation. I recently listened to a song by KB called, "Here We Go". I believe that it is one of the best worship songs that I have heard. In order to understand what I mean by that I think that we need to understand what worship is. I would define worship as any time spent declaring the glory and majesty of God. Therefore, anything that draws your eyes/heart to the throne of Christ should then be considered worshipful. If it draws your eyes away from Christ then there is an opposite effect that takes place in ones life.
I believe that there are many churches who do not use songs within their congregational worship times just because they believe that they may offend someone in attendance. Now, I am not talking about a certain style or genre, but merely because of the words that are said. More "Christians" would be offended by a song that talks about the sinful hearts of man that can do no good on his own without the divine intervention of God, then by a secular song being sung in their Sunday morning service. Again, more "Christians" would say rap in any and all forms is of the devil and should never be uttered within a church, and yet they would sing a song about Jesus not intruding upon our lives and waiting for US to open doors so HE can act. This is one of the sadest states within the church today.
KB's song "Here We Go" states, "Here we go, we're fighting just to see another day, to behold the beauty and the glory of his face, here we go.... every day I have one goal to convince myself there's one Lord, it's not me or the things i long for.... my heart's so prone to go astray, every morning i pray, its a call to grace, i beg the lord to give me vision, to see the beauty in the scriptures...If you could see what God does to our hearts, it's light breaking through the darkness... He will come and get US..." How can we see anything but Christ when looking at this song? Yet, because of the way that it is written and sung there are people who would say that it does not become a Christian to listen to or long to worship alongside the men singing that song. As John Piper has said many times before, God is glorified most when we are enjoying Him. He does not receive glory when all we do is think about ourselves. He does not receive glory by our statements implying that unless we act, there is no salvation. God takes glory in himself ALONE!
If you enjoy rap music, or would like to check it out, I would highly recommend KB's new debut album entitled, "Weight and Glory."

Love

What is love? Scripture lays out many qualities for love, ones that most of us have probably heard a hundred times. They are used at weddings and as ways to try to get people to act "lovingly". However, these are just actions that come from someone who is a loving person. What makes this person loving? I think that the answer is found in I John 4:7, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us."
(1 John 4:7-12 ESV)
We see here the amazing love that can exist within us. If love is from God then the only way that we can truly love, is to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to trust fully and only in Jesus Christ. John clearly says here that, "whoever loves has been born of God and knows God." Now, some people might say, "how can this be true?" I would point back to the text where it again says, "if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us." I love what this passage means to us as Christians. It puts such a greater calling upon us to share the gospel with those we come in contact with. Without God, there is no salvation, no love, no hope. However, when a person comes to a saving faith in Christ, there is salvation from sins. There is a deep love and passion for others. There is HOPE!
Without God in our lives, all of our attempts to love others fail. We use our "love" to be manipulative, greedy, and selfish. We act as though our deeds are what love is, when our hearts couldn't be further from love. We act as though we deserve something for the "love" we show to others. How can this possibly be love? We have an amazing example of what true love looks like in this passage from I John. He says, In this the love of GOD was made manifest among US, that GOD SENT his ONLY SON into the world, so that we might LIVE through him." It isn't about what actions we do or who they are done to, in one sense, but rather it is what we have living in us and coursing through our bodies. Is it our sinful, selfish, depraved state that we are born with? Or rather is it this love that God displayed through the appearance of his son? This is a question all people must ask themselves. Without Jesus being the propitiation for our sins, we never would know what love is or even looks like.
Even though we can now love because of Christ living in us, our love is oftentimes still tainted by our sinful humanness. We will only truly love upon receiving our purified bodies when we join Christ, worshiping him forever, in paradise.
Praise God for his loving kindness and mercy that he has so graciously poured out upon those whom he has chosen to draw to his glorious presence!!! Amen and amen!