This Post Is Gonna Remind Ya That You're Mortal

Exaltation through martyrdom.

That's a great way to win friends, influence people, and get retweeted.

Okay, maybe not.

Quick story break. Like most folks here at Cedarville, I go to church every Sunday. I grab my glasses, clean socks, and (what I've termed) my "worship-leader plaid" shirt and head to Dayton. Biggest concern is getting there before the opening song; otherwise I'm forced into the "walk of shame," where I lower my head and plod into the sanctuary laden with guilt for my lack of punctuality.  

(Trust me, it's really embarrassing). 

But guess what? I was in northern Tanzania this summer. And you know what the biggest Sunday church concern is there? It's whether or not the coffee is Folger's or Starbucks special blend.

I'm kidding. It's whether or not the Muslims are going to bomb their church again. 

Aftermath of a church bombing in Arusha, an area of northern Tanzania.

I'm not trying to make light. And I'm also not trying to make another slam at our churches here in the States (personally, I love coffee at church...and Starbucks will be in heaven). But I'm trying to establish a perspective--this type of martyrdom still happens. I think we know that, but we don't always really get that. And sometimes it takes visiting a place where martyrdom--your own martyrdom--is a real possibility to really understand that.

But yeah. Exaltation through martyrdom. 

Philippians has become my favorite New Testament book (fun fact: Hosea is my favorite Old Testament book--I plan to preach on that sometime soon, so there's my unashamed plug that says you should ask me about that passage). It's the first chapter that particularly stands out to me...specifically verse 20.

"My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all boldness, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death."

Interesting. That "Christ will be highly honored." Exalted, if you will. I'm a bit of a theology-junkie, so I find it fascinating that the Greek word here is hupsoo, (ὑψόω) which means to lift up, raise up, or exalt. 

**oh look, cool Greek words! You may pause here to go put on a V-neck, get some coffee, and get that Greek word tattooed on your forearm, you little hipster you.**

And grow a hipster mustache while you're at it!

Okay, and we're back.  Check this: Paul's main concern is Christ's exaltation. And notice, he isn't terribly concerned with how that happens. He isn't concerned whether it's by his life or by his death. His only concern is that Christ is highly honored--exalted. 

Spoiler alert: Paul gets martyred. And Christ gets exalted. He wouldn't have it any other way.

Little note to my post-graduation plans. I'm planning on going to northern Iraq this summer for an internship with an faith-based NPO. Now, as you know, Iraq isn't on the "TOP 10 BEST VACATION SPOTS" for 2013 (or any other year, for that matter). It's dangerous--particularly for Christians. Now, chances are everything will be fine. 

Check out Preemptive Love Coalition at preemptivelove.org 

But it's a strange thing to think about working in a place where you are faced with your own mortality every single day. It's a strange thing to know that anything, including martyrdom, is a possibility in an unstable area like the Middle East. 

Exaltation through martyrdom. 

Ah. To face our own mortality and eternal destiny each day.

But in the end, what does it matter? "My eager expectation and hope is that...Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death." 

Let us live each moment corum deo--"before the face of God."

Sin-Soaked Idolatry

"Worship is the continuous outpouring of all that I am in light of my chosen god." 

Worship. It's a funny thing because it has different meanings to different people. But we don't need another blog post convincing us that worship is more than the songs we sing. We need the reminder, but it's a common topic for the bloggers. Let's just assume we understand that point already.

Worship is an outpouring of my life. It is where I place my time, money, effort, thoughts, words, deeds, and emotions. Every time I make a choice during my day, I am prioritizing something over something else (for example, I often prioritize sleep over homework). Even in these little choices, we see where our loyalties truly lie.

I make little idols for myself daily. Not out of things that are bad, but out of good things. This is the way that sin gets ahold of us--it's been Satan's approach from the beginning. One author I read once said that Satan often tempts us with getting good things by the wrong means. Evil, which is nothing more than a twisting of goodness, exemplifies this point. Look at sex as a great example: God created sex as a beautiful and lovely thing. But sin taints and twists and defaces this gift from God and makes it a broken and dirty idol that we worship.

Idols don't even have to be as drastic as something like a poor view of sex--it can even be found in materialism. This isn't a knock on the American church--materialism is a problem even in places where the poverty level is extraordinarily high. It's a sin problem, after all (though it is true that this particular sin may hit home with the West more than the Eastern church). There have been times where I've walked in a store for one thing and, before I know what's happened, I'm at the counter with more than I ever intended to buy. Or I've bought things I really didn't have the money for.

Yet, to quote Mark Driscoll, "the problem is not in the mall, but in us" ("Who Do You Think You Are?") It comes down to a heart problem. Our hearts are desperately wicked, filthy, and sin-soaked. They naturally desire to worship ourselves, others, and anything besides the One who deserves our worship just by His very existence. 

To worship anything other than the Triune Deity is utter treason. 
It is the highest form of idolatry.

I challenge myself, and you too, my dear friend, to make daily choices to combat heart idols. Borrowing from ideas found in Kyle Idleman's "Gods at War," anything that we find our identity in other than Christ is immediately an idol. 

And how dare we have any gods before Him. 

The Problem of Grace

Confession: the implication of grace often seems mere academic theory.

Grace is extended, but not for me. Grace is theoretically excellent, but pragmatically non-existent.
What seems far more prevalent upon the realm of reality are the damning labels, staggering guilt, and hellish demons--leaving little room for an abstract, metaphysical idea of grace.

"In this twilight, how dare you speak of grace" sings Marcus Mumford ("Broken Crown").

This addition to the blogosphere is for myself. The words of this post are honest--I have never been one for masking the issue at hand. The fact is that sometimes I cannot live in the light of grace.

Grace makes sense academically. I can perform an exegesis of biblical texts on grace. The theological implications of unconditional grace are cognitively understood and believed. But I often find it more difficult than I care to admit to take what I believe and grant it permission to make a change in my anthropological perceptions--including the perception of myself.

But, first, can we not see that the atonement is sufficient? Love and justice agree at the cross. Often, I think of this grace, this agreement of love and justice, as applying to me one day, but not right now. I consider that it will be enough to cleanse me before Heaven, but not enough to free me from all guilt before then. Yet the penman of Hebrews blatantly puts the question on the table, writing:

                "How much more will the blood of the Messiah, who through the eternal
                 Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from
                 dead works to serve the living God?" (Heb. 9:14)

But, second, are we not granted a futuristic vision of what lies ahead for those of us that struggle with a gracious acceptance of forgiveness? From the Patmos-exiled apostle, we read the following:

               "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
                and the authority of His Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
                who accuses them before our God day and night, has been thrown down."
                                                                                                               (Rev. 12:10)

But, third, should it not be encouraging to understand that the word-game, accusation-laden labels that are thrown in the face of the Christian hold no power? As a friend of mine once profoundly stated, "The only label Christ gave to us was 'dead'--and He said that to all of us." The Pauline letter to the church of Corinth carries this to its glorious conclusion, in which we read:

               "Such were some of you--but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified."
                                                                                                               (1 Cor. 6:11)

We have attained eternal life, both "already, and not yet" as the theologians are apt to say. This itself is an undeserved aspect of grace and mercy. St. Augustine, says of the immortal state that "God leads us to eternal life [only] for his mercy's sake" (as quoted in Summa Theologica, St. Thomas Aquinas). When our undeserved eternal reward is considered through the lens of Christ's sufficiency, how can we help but to worship the God from whom all blessings flow--especially grace!

"There is a centre of history and it's the cross" writes theologian John Piper. If that "centre of history" makes no difference to my life now, then what is the purpose for which I have given my life to Christ? What a foolish enterprise and mission! "Of all people, most to be pitied" says Paul of a non-existent resurrection. The same may be said of a non-existent grace.

May God-sent guilt draw us to repentance.
May false guilt be sent back to hell.

"I saw heaven open and before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice He judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire and on His head are many crowns. He has a name written on Him which no one knows but Himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood and His name is the Word of God...He who was seated on the throne said 'Look--I have made everything new'. " (excerpts; The Revelation of Jesus Christ, 19:11-13, 21:5).

A grace that cannot reach to where you are is no grace at all.

A "Theology-Junkie" Goes to Africa

I openly admit that I have an affinity for deep theology and long Greek words.

It's not my fault, really. Just sometimes I enjoy a good mulling over of Calvinistic theology or the Wesleyan approach to remaining sin or comparing pre-millenial eschatology with historical pre-millenial eschatology.

And yes, I admit it. Not only do I understand the terms supralapsarian and perichoresis, but they often make their way into casual dinner conversations at college (much thanks to Alex Boucher for those fantastic conversations).  

I didn't choose this kind of "thug life." This "thug life" chose me.

Or was predestined for me before the foundation of the world, according to John Calvin.

One thing I learned in Africa: sometimes you have to keep the gospel simple.

Now--don't hear me saying that theology isn't important. Your theology determines your anthropology, as it's been said. Theology informs your view of God, which will then inform your view of people and how you interact with them. That means it's important.

But, sometimes, I have to stick my thoughts on the dispensational approach to the nation of Israel over on the bookshelf and bring the basics of the gospel back to the forefront of my life and interactions. 

While in Africa, our team was able to share the gospel in over half a dozen secondary schools. 

This is the family. We were still at the awkward "I-don't-know-you" stage at this point.

And at times, it felt like we were giving the most obvious and basic points of the gospel. There was no deep theology, no heated Calvinistic/Arminian arguments, and no questions of whether or not that African drum should be used in the worship service. 

We came back to the basics. 

>> We are created with value and worth.

>> But we are separated from God by sin.

>> Jesus died to bring us back to Himself.

>> It's not enough just to know this--we have to put our faith in it.

Revisiting those basics was not only good for the students.
It was good for those presenting as well--it reminded us of the complexity, yet simplicity of the gospel.

And what was cool was that, after the presentation of the basics, the students needed more. They would ask us questions about academics, relationships, and religion. They asked simple questions. But often, they asked hard questions: "How do I live as a Christian when my family is Muslim?" or "Isn't Jesus just a good prophet?" or "How can God have a son that is still one with Him?"

And that's where theology and study of the Bible came into play. For instance, I lost count of the amount of time we spent trying to explain Trinitarian perichoresis. We didn't realize that's what we were doing, but in explaining how the three persons of the Trinity are unified, that's exactly what we were doing. And God gave all of the team just the words and verses we needed to explain and answer the questions we were asked.

We should always be trying to know more about God. Theology is important. But as I heard a preacher once say, we lose sight of Jesus when theology merely becomes an academic pursuit as an end in itself.

After all, the demons know Scripture too...and they shudder.

Satan is one of the best theologians in the universe, and he's damned for eternity.

I'm often guilty of falling in love with an academic theology instead of the God who died for me. I trust that I will never grow tired of learning more about the Messiah. But I hope that I will never forget the basics of my faith.

Africa taught me to hold fast to the basics of the faith.

And not just to hold fast to them--but to share them with the nations.

Ramblings of Insomnia

"These are the things that should keep you up at night."

I had a prof say that to my class last semester. We covered some deep topics: sex trafficking, human slavery, HIV/AIDS, third world economics, and first world urban poverty. The list could go on.

And the weekends. Of course we can't forget the class simulation weekends.

Three days as a homeless person. 

Three days as a refugee.

I still have flashbacks from time to time. Things that wouldn't be proper to write through this venue. 

You'll just have to take the classes or ask me sometime.

But yeah, flashbacks. I talked with a friend the other day who mentioned dreaming about the weekend. Tonight, as I tossed and turned, I had images of events pop back into my head. I had the prayer I constantly recited to myself as a "refugee" that weekend come back to me, with all the mental images that went with it.

I already couldn't sleep--and now thoughts of third world refugees, Swahili phrases I'm learning, and the gospel of Jesus to all ethnic groups were crowding my head. So it was time to go find a 24-hour coffee shop and write.

Little did I know at the time, but there's not a single coffee shop lobby open at this hour in all of Westerville, Gahanna, or New Albany. Talk about a disappointment.

But, as I tend to do from time-to-time, I prayed as I drove. I started running through any and all thoughts that decided to come invade my cranium at that moment. It's not that uncommon.

I started thinking about how I ended up in Columbus this summer, of all places. 

I started thinking about how I want to impact people and wondering how and where I'll do it.

I started thinking about how I get to go to Africa in a few weeks and whether I'll end up living there.

I started thinking about how I am so thankful for learning to see potential in the inner city.

Lots of questions, yeah. It'd be a lie to say I don't have questions.

I mean, who doesn't, right? 

But Christianity has to be all or nothing. My favorite theologian (because every blog post should have at least one CS Lewis quote in it) says it best:"Christianity, if false, is of no importance; and if true, is of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important."

Everybody's living for something. 

But at the end of the day, you better make sure it's going to make a difference. 

I've always been an athlete. I've played hockey and soccer since I was just a little kid. We won city championships, division awards, and district titles. It was awesome. But when it's all over, if those victories are all I got out of life, I'd be pretty bummed out.

You've got to find a way to impact people and to do so on both a present and future level. It's not enough just to say "Here's how to get to heaven, but I don't care about your situation right now." That's bogus. Neither is it enough to say "Let me help alleviate your situation now, for that's all that matters." That's just as bogus.

People are both physical and spiritual beings. 

Impact people. Change the world by changing one individual life at a time. 

Just don't sit there assuming someone else will fix the problem. Get on board. Educate yourself.

Let others educate, pour into, and mentor you. 

It's all or nothing, folks.

I've finished the last of the sparkling grape juice I bought at 1:00 this morning. Drank it out of a mason jar like some kind of wanna-be bootlegger. But there's my rambling.

Now you see what happens when I get insomnia. So if you don't want me going off preaching like this again, ya'll better pray I get some sleep tomorrow.

"These are the things that should keep you up at night."

A Lot of Pondering about Big Words like "Sovereignty"

Is it possible that God doesn't have a plan for our lives?

The validity of God's sovereignty is not something that we talk a whole lot about in evangelical circles. We assume it, emphasize it, and don't totally understand it. We tack on Jeremiah 29:11 without a second glance at the context (hint: unless you're an ancient Israelite, you can't directly apply that passage) and go about our business.

Fear not, however. With even a cursory exegesis and some basic hermeneutics, we can coincide our beliefs with that of orthodoxy and conclude that God is sovereign. He has a plan for His creation.

See? Even jerks are part of the plan. They help us feel better about ourselves...

But what about a plan--and by that, I mean a specific, pre-ordained, personal plan for our lives?
Seem cut and dry? It isn't as easy as that.

And even if you hold that such a plan does indeed exist (spoiler: I do), that doesn't make things automatically explanatory to the questioning and oft uncertain soul. People will ask questions. I suggest that if we ourselves are not asking similar questions, but instead remain behind a faux impenetrable wall of what is and is not up for discussion, we do ourselves a disservice.

What a world of hell we would be in, should our terrestrial existence here be undetermined and left to an unsettled deity, whose godhood consisted of twiddling his thumbs and making half-certain guesses as to what each day would hold.

Lately, that's been on my mind. What could be worse than the fact that my life is not controlled, not planned, and that the circumstances I have found myself in over the last year are all the result of a willy-nilly fate? That my faith is in a God that either doesn't give two cents about what's going on, or who says from heaven "Your guess is as good as Mine, Josh."

Sarcasm, yes. Truth? I think so.
And, truth be told, I would not still be around to write this if I wasn't confident that God isn't incompetent and that He is indeed a sovereign God with a plan.

I'd have taken myself out of the picture a long time ago.

So what, then? God is sovereign. He's in control. He's got this. He's armed with a plan. Awesome.
Big. Freaking. Whoop.
What does that mean, bro?

It means we can be confident. Confidence, at least for me, is always fluctuating. It depends on how familiar I am with my circumstances and surroundings--and I mean that both figuratively and very, very literally (i.e. AC Town).

If I'm not familiar with driving in downtown Columbus, then I'm not going to feel confident. But, as I drive more and more here in the suburbs of Westerville and Gahanna, my confidence increases. I know where things are (like the McDonald's I'm once again frequenting--although I'm having trouble finding a Starbucks).

Familiarity. I meant that literally too. I've been so far out of what I'm familiar with for so long that I've just had to accept a "new normal" and a "new familiarity." Eventually, you've just got to learn to accept the plan.

Unfortunately, we aren't let in on the plan all the time--at least not right away. Unfortunately the plan sometimes means moving to a new city you didn't expect to a month ago. Or struggling in a class you thought would be a piece of cake four months ago. Or not getting engaged over the summer like you intended to be a year ago.

As Dr. Rob Turner likes to say, "God didn't bother to ask me for advice." And we're so glad for that.

The tendency is to wonder. I'll shoot straight--all night I've been running through a lot of "what if's" in my head. Again, my favorite theologian sums up all those "what if" questions in one sharp, yet true statement. CS Lewis responds to such questions by saying the following:

"To know what would have happened? No. Nobody is ever told that."

Well shoot.

Honestly though, I think that's okay. You ever read a "choose-your-own-adventure" book? Those are great because, no matter what happens in the storyline you go with, you can always go back and see what would have happened had things been different.

We aren't afforded such a luxury. We don't get to see.
Oh, that's right. That's where faith comes in.

We serve a sovereign God. He's got a plan. Hold onto that.
Now excuse me as I go back and re-read all this.

God knows I need the reminder more than anyone.

AC-Town

It became an overnight joke with our friends at Cedarville. Rumors and jokes started coming in, as we tried to guess what this "AC-Town" actually was. Some of the best were that:

     1. AC-Town was really a sketch frat house. Or...
     2. AC-Town was really some haunted mansion. Or...
     3. AC-Town was really a cult (I'm still not convinced this one isn't true).

Yep. This response would come back to haunt me...

Boring but important backstory:
AC-Town was birthed out of a housing situation on the south campus of Ohio State University. Jake, Brian, and myself, three current or former department heads from Resound Radio (Cedarville's student radio station) are interning in Columbus this summer at 104.9 The River. One of our members had a connection with one of the men in this house, and had found space for us to sub-lease this summer.

But then we started getting more information about the house--or, as they call it, "The Shed."

Notice the key phrases...

Now, I realize that I'm a digital media major, but even I can do the math on this one. Six beds for nine people does not add up to the odds being in our favor. Crammed together with not enough beds in a strange house with strange people in a strange city.

And then I found out one of the guys goes by the nickname "Bearclaw." 

Oh, AC-Town. 

Oh Brian, no reason to be nervous...........

I arrived on Saturday afternoon. Brian and Jake arrived Tuesday night. Within just a few minutes of having all three of us there, we shut the bedroom door and conversed. The place was dirty, not well-kept, crammed, old, etc. We quickly decided that it was time to turn our backs on AC-Town forever and find a happy, quiet, and clean apartment elsewhere. A place with space for us, as opposed to trying to share a small house with 9-12 people. 

Without enough space to even sleep. 

Yeah, it was already time to bid adieu to AC-Town.

That was a pretty good summary of how we all felt.

We considered sneaking out. You know, tossing our stuff out the window in the middle of the night and all that? Not suspicious at all. But eventually, we thought better of it and decided to check out some apartments closer to the radio station in the morning. 

This summed it up nicely as well.

We held off on sneaking out. We went to our internship training day and hit it off really well with our fellow interns. Afterwards came all the apartment shopping, which none of us had actually done before.

 

We were more lost than the proverbial needle in a haystack.

We ended up finding one potential apartment complex that seems promising. More looking to come over the weekend. Hopefully, we'll be able to escape AC-Town for good on Monday morning.

But until then...

There are other hilarious little details and such. You can ask us about those individually. But now you're caught up on what's going to be a fantastic and infamous and story-filled and
 hopefully AC-Town(less) summer. 

What in the World Am I Doing Here?

I look around at a city with 800,000 people and wonder what in the world I'm doing here.

This isn't even close to what I'm used to. Most of my last three years were spent in a small college town in the cornfields of Ohio. My summers found me back in my 15,000 person town in the middle-of-nowhere: Michigan's Upper Peninsula. While to many, Columbus may not be that large, that new, or even that impressive, it's an altogether strange experience to be in a place like this for more than a brief overnight visit.

It's insane. This city is only an hour from Cedarville University, where I'm a senior digital media major. But the world of difference between cornfield college town and city college town makes them feel a million miles away from each other. I may as well be living on another planet.

I'm not used to everything being so spread out, so populated, and so...well...BIG. I'm not used to the smell of stale smoke everywhere, or limited parking on my one-way street, or so many restaurants, bars, and stores all in one location. I'm not used to locating a grocery store, walking there (to maintain my one parking spot I found at the house), and bringing back just enough cheap groceries to sustain me for a few days.

Then there's the house. I live on campus at Cedarville, so it's not like I'm not used to living with other guys and all that. But it's definitely a little different sharing a house, as opposed to a dormitory. One bathroom and one shower make it a little more difficult for folks with similar schedules. One washer and dryer, however, means the old college principle of "the best time to do laundry is late at night" is still holding true. Still...the entire feel of things is different.

And then there's the reason for being here to begin with--interning and working. With the incredible opportunity to intern with promotions/marketing at a radio station in Columbus also comes the need to work a job to provide financial stability for rent, food, and gas. Effectively working two jobs, balancing their schedules, and doing so in a new environment will prove certainly rewarding and certainly challenging.

That's not even considering Africa this summer, either. In the process of everything else, I'm also in the middle of raising funds for my July missions trip to Dar es Salaam, the capital city of the African country of Tanzania. Paperwork, passports, and the always uncomfortable support letters asking for money get thrown into the mix of unfamiliar territory for me this summer.

But here's my hope.

It's God. Plain and simple.

I can already tell that it's going to take deliberate action to keep myself engrossed in God over this summer. We're not in the Cedarville bubble anymore. As a crazed Theoden says to Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, Columbus has indicated to a "passive Christianity" that:

My summer looks like a practical outworking of everything Dr. Jeff Cook taught me over my junior year at Cedarville. I'm in downtown Columbus, living in off-campus housing at The Ohio State University (which pains me greatly as a Michigan fan, but I digress). Everything we talked about in Urban Ministry class can come into play.

Treating those on the margins with respect. Building up those around you. Looking to see people as half-full and not half-empty. Asset-based community development.

Then there's the July three-week trip to Tanzania...shades of Contemporary World Missions all over the trip. Respecting the culture. Not having a "savior-complex." Working and praying with folks and not for them.

At the end of the day, the song is right: "You're the God of this city."
Whether that be Cedarville, Dar el Salaam, or Columbus.

Let's go.

So, What's Your Story?

I'm a big fan of stories.

Stupid stories:
  >> Like the time when I thought it would be cool to ride down a hill on my bike with my eyes closed.
  >> Like the time when I biked into a brick wall and broke my wrist
      (My history with bikes is really bad).

Awesome stories:
  >> Like the time when I delivered my first sermon in church (Is. 1:12-25)
  >> Like the time when I played on-stage with Jars of Clay and Third Day (so sick!)

Stories, after all, are the nature of the media industry. It's one of the things that I love the most about working in radio--it gives the opportunity to tell a story (in varying forms) every time you turn the microphone on and engage the listener.

Story telling is, really, something we find throughout the Bible--particularly in the ministry of Christ. How often do we see Jesus walking around telling people stories in order to describe the Kingdom of God to them? Hint: the answer is "very often."

One of our favorite words in our Christianese- fluent church culture is "testimony." Usually, this conjures up images of teenagers shuffling up to strangers on street corners and trying to spit out a three-minute story about how they came to know Jesus. Oh! And then we have to make sure we quote 1 Peter 3:15 about "giving a reason for the hope in us"--and we figure the only way to do that is the awkward shuffle.

Thankfully, most of us realize that testimony does not have to be like that. Testimony is a lot less of saying the proper words. It's story-telling.

Story-telling is a part of every human culture. Every people group, from the Native Americans to the Chinese, and from the Brazilians to the Filipinos have creation stories, along with tribal and national myths that are handed down. Telling stories is part of who we are as humans. We insist on bedtime stories as children, and amuse our friends at college by telling stories of "that one time we *insert something stupid and awesome here*." It's a natural way to communicate.

Tonight, I heard from several of my close friends as they told their stories. It wasn't always pretty. Their stories showed the hurt of living in a sin-torn world. Ah, how creation groans, waiting for the consummation, as Paul writes. But it moved me to hear their stories--and I was so glad to be able to share my own.

(Ask me about my story sometime. It's really too long to put here).

That's testimony. It wasn't just about Jesus and how everything is pretty and perfect now that we have him. Of course, Jesus is the underlying narrative behind everything we share, but that does not mean our story is only about that. Our story involves our background, our blessings, our darkest moments, and our plans for the future. It's beautiful and broken and real and messy.

But thanks be to God--our stories aren't over yet. They never will be, really.
"Til He returns or calls us home, Here in the power of Christ we stand."

Confessions of a Heterosexual

My social networks exploded today.

Comments. Questions. Photos. Hashtags. Insults. Arguments. 

All of them pertaining to the question of homosexual equality in general, and Proposition 8 in particular. 

The question becomes this: how, as Christians, should we deal with this issue?

There are ditches on either side of the road on this one. It's like balancing on a tree branch that is spanning the gap across a river with a dangerous current. One false step and you're in trouble.

One the one hand, Christians have the tendency to bash the gay community. An extreme example is, of course, Westboro Baptist. And while most Christians won't stoop to such despicable levels of hatred against the LGBT community, I think that the mindset is still there. 

We view homosexuals as less than human. We view them as the scum of society, as a despicable group of individuals, and are not afraid to speak of them as such, within our Christian circles at least (if not directly to them). 

Let's flip the tables, though, before coming to some concluding comments.

Because, on the other hand, it is becoming trendy in the Christian community (and outside--but that's not my goal to address here) to accept homosexuality as a lifestyle choice that is really no big deal. It gets looked at as if God really doesn't address the issue. It is portrayed as a lifestyle choice, or that people were born that way--as if that makes it acceptable.

It's trendy to think we're "showing love" by supporting the LGBT community in their actions. We've either turned a blind eye to the sin, or (more often than not) thrown out the idea that being "gay" or "lesbian" is actually a sin at all. 

Rick Warren said the following...and I think he absolutely nails it:

   "Our culture has accepted two huge lies: The first is that if you disagree with someone's lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don't have to compromise convictions to be compassionate."

He is spot-on. I severely disagree with the LGBT lifestyle. As the debate goes on over whether it is "choice" or something the individuals are born with, I think it is clear from a Scriptural basis (which must inform EVERY situation) that homosexuality is indeed a sin (Rom. 1:18-32, 1 Cor. 6:9-11, 1 Tim. 1:8-10, etc.). 

But, I do not hate homosexuals. I have friends...yes, friends...that are either gay/lesbian, or that are staunch supporters of the LGBT community as heterosexuals. There is no room in me, however,  for hate or fear. Despite my disagreement with their lifestyle, the LGBT community members are still created imago dei-- in the image of God. That is something every human being is born with, which gives every life dignity. Every person, therefore, is deserving of love and respect--not hate--whether or not you are in agreement with their lifestyle.

Again, this does not mean I condone the lifestyle. This does not mean the lifestyle of homosexuality is okay, no matter if an individual was born that way or not. This does not mean we should not preach against it--the practice of homosexuality is a sin (and that's a very important distinction--being gay and acting on those predispositions or preferences are very different things). 

So I call myself and my fellow Christians out of hate and into a Christian love for the LGBT community.

Yet I call myself and my fellow Christians to be willing to call out the sin of homosexuality, even when it is not trendy, hip, or popular. 

The truth in love. We must speak truth. But we must love.

Those two things are inseparable.

God, heal the heterosexual and the homosexual. We both need you.

   

" 'Build-A-God' (and other nonsense)"

"God created man in His own image. And man, being a gentleman, returned the favor."

We all have the tendency to create our own God. It's as if we flip through the sacred texts of Scripture and pull out various proof-texts that support our own preconceived notions of who God is. We like this aspect, but not this one. We enjoy God's love but shun his judgment; or we promote wrath and hell-fire and forget forgiveness. It's fabulous. We can build God exactly how we want Him.

We have made God in our image.
We ingest our theology at an eclectic buffet of divinity.

God. We've built Him from the ground up, meaning he's just like us. He's American, white, and middle-class. His will is always lined up with our will. He never asks us to do anything uncomfortable and would never give us times of suffering for any reason whatsoever.

If I was to "build-a-god," that's how I'd build him. Non-judgmental. Doesn't really care if I mess up and sin. Never requires me to care about anyone except me or do things that might be outside my bubble of comfort. I can even proof-text some of this from Scripture, probably. Behold our God...right?

False.

What's Jesus say about hanging out with those you are comfortable with? He says in Luke 14 that "The next time you put on a dinner, don't just invite your friends and family and rich neighbors-- the kind of people who will return the favor. Invite some people who never get invited out, the misfits from the wrong side of the tracks."

Well, that's uncomfortable. 

Why can't I just have a God that's comfortable? Because Jesus commanded things such as "Pick up your cross and follow me." He requires us to "Go into all the world and preach the gospel" in the Great Commission...and that commission hasn't expired yet, as far as I know. 

But the god I've built would never want me to be in danger...right? Unfortunately, that's part of the deal. Crosses aren't known for being safe. Oh, and as we "go into all the world," Jesus makes sure to promise in John 16 that people will kill us, thinking they are doing a service for God. 

Yay. That's comforting. 

This doesn't sound like the god I've built. That's because He's not. He is Yahweh. He's not comfortable. He's not safe. CS Lewis put it this way: "Safe? Of course He isn't safe. But He's good." 

Do I really want a comfortable God? Do I really want a God like myself? 

No. No I don't. And even when I start to think "Oh, but I really do..." God reminds me that He is absolutely incomparable to any idol I could create.

" 'To whom will you compare Me? Or who is My equal?' says the Holy One."

Junior Year in a Rearview Mirror

If you would have told me a year ago where I'd be, I'd have laughed at you.

That's the thing about the sovereignty of God--He has a plan that is higher than ours. His thoughts are not our thoughts--and that's fantastic, because (as Mike Tyson said) "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face."

Nothing surprises our God, however.
Let me show you where He's taken me over the last semester and a half.

"In the Name of the Father..."

I was baptized this summer! Actually, it was the Sunday before I left to come back to Cedarville. It was a very meaningful moment, as it is a public declaration of belonging to Christ (though not salvific by any means).

My father was the one who baptized me, which made it an especially awesome event. And, thankfully, the water wasn't freezing cold...the joys of doing it in a baptismal instead of a cold Michigan river!

Poverty and Refugee Weekends

Obviously, I can't actually tell you about those experiences...take the classes! But those classes have done more to change my life than any other instruction I have received at Cedarville. Honestly, I never planned on taking "Intro to Urban Ministry"...until God put David Platt's book "Radical" in my lap this summer. I was hooked.

But it didn't stop there. With some coaxing from a couple friends (you know who you are!) I ended up taking a class on world missions this semester. Just another example of how God has been doing crazy things over the last 9 months. I survived "refugee weekend" and felt accomplished now that I had survived both of Dr. Cook's simulation weekends.

But the class didn't end there. In fact it has led to...

Visiting the Dark Continent: Uganda (Africa) 2013

Yeah, right. I would have laughed. There was no desire to go to Africa...or anywhere, frankly. But that's changed now. And the more I think about it, the more excited I get. I can't wait to finally board a plane and cross halfway across the world.

I'll be flying out of Chicago on July 2nd. An eight-hour flight to Belgium, followed by another eight-hour flight to Rwanda...followed by a short flight into neighboring Uganda. Jet-lag will be prevalent. But at that point, the team and I will spend three weeks doing evangelistic work in the school system there...and hopefully play some soccer with the Ugandans as well!

As Filipino friend of mine told me, "Josh, if you have an opportunity to get out of the States, do it." I think he was right. I love "'murica." But I can't help but notice that the "travel bug" has taken over a little bit...and I haven't even left yet. I may go somewhere one day and decide that I'm not called to stay in the States.. I'm open to anything.

And that's exciting to me.

Friends & Family

I feel so blessed to be at Cedarville right now, despite all the questions surrounding administrative issues. One of the best parts about this university is the people. I could list name after name of all the people that have blessed me by being in my life.

Radio station co-workers. Church friends. My refugee family. The men in my unit and women in my sister unit. Friends in my classes. And, of course, all my friends and family back home.

Just the beginning...

There's so much more I could talk about. Going to Philadelphia for a conference on issues of justice. Delivering a sermon last Sunday. The list goes on.

Unfortunately, I have the temptation to look at all these things and be proud. But God has His ways of keeping me humble. Hopefully, though, all the things listed here are encouragements and testimonies to the good things God has blessed with. And they are just the beginning of something even greater, I'm sure.

"There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind."
-CS Lewis

"Hanging on a Cross for Me ('When Aslan Comes')"

Much thanks and credit to The City Harmonic's release of the album "I Have a Dream," featuring the song "Holy (Wedding Day)." Quotes from this song are used as headings, and put within quotation marks throughout the post. 

The album was released in 2011 from the Kingsway label. The band is from Hamilton, Ontario (Canada). 

"Hanging on a Cross for Me"

It is the underlying narrative--the unseen storyline--of all existence of humanity. Within culture, we see elements of goodness and malevolence, of rejection and redemption, and of wrath and mercy. Within the production of modern movies, we see small glimpses of these elements. Within the history of humanity, countless stories could be told with undertones of these attitudes and qualities. It permeates our existence to the point that we cannot even see the silent storyline of earth.

That, in the end, it is all one continuous novel. That, in the end, it is all one ongoing epic.

That "this is the story of the Son of God, hanging on a cross for me."

"Oh, Death..."

"Oh, death where is your sting?" Both the band in the prelude and the apostle Paul ask the question. After all, it is a worthwhile question. To presume, upon faith, that the grand story of the human race is faced with a dead Messiah, is quite the claim; it therefore begs the question of how death cannot hold a lasting sting. For all human cleverness and scientific advancement, this is the one part of life that we cannot overcome--we can only postpone. 

Paul provides an answer to the problem. He writes in the epistle to Corinth that "the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ." We do not merely hold this dead Messiah in our memories as do the Moslems of Mohammed, or the Jews of Judas Maccabeus ("Judah the Hammer").

We have a risen Savior. Death itself has been overthrown. The story does not end with the cross.

"When Aslan Comes"

So what? "If"--as Dr. Jeff Cook (Cedarville University) says--"if God is just concerned with getting people to heaven," then we are in deep trouble. How does this narrative, the silent epic of the ages, affect me in the here-and-now? 

This story is earth's heavenly hope. It brings comfort that the awe-inspiring God was willing to come and meet the needs of those on earth--both physical and spiritual. It takes "Oz, the Great and Powerful" and shows another dimension--that of love (and it takes both God's power, anger, and wrath to be added to his love, mercy and grace for Him to be portrayed rightly). 

It is not as if this Son of God died, rose, and merely sits around waiting for us to come to heaven, while we suffer here. That would be cruel. This story--this gospel--reaches us now. And it gives us the hope that, despite the jacked-up world we suffer in, that it is not permanent. 

As CS Lewis wrote in his classic books The Chronicles of Narnia, we can rest in the fact that "Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight."

"As It Is in Heaven"

Eventually, we do finally leave this God-rejecting (soon to be God-forsaken) earth. It will be burned. Purified. Changed. Earth's heavenly hope becomes the Christian's heavenly reality. The presence of God will be before our eyes. We will put down all that binds us and keeps us from saying "worthy is the Lamb." As Paul says, "Now we see in a glass darkly--but then, face-to-face."

Earth will be restored. Heaven will be present. We can finally worship "in spirit and in truth." The inconceivable glories of heaven are ours to enjoy, of which the pains of our earthly existence "are not worthy to be compared."

"This is the Story"

All of history has led from the beginning to this point. It touches our lives now and when we finally reach this future state. It is the ultimate battle of good and evil, and of wrath and grace. It is the great biblical narrative that permeates all of our culture, history and existence, and has from the beginning.

"This is the story of the Son of God, hanging on a cross for me."