Absolutes

Psalm 5 - "For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house." (my emphasis added)

There are a lot of daggers being thrown around lately, all deeply engraved with the words "love" and "hate". There's been a lot of fires lit with the wicks of tongues spitting profane acclamations as fuel for the forest set ablaze by opinions of groups and individuals aimed at making their desires known and upheld. 

Attacks on the Christian way of thought have been constant, and one argument I continue to hear is this one: "How can you, Christian, disagree with what I say/do? God is LOVE. Nothing else. You therefore need to follow his lead and love others by toleration." 

The argument rings with truth, but it's a faint ring overpowered with booms of pride and incomprehension.

While I was reading my bible today, Psalm 5 jumped out at me. And it spoke directly to this argument. 

God is not just "LOVE", but "RIGHTEOUS" Love. Righteousness is a legal term-- "the quality of being morally right or justifiable." As the above passage demonstrates, God can both love and hate and still be a good God. Anyone can agree that it is good to "hate" evil - the confusion is in definitions of good and evil though. And for that:

"When you say there's evil in this world you assume there's good. When you assume there's good, you assume there's such a thing as a moral law on the basis of which to differentiate between good and evil. But if you assume a moral law, you must posit a moral Law Giver." - Ravi Zacharias

All good and evil must be measured against one another; if it isn't good it is evil. And, if there's a measurement to be done, there has to be a rule of measure that is absolute, otherwise the measurements mean nothing. ie: who's going to tell me how long an inch is if I have no absolute measurement to declare the length of an inch? The ruler in my hand is made up of 12 inches, yet without the boundary on each side of the ruler letting me know the distance of an inch contained, I have no way of telling someone the correct measurement of a foot. Therefore, the walk from my couch to the fridge and back to grab a beer might as well be 1000 miles. 

If we assume there is such thing as good and evil, there has to be a moral absolute, and for that absolute to truly be absolute, there has to be a moral law giver that knows the true measurements of each. I have yet to find/hear of anyone on earth that can accomplish that, so:

I submit the God of the bible.

One thing to remember, the moral absolute implies an authority to declare "right" and "wrong". The one who knows 100% right and 100% wrong has the authority to tell others the same. Therefore, under that authority, If you are never declared wrong in your actions how will you ever learn to be right? I think we can all agree that none of us, or anyone we know/have known, has ever been 100% right. Thus, if God says something is wrong, he is in turn showing you what is right. And we can all agree that what is "right" is the "good" thing to do/be, thus God is proving himself to be loving while still hating the evil he is justly declaring wrong. 

God IS love, which is extremely important and beautiful. BUT, conditionally, his love is righteous deeming evil to be evil, wrong to be wrong, right to be right, good to be good. If we try to separate God's righteousness from his love, we are in effect claiming to be the moral law giver and thusly exclaiming to know the 100% absolutes of both wrong and right/evil and good. I think we can agree, that's wrong. 

I love thee too little

Watch this video first.

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/jesus-and-cerebal-palsy

“He loves Thee too little, who loves anything together with Thee, which he loves not for Thy sake.” - St. Augustine

God has graced me with a healthy body, abilities and talents, food, shelter, warmth, free time, money, friends, loved ones, laughter, joy. The list continues. 

I spend all of it on myself. 

I'm foolish to think that everything I have isn't a gift, and that it is all for me to consume for my enjoyment only. 

What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? (1 Corinthians 4:7)

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. (James 1:16-17)

Everything we have is a gift; a grace from God. He has graced us with that - feast or famine - for us to worship. 

I'm rarely looking up for what I have. Instead I get blinded by the shine of earthly things, and forget that I did nothing to deserve them; in fact, I did everything to not deserve them. 

Let's refocus on the importance of what we have - 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 (Phillippians 3:8). 

My not having the latest and greatest doesn't compare to the trials of living a life crawling on a rug with cerebral palsy.

He knows the crawling on the ground for 70-100 hard years with CP doesn't compare to the worth of knowing Christ for eternity. O, that I would have that kind of faith. 

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple. Psalm 27:4

When God Breaks Your Heart

I'm sitting in the coffee shop watching an elderly man what looks like apply for a job at Mimi's Cafe (a restaurant here in Colorado Springs and probably elsewhere). He's wearing blue and white pinstripe overalls, reminiscent of a train conductor, over a button down shirt with chevy trucks from the 1940s all over it and sketchers shape up shoes. He has glasses, white curly hair and a white mustache that curls up at the ends.

I noticed his wedding ring on his left hand - and then his wife came over to see him. Her sweet southern voice let him know it was 5 o'clock and that maybe they should go. She walked back over to the cushioned seat to continue reading her magazine, and I glanced at her shoes. They are red, sparkly UGG boots. Something like a 21st century Dorothy from Kansas would wear. I marvel at how comfortable both of them are, where they are, and who they're with.

I've been watching this guy for the last hour while working on a wedding video.

I notice his concentration over the keyboard, typing with one finger at a time. The text on the screen is magnified by 5x at least, probably so he can see it in his old age (I'm guessing mid 60s to early 70s). To his left on the table he has a Spelling Dictionary, which has me thinking why? What is this guy's story?

I don't know for a fact so it is purely inference, but all of this together - his unordinary fashion, his slow moving on the computer, the dictionary, and applying for a position at a restaurant at his old age - makes it seem like he is a simple man; that maybe he isn't as smart or intelligent as an average person his age would be.

God started to break my heart.

What kinds of obstacles has this man been through? What kind of diversity has he faced? What hardships has he endured to be where he is right now? How many times has he been written off? How many times has he been laughed at, judged, ridiculed, dismissed?

But, the one question that summed it all - does he feel loved.

Then God turned me inward. How many times have I laughed at, judged, ridiculed, dismissed someone instead of loving them where they are?

You may say, "Sean, chill. Don't you think you are blowing this out of proportion - especially when you don't know the true story behind this guy?"

But, I say forget the man. The question is - how many times have I done something to someone other than love them where they are?

And the reality is, I have a handful of examples in the last week alone.

The scary part is, I didn't notice them until right now. Until God showed me using an example of someone else's (perceived) misfortune.

-

I didn't tell you the beginning of this story.

He walked in from outside and stood there a minute looking for somewhere to sit. The long table, which is usually used by people working on computers since power outlets are close by, had one seat open at the end across from a couple in their late 40s. The woman there was wearing a shirt that said "I'm a PC developer." They both had computers and were typing away and conversing about what they were working on. Again, just inference, but by her shirt and their focused discussion on their work led me to believe they were intelligent folks working on an important project like web development or design or something. Their stuff - purse, laptop bags, etc. - was kind of strewn across their side and across the halfway mark of the table. The man walked over to sit in the available seat, and as he stood behind the open chair, the couple glanced at each other and gave disgusted looks as to what he was thinking. They reluctantly nudged their belongings enough to fit a laptop in the empty space so he could sit down and said nothing but continued to work. Quietly the man sat and placed his laptop down, while the husband again pulled his case closer so it wouldn't be touched. The wife frowned a little and scoffed.

-

I know this reaction. I have done it many times. Instead of offering a seat at the table, I pass unjust judgement.

Why don't I notice this as a diseased condition of my heart? And how many other things do I not notice because I have my head down?

Maybe this man wasn't applying for a job at Mimi's. Maybe he was doing an online survey for the restaurant, and maybe the dictionary was there to look up how to spell hard words like 'baccalaureate', I don't know. What I do know is I fail to notice my sin and neglect to love when God tells us that without LOVE, everything is worthless (1 Corinthians 13).

God chose to wake me up today by showing me through a random person how broken I am. I get caught up in my life and constantly miss the grace that is ever present in every single situation. My plea to you guys is to slow down and think about where you are at right now. Are you aware of the grace surrounding you? Are you acting in love? Are you offering a seat at the table?

Thank God for showing me this today.

Take another 10 and read this blog post I read today that goes hand in hand with mine - http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/lay-aside-the-weight-of-discontentment

Now and later

I'm re-reading chapters in an incredible book that I 100% recommend to each of you who is reading this right now! The book is called 'Not By Sight' and it is written by Jon Bloom. Super cheap on Amazon. You won't be sorry.

There is a statement in here that hit me profoundly tonight. It reads, "much of the Christian life is spent trusting Jesus now and understanding him later."

I'm living this statement right now, and I can assume many of you are as well.

Isaiah 55:8-10 says "my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (ESV)

Another translation says it like this, "my ways are far beyond anything you can imagine."

When you come to the crossroads of faith and understanding, remember how the straight and narrow path is walked... 'Not By Sight' (applause for the sweet plug).

To break it down, according to the bible, there is a being outside of time who has always existed (never not existed, ever) from everlasting to everlasting, and he created beings and confined them to the boundaries of time and space which bind everything here on earth (including our minds, thoughts, feelings, actions, etc.). SO, to understand an infinite being who is FAR beyond our wildest imagination is quite impossible here on earth due to our boundaries: we literally cannot comprehend a being outside of time because time is our vehicle through life. It is like trying to understand a 18-wheel semi-truck when you've spent your whole life in a Prius, surrounded by other Prius', and never seeing a semi but only hearing that it exists. That is a dumbed down metaphor, obviously, but it drives (hehe) the point home I hope.

That leaves us with only one option: since we can't fully understand (fully, being 100% understood like 2+2=4), that leaves us with a percentage of understanding that can only be made up by faith that an answer exists and that it is good and just.

Welcome to the Christian life.

Remember this next time you come to those crossroads. Don't waste your faith on trying to understand fully what can't be fully understood right now.

Sow through tears; Reap with shouts of JOY!

It's been hard the last 2 months to get excited for things; to want to work, write, sing, play, create. I feel like the color in the world has become a mess of grays. Ever feel like that?

If you have, or are feeling like this, take 5 minutes and read this article. Then go sow. http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/taste-see-articles/talking-to-your-tears

Tears

Psalm 56:8 "You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?"

2 Corinthians 7:10 "For Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death."

Genesis 1:27 "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him..."

"My tears have been my food day and night"(Psalm 42:3), and boy am I full. But, have faith and take heart, because each tear is counted and recorded in our Savior's mighty book of life. Not a single drop shed is in vain or without purpose. Why? Because God created us with the ability to cry. He could have left that one out, but for his divine purpose he gave us tear ducts and feelings and pits in our stomach to drive us to tears. There is something incredibly beautiful about that truth.

As heart-wrenching as tears may seem at times, have faith that the one who is producing those tears inside of you has a created purpose with each one. He knows you inside and out, through and through, from beginning to end, and he knows EXACTLY what tears right now mean to next week and beyond. So cry, but cry to the Lord understanding that he isn't leaving you behind. He is right here right now, next to you holding your hand and feeling every sting in tandem with your heart beat.

John 11:35 "Jesus wept."

Waiting...

Have you ever wanted something so bad you can feel it down to your bones? Has there ever been an unknown in your life you constantly and persistently focus on? Have you ever lost sleep over something that isn't in your control at all, but no matter how hard you try you can't give it up?

If you said yes to any of these questions, this blog post is for you.

Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! (Psalm 27)

What does patience mean? What does waiting on the LORD mean? I'm currently in the thick of finding out exactly what the answer to these questions is.

You see, six months ago I decided to fast something very important to me for a year to get closer to Christ. Though this sounds incredible in writing, truthfully it has been the hardest thing I've ever had to go through in my entire life.

I've noticed that when I fast, and I assume this is consistent with others, it brings out in me the desires and sins that pull me away from God. When you decide to give up something, your true heart behind that something is exposed. When you decide to fast food (no pun intended) for a period of time, you find out how much weight you give to those meals (again, no pun intended) and how much you rely on them for satisfaction, and in essence saving. If you love food too much, as you fast you can't stop thinking about that juicy cheeseburger, and as a result idols are brought to the surface you may not even have noticed were there.

Additionally, your trust is chained by that desire for your next meal. "God, if you just tell me that my next meal is happening on time and the way that I want it to, I'll trust you in these next couple hours to provide for me." Haven't we all thought something along those same lines before?

As a result, what started out as a worship commitment to Christ has turned into the catalyst for the repeal of your heart back to yourself and your own provision. "God, I know this is what will be my satisfaction, and as soon as I get it I will be able to worship you, but until then I'm going to give this my attention." Sound familiar?

My biggest issue through this fast has been trust. "Are you REALLY going to provide exactly what I need LORD, or should I rely on my own strength and wit to ensure that next meal? Can you just show me the plate, or even the menu so I can feel better about this? One french fry, that's all I need..."

The answer is: we don't walk by sight, we walk by faith.

This doesn't necessarily mean what we desire in our heart won't be the end result, it just means that as we walk by trusting Him and waiting on Him, we can let his perfect timing unfold into something more spectacular than what we have imagined. I so badly want that cheeseburger that I'm too nervous to trust Him for it, not knowing what he has for me is a three course steak dinner.

So I'll end with this: we are so used to seeing strength and courage within huge muscles and a six pack, a go-getum attitude, and a raw instinct to do it yourself, right? What God is saying to us is sometimes the strongest most courageous thing you can do, is to do nothing at all. For where does strength come from anyways? - "The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him." Psalm 28:7