Hill

Matthew 5:14-15 ” You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.”

Upon reading this passage, I found myself getting frustrated with God.  I do that often and that rarely ends well, but I was frustrated to say the least.  Why would I be frustrated too? This verse is so uplifting, Jesus is calling me a light.

Every American Christian seems to have a calling – India, Sudan, Invisible Children, Ecuador, Homeless Missions, High schoolers, Middle schoolers, etc. I didn’t know what mine was, I didn’t feel God calling me anywhere in particular and I felt as if I wasn’t living the real American Christian experience.  Organized ministries I was involved with, I felt as if my role was diminishing.

I understood I was a light and that I was supposed to shine, I just didn’t have a hill to sit on. I wasn’t on a stand; I don’t think I was under a basket either, but I wasn’t able to fill the whole house with light.  I felt as if I was waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting on the Lord for my “calling”.  I would think to myself, ‘Oh, that’ll be me one day, but I’m just “in-training” for my pedestal.’ The problem with that is that it isn’t Biblical; it isn’t participating in the Kingdom.  As Christians, we aren’t supposed to sit and wait but rather go and do and use the power of the Holy Spirit to be that light of the world and we constantly neglect that.

Now I’m going to go to Luke to make the point because I think it is worded best in that account:

Luke 4:1And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil and he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.

And a few verses later after Jesus was tempted by the Devil:

Luke 4:14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.

I know that I, being saved, have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of me – I know that God has filled me with the Holy Spirit, but there is a difference between being filled in the Spirit and employing the Spirit’s power in everyday life.  Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit at his baptism and when he went up onto the mountain but scripture says that he had the power of the Spirit in him when he returned and started His ministry.

There is a drastic difference in being full of the Spirit and the the power of the Spirit.  By waiting for our hill, we are just sitting in the fullness of the Spirit and not stepping forward and using the Spirit.  Walking in the Spirit, I don’t use the Spirit’s power every day to guide me.  By waiting for my calling to missions, I am not shining to the area in which I am in now.  I go to Flagler for a reason and that is to do work for the Kingdom by making disciples.  Not to wait for my calling.  Maybe God will grace me with a calling while I’m here, but that isn’t the sole reason I’m at school.  I don’t have these relationships with nonbelievers for the fun of it, God has placed these relationships in my life so that I can use the power of the Spirit to be a light.  This is my hill.  Where ever I am, where ever you are, we are on the stand for our light already and that is by and through the power of the Holy Spirit and nothing else.

Romans 8:33-37 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died – more than that was raised – who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who sahll separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

We are here to conquer through Him who loved us.  We aren’t here to sit and wait, we are here to conquer.  We have the power of the Holy Spirit. God is for us, Jesus is interceding for us.  We have nothing to lose and only Christ to gain. Don’t make the same mistake I made and wait patiently but rather go out and serve the Lord in everything.  Don’t preach words when necessary, they’re always necessary.  We can’t be scared. This is it, this is how we as Christians, can love the Lord with all of our heart, souls, and mind.  We’re on our stand, we are a city on a hill, we’re shining – don’t let fear eclipse. Realize that you’re where you are for a reason and utilize the power of the Spirit within you to spread the Gospel.

Don’t Ask, Just Know

Belief.  Fully submitting ourselves to the act of believing anything is demanding.  A little while back I was driving around with my good friend Brad and we listened to Paul Tripp’s sermon: The Difference between Amazement and Faith.  I recommend listening because it worked quite a bit in me but he starts off by saying these words:

“If you’re God’s child, if in fact you have been saved by His grace, if you consider yourself a believer in Jesus Christ, there is one thing you need to know, that God hasn’t chosen any of His children to be just consumers of the faith…It’s God’s intention that all of His children not only are witness to the amazing, gracious,glorious, loving, transforming work of His kingdom, but that all of His children would be participants in the work of His kingdom.”

I would like to argue that I participate fully; I would love to argue that, but I know that I can’t. A large portion of my heart is that I like to be amazed by God and not necessarily have the faith that He would like me to have.  See, being amazed is wonderful.  I can easily just sit back and see everything God has conquered and say to myself, “God is amazing.” but faith is different. Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as being, the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen.  It’s one of my favorite verses in the Bible and at the same time, I hate that.  I don’t want to hope in things unseen, I want it now.  I want to just constantly just be amazed.  But that isn’t how discipleship works.  In order to be a disciple, we can’t want, we just need to do.

MARK 8:1-4 In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat.  And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place.”

When I read this I was shocked by the disciples response.  This is the second record of Jesus feeding the crowds in Mark; a mere two chapters before Jesus fed five thousand.  It’s actually funny because they even use the word, “desolate” (Mark 6:32 & 35) in that account as well.  So Jesus had already done exactly what the disciples are now doubting.  They were there for it.  They were amazed by what Jesus had done yet we see a few chapters later they didn’t have faith.  They didn’t believe that Jesus could do it again.  They weren’t participating and believing in His work, they were just waiting to see if they could be amazed again.

It took a lot longer than it should have to realize that I’m more like the disciples than I am Jesus.  Where I realize that I have hardness in my heart. Where the Matthew 7:5 effect comes into play and I realize the log in my own eye.  I don’t say, “Lord, you are able to do these things.” but rather I sit back and try and see if He is actually able. I wait to be amazed.  I have more doubt than belief.  I don’t participate in His work, I don’t work for His kingdom. I ask, “How?” and don’t say, “I know.”

God is working all around us each day, I’ve seen Him do things that I could haven’t even imagined being possible.  He is constantly stretching our faith; we are works in progress being transformed to having a more Christlike heart and Kingdom mindset.  But, He is trying to get us to fully believe and participate in what He’s doing and so many times we doubt He’s actually capable of doing what He’s trying to do and so we take the back seat and say, “How can You do that?” and not, “You’re God. You’re able.”  We need to stop being amazed and rather fully participate.  See, we keep looking for a sign other than Jesus.  We keep looking for something greater than God’s power and divinity.  We keep looking for something better and we are slow to accept the fact that there is nothing greater than the signs that God gives us.

In my realization of my own sinful nature of not fully trusting God, not fully believing, not fully submitting, this just shows how great God is.  How much better He is than me.  He is ever patient.  He doesn’t give up on making us the disciples for Him that He wants us to be.  In all the times that we want to sit back and doubt, rely on ourselves, He is patient. He waits. He nurtures us and He is there for us to run back to Him. He is so much better than me, and He gives me better gifts and amazes me.  But I don’t want to just be amazed by Him, I want to fully actively participate.  He wants us to fully participate. He wants us to believe with our whole heart.  He wants us to stop looking for a sign bigger than Him.  We need to stop asking, and just know.

bigger than words

Something bigger than words happened at camp today.  Something bigger than words always happens at Young Life camps but today I was reminded of how sweet it is to witness when God happens.  At Young Life camps every week there is a period of fifteen minutes where kids just sit still for fifteen minutes and just think about what they have heard about the week.

The entire camp stops.  If you work here you pray.  If you are a leader you pray.  If you’re a kid, well, you do what you do.  At the end of the fifteen minutes the kids go back to their cabins and just talk about about what they did during those fifteen minutes.

During the short period of time when the kids were walking back to their cabins, I walked across camp, passing many faces in the act.  There were those kids that were just walking back, and other kids that started talking to their friend immediately but I passed this one girl and it will stick with me forever.  This girl was by herself and she had tears in her eyes and a smile on her face.  It was obvious that she had been crying.  I noticed the tears but something bigger stuck out to me.  Something bigger had happened in those fifteen minutes that was bigger than words.

Matthew 8:1-4 ¹When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. ²And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” ³And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. ⁴And Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a proof to them.”

I read this the other day and I laughed because it is such a brief story but there is so much to it.  First of all, Jesus is funny.  Like, I just imagine Jesus coming down this mountain and one of his disciples is telling him a joke.  The mood just doesn’t really seem serious.

All of the sudden, this leper comes to Jesus and asks him to make him clean and Jesus’ response is just so matter-of fact.  “I will; be clean.”  Jesus didn’t think about it.  The interaction with this man was only four words but it was four words that will change his life for ever.
Just like what happened with that girl during those fifteen minutes, it was a short interaction but there is no doubt that it changed her life forever.

The latter part of this story is what I forget about.  Jesus tells this leper after he heals him to tell no one what happened but rather just go and let his life be proof of what happened.  The leper just needed to let the people see how Jesus had made him clean.

The girl with the tears in her eyes, she didn’t need to tell me anything.  I know that something bigger than words, bigger than life rather happened during those fifteen minutes.  I could see it.  There was something different about her and it was fresh.  It was God making her clean.  I saw God and it was bigger than words.

Community: Castaway

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Two weeks.

Two weeks ago I met fifteen people and my life hasn’t been the same since. Two weeks ago was the first night in a while where I didn’t know anyone. Two weeks ago, it was just me, fifteen strangers, and God.

Now, it is completely different. I feel like I’ve known these kids, who were so recently strangers, for a lifetime. We have become a family and we truly do love eachother and it only took two weeks. I’ve known people for years and don’t love them the way I love these guys and girls. There is something bigger and it is so obviously God.

There are a few reasons why I think it’s this way and the first reason is obviously God. God brought us together. He is the one that we are working for. He is the one that all fifteen of us want to see glorified this summer, not ourselves. We are all interns but it’s different. None of us are fighting for a promotion or a job like in a normal internship. We are fighting together so that kids can hear the Gospel. It’s as simple as that.

The second thing is that we are all comfortable, at least I am. There is an incredible amount of fellowship that goes on at YoungLife camp. We are a family and we are a community. We meet together. This might be the first time where another intern hasn’t been within 10 steps of me in a while. We are always together. We play pranks on eachother and we make fun of each other but we love eachother first and foremost. It is beautiful.

There is this poster in our intern lounge (The lounge looks kind of like a Motel 6 in 1968 threw-up poorly digested wooden furniture), but this poster had our names on it and it’s simply there just for us to put encouraging notes for a fellow intern on.

This Hebrews verse says that we should meet with eachother, love eachother, and encourage eachother. That’s exactly what is happening here and that is so awesome to see, feel, and be a part of. It’s divine. It’s something bigger than 15 strangers.

A few nights ago, I shared my personal story with a fellow intern named Chloe. I went into details. My testimony probably lasted around 30 minutes. I was telling stories of my life that really didn’t even necessarily relate to my walk with Christ. What I mean is that I’ve shared my testimony before and I didn’t go into half the details that I did that night with Chloe. But, I rememeber thinking afterwards just how comfortable I felt. Nothing really was left in me. I wasn’t hiding anything. I was completely vulnerable for judgement, but I felt comfortable.

I think that is the beautiful thing about a community in Christ. We should be able to have fellowship and put everything out on the table and be completely comfortable with it. How can we truly love someone if they keep what’s on their minds and hearts bottled up? How can we truly encourage someone if they don’t put everything out there? I know. I know. It’s hard. It was hard for me and I feel that I’m the kind of guy that’s “what you see is what you get”- I don’t hide emotions.

Build a community of love and encouragement. Build a community where you all meet together. Don’t do those stupid “highs and lows of the week” ice breakers at your small group. Get to know one another and really know them. Love one another and in that love, encourage. Be comfortable around your brothers and sisters in Christ because part of love is comfortable.

Sincerely,
Peter

My Summer; Prayer Requests

So as some of you guys know, I got an internship this summer at a Young Life camp in Minnesota.  The camp is called Castaway and it’s right on the Detroit Lakes in Minnesota.  I have never been but from the pictures I’ve seen and from what people have told me, it is a beautiful place.  I will be making videos for the kids – a video scrapbook type of deal.  Young Life is an outreach ministry that is based on relationships between “grown-ups” and high schoolers and middle schoolers.  The mission of Young Life is to try and reach every kid, everywhere, and let them know about Jesus.

As this approaches there are a number of prayer requests I could be requesting for this summer but here are a few.

1. Energy – Word on the street my schedule looks a lot like this: I wake up at 8am for breakfast.  I start shooting video between 930 and 10AM.  I have lunch around 11:30.  I record video for a few hours after lunch.  And then around 330, I go and edit the video and put it all together for club that night.  After club I shoot more video of the kids and then go and try and edit what I just shot that night so I don’t get behind.  Each week, I’m required to put together about a 20 minute scrapbook for the kids to take home with them.    As you can see it is a lot of hours.  There is no way that I could do this for 3 months straight without God helping me out.  Energy, health, and strength are obvious in something that I need.

2. Creativity – People tell me that I’m creative a lot and I know that the Lord has blessed me in my creativity and too much creativity isn’t a bad thing to have.  Like I stated earlier, I will be putting together pretty much a TV show each week so I just ask that the Lord will reveal each week to me how to use my creativity for that weeks scrapbook.  On top of this comes, what kids to film.  Who will feel really special and loved when they see themselves on TV?  Just pray that I use the right shots and the Lord will show to me the kids to put on TV.

3. Determination – I’m a procrastinator.  I once heard it’s not called procrastination if you get the job done; it’s called pulling through in the clutch.  I’m a firm believer in this.  I’ve actually written a final paper an hour before class and ended up getting an A in the course.  (I’ll be right back, I need to go read how scripture tells us to be humble).  But seriously, I’m not gonna want to do 12 weeks of “pulling through in the clutch.”  That is just dangerous.  So just pray that I’ll continue to have determination.  Also, I’ll be doing a cycle pretty much every day and then on top of that weekly.  At Young Life camps there are no Mondays, Tuesdays, or Wednesdays, but rather Day 1’s, Day 2’s, Day 3’s.  It’s a huge cycle.  Just pray that I don’t get sick of it but rather see the Glory of God throughout it all.

This will honestly be a great time for me to grow in my walk with the Lord.  I’m excited to see what God has in store for me this summer.  There will be great fellowship and it always is a fun time.  I’ll be updating my blog pretty frequently when I’m at camp.  I love you all.  Thank you for your prayers and we better stay in touch this summer.  I’m not sure what my address is at Castaway but as soon as I figure it out I’ll be sure to let you guys know.

Thanks,

Peter

Grace through Obedience of Faith (Part 2)

We need to hold faith firmly.  To me, that is my biggest duty as a follower of Christ.  I need to hold my faith under all circumstances.  It’s then and only then when I have obedience of faith.  It’s hard to have obedience in something when you don’t have it.  For example, at the school I go to Flagler College we have to attend 80% of our classes or the professor will drop us.  It’s a school policy.  Now, if I went elsewhere to a school without that rule I wouldn’t follow that policy.  Maybe I’d try to go to 80% of my classes but I’d probably end up missing 80% of them.  Faith is what every Christian needs.  You cannot have be a Christian and have no faith.

I’m taking a religions of the world coarse and it’s interesting to see these different faiths that are in the East.  Buddhism and Confucianism are the first that come to mind strictly because to me they seem like straight up philosophies.  There is very little faith in these religions.  They focus more on yourself and being righteous within a community rather then actually having faith.

Christianity is different because of faith.  In all honesty Christianity is better because of faith.  Why would I want to put faith in myself and my community?  That seems empty.

Well how does faith come about?

JOHN 3:8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.  So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

Now when Jesus said this to Nicodemus after telling him that he needs to be born again and be born of the spirit.  Now, this word that Jesus spoke for “wind” in Hebrew, believe it or not Jesus didn’t speak NIV or ESV, is “ruah”.  Ruah means wind and spirit.  Jesus is comparing the Holy Spirit, which needs to enter in order to be a believer, to the wind.  We cannot see where or how the wind blows.  We can see where it’s blowing.  We can feel it.  We can hear it but we cannot control it — only God controls the wind.

Now see my faith is not my own.  It is my own in a sense that God has shown me grace so that I have received faith but God was the one that provided.  Jesus said:

John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.  And I will raise him up on the last day.

God draws the people who will have faith and believe in Jesus.  We cannot control where the Spirit will go.  It blows like the wind it’s hard to control it.

Now, I’m not saying that we should stop preaching because the spirit will go where it goes.  No.  We are still called to be disciples.  God only knows who is going to receive it and who is going to deny it.  We still need to bear fruit.  Jesus also said:

Mark 4:26-28 And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground.  He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.  The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, the full grain in the ear.”

This parable tells me two things.  I don’t know how my faith grows and I know that my faith will grow. A seed was planted in me and my faith suddenly started growing.  There is no defiant point of my conversion as in I can’t tell you when I became a Christian.  I think I prayed a prayer when I was in 3 year-old preschool at Truro and since then my faith has grown.  My faith looks completely different now compared to 6 months ago.  I don’t know how it happened.  God has just made my brain click with things in the Bible.  For example, last year I didn’t care about theology.  Now, 12 month later I seek Calvinism – sometimes more than Christ which is bad but nonetheless I’ve changed.  My faith has grown.  I always want to be maturing in my faith.  Ideally, I would like to be stronger in my faith by the time I’m finished writing this then I am right now.

I don’t know how I mature in faith but I do.  So right now, what the overall purpose of these last two blog posts have been is to hold on to your faith firmly and never let it go.  It’s hard to feel the wind when you’re standing inside so don’t shut it down completely.  In hard times never ever turn from faith.

Faith isn’t a bunch of rules.  Faith is in what God has decided to reveal to us, God’s revelation.  And when that revelation happens, we obey that revelation.  That is simply the obedience of faith and that is simply the ONLY way that one can receives Grace.

I love you,

Peter von Kahle

By faith obedience comes. (part 1)

Today, I was sitting in my Judaism class.  The teacher, a Rabbi, asked me what was going to happen to me when I die.  Without doubting, I simply responded, “Heaven”.  He followed up the question with “Why?”.  I just blurted out the scripture of John 3:16 and ended it with, “I believe that Jesus died for my sins on the cross. I believe that Jesus was my Savior and I’ve put my faith in Jesus.”  I then went on to tell Rabbi that I loved him,  but God is the one who will judge him but from what I had seen of his beliefs he would not be going to heaven.  It was hard but good – I was able to preach the gospel in a class on Judaism.  So I ask that you will join me in prayer that God will use me there and that God will start to soften the Rabbi’s and the students’ hearts so the good news of what belief and faith really looks like.

What does belief and faith actually look like though?  It’s a question that has been going around in my mind and has had me turned to the Bible more this semester than any semester in the past.  Anyone you ask that knows me well and knows my theology, I’m in love with grace.  Grace is grace.  Grace isn’t cheap, grace is free through faith.  Grace is the reason that I am the person that I am today and if it weren’t for how amazing grace is I wouldn’t understand the Bible the way I do today or even be seeking God the way that I am today.  A book that really got me to be in love with grace is Brennan Manning’s The Ragamuffin Gospel. In it, Manning writes:

We fluctuate between castigating ourselves and congratulating ourselves because we are deluded into thinking we save ourselves.  We develop a false sense of security from our good works and scrupulous observance of the law.  Our halo gets too tight and a carefully disguised attitude of moral superiority results.  Or we haven’t lived up to our lofty expectations of ourselves.  The roller coaster ride of elation and depression continues. Why? Because we never lay hold of our nothingness before God, and consequently, we never enter into the deepest reality of our relationship with Him.  But when we accept ownership of our powerlessness and helplessness, when we acknowledge that we are paupers at the door of God’s mercy, then God can make something beautiful out of us. (Page 79)

A few weeks ago I called my dear friend Grant, (Brilliant blog at http://gracepeaceandtruth.blogspot.com/) and told him that I was in a tough position.  My dilemma was this: I wanted to accept God’s grace in its fullness and forget about works but at the same time I knew that I couldn’t continue sinning.  Grant directed me towards Roman 6 and directly off the bat Paul writes this:

Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace my abound? By no means!

Paul continues to write about how we have been dead to sin and we have been buried and then raised from the dead so that we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4)  So that answers my question, even though we are dead to sin, we still walk in new lives.  That is how grace will abound.  Well, how do we get grace?  Paul answers it at the beginning of the same letter –

Romans 1:5 Through whom (Jesus) we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations.

We simply get Grace in obedience to faith.  So for grace, we still need faith.  So through grace we will obey for the sake of Jesus’ name among all the nations.  Because of the grace in me I received and then the obedience of faith that came with it, my Judaism class was able to see something different in my faith today something that they wanted.

I know I’ve been talking about Roman’s a lot but it’s an incredible letter.  I’ll get out of it after I talk about Romans 12:9.  The title of this passage in my Bible is “Marks of a true Christian” and then it reads like this:

Romans 12: 9-21 Let love be genuine.  Abhor what is evil; hold fat to what is good.  Love one another with brotherly affection.  Outdo one another in showing honor.  Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.  Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.  Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.  Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.  Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.  Live in harmony with one another.  Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.  Never be wise in your own sight.  Repay no one evil for evil but give thought to do what is honorable in sight of all.  If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.  Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”  To the contrary, “IF your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head”.  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

That is what the Bible says about being a true Christian, which is pretty much the teachings of Jesus in a paragraph.  No, I’m not there yet.  I want to be, but I’m not.  I am a sinner.  I am a great sinner, even when I’m supposed to be a slave to righteousness, I bittersweetly disobey.  But that is how beautiful grace is through faith.  I have faith in the fact that God will get me to be the Christian that he wants me to be.  I can feel myself maturing from milk to meat daily.  I can feel the seeds that God is growing in me, I can feel the mustard seed starting to break through the Earth (Mark 4:26-32).

I’m sure a part two is going to come, we’ll see what happens and when that happens.  I can’t organize my thoughts right now and keep this coherent and organized.  I hope you got something out of it, or at least something to ponder.

Get everything, Lose everything

“Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours.” C.S. Lewis

In scripture, there’s a countless number of places that talk about suffering. We all know Job suffered. Even if you had just gone to sunday school but really never understood the concept of reading the Bible on your own, I’m willing to bet you heard about the suffering and trials that Job had to withstand. In that we were able to see that Job lost everything but truly saw that he had stored his hope up with God in heaven.

Colossians 1:4-5 Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel,

Suffering is difficult. No one wants it. Suffering is like that kid with a really dirty mouth in elementary school that you brought home to play with knowing that your mom would hear them ‘cuss’ but hoping that she wouldn’t — you could hope that suffering won’t happen, but it will. But why?

See, I’ve read that Colossians verse many of times. I’ve studied the book of Job. I know why. At least my brain knows why but it’s something that my heart I know will have a hard time accepting when suffering turns into a reality. Suffering happens, in part, so that we can see how broken this world actually is and in that we can put our hope in heaven. If suffering didn’t happen, we would put our hope in only Earthly things and there would be absolutely no need to put any hope in heaven. It makes sense in my mind but then again I’ve never really gone through a time of suffering – sure there are times of frustration and confusion, but sufferings aren’t a common theme in my life. On top of the verse from Colossians to back this up let’s look at Genesis, the beginning.

Genesis 15:12-16 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, a dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgement on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

In one of God’s first covenant’s with His people, he tells Abram that suffering will happen for four hundred years. Four hundred years is a long time. Four hundred years ago Jamestown and Williamsburg were just being created. Four hundred years of suffering is a long time for suffering. If I’m frustrated for five minutes I’m like, “Why God?!” I am getting way to comfortable here as my life of a mild Solomon continues. It’s so hard to see when times are going good that my hope is in heaven? How do I know that when suffering happens I will keep that hope in heaven and Jesus will be my fountain of Joy? On the other hand, I want to be thankful of this life of leisure that God has blessed me with but Jesus suffered for me, I feel like I should be able to suffer for Him. Then I came across this verse which I’ve read but skipped over a key aspect of it many times –

1 Peter 1:6-7 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith-more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire-may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

If necessary. Grief only happens if necessary. It might not be necessary for right now in my life — this may be the part of my life where God is developing my faith so that it can be tested and will result in praise and glory or it could be that God hasn’t called me to a life of extreme suffering.

Hebrews 10:32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.

After I have received the plundering of my property, after I have been in prison, will I see that I have a better possession? I pretty much started this blog by saying I don’t think I would in my heart be able to recognize the fact that my hope is in heaven if great amount suffering and grief falls upon me. I questioned if I would throw away my confidence in the Lord.

I love the C.S. Lewis quote at the top of the page. We have to be ready to give everything away in order for it to be ours. Our human bodies will die. My piano will die. My dog will die. Everything and everyone that I ever loved here on Earth will die. Nothing materialistic that I have joy or pleasure in on Earth will come with me to heaven. I will lose everything on this Earth, whether God does it tomorrow or God does it over a period of time nothing will be mine forever except for heaven. Heaven is the only thing I could have hope in because heaven is eternal. There will be no crying, pain or death in heaven (Rev. 21:4), all of which are moments which cause suffering.

Timothy Keller says it like this:

“However, the suffering will have some meaning and redemptive effect. Christians will experience suffering in this life but they have been given resources to deal with it in hope when it comes.”

As Christians, we need to remember our hope is in Heaven and the soveriengty of God uses suffering beneficially.

Why Jesus Wept.

John 11:33-35 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept.

John 11:35 Jesus wept.

To be honest I’ve never actually been a fan of this verse.  If you ask most Christians they say, “Well, that just shows how human Jesus actually was.”  What about being born to human?  Does that not show how human Jesus actually was?  He had skin, bones, hair, teeth, Jesus ate food, He was tempted; why would this show Jesus as being more human than any other piece of scripture?  How come to most Christians, this is the verse where they go, “Yep, he cried he’s a human being!”  When I see people crying my first thought isn’t, “Oh well, now I know they’re human”.

More importantly, as I believe God is pouring infinite amounts of wisdom into me, why would Jesus weep when we see just a few verses later Jesus wakes up Lazarus from the dead. He knew he was going to do it.  Why would Jesus grieve and weep over something that a half-an-hour later He knew he was going to fix?

Hebrews 2:17-18 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of people.  For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

These verses pretty much sum up why Jesus’ life was the way it was. The birth in the manger, temptation in the desert, the anger against Him from the people who believed he wasn’t the Messiah, the weeping, the mockery, “Hosanna” to “Crucify Him,” the kiss of betrayal, the arrest, the beatings, the crucifixion.  Why couldn’t Jesus have just come down lived a life of praise and then just had the cross and the resurrection at the end?  Jesus is God He could have done it anyway He chose, so why this way?

Hebrews answers it.  He had to be made like us, His brothers, in every respect so that Jesus could show us mercy.  I love how the writer of Hebrews says that, “For because HE himself was suffered with tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.”  It just so comforting to know that Jesus has been in our shoes and knows what we are going through.  If Jesus hadn’t of lived the life He did, Jesus wouldn’t have been able to relate to us, humans, the way that He does.  If Jesus had just come, done some miracles, and then the cross happened the Bible wouldn’t have so much security in it.  If Jesus hadn’t wept we wouldn’t be able to see the sad side of Jesus.

Just like in my previous post we learned that Jesus was on a throne at the right hand of God – we now understand more of Jesus’ character on that throne.  Rather than Jesus being this lifeguard-like figure who is sitting next to God, Jesus is weeping when we weep.  He knows. When we are hurting, he’s up at the right hand side of God saying, “I know, Pete.  I know.”

How is this not comforting to some?  Jesus was there and He has compassion and sympathy for us when we are going through trials and tribulations, and just like how He knew how He was going to bring Lazarus back to life, He knows what is going to bring our spirit’s back to life, but when we hurt Jesus does too he sympathizes.

I often say, “I know what you’re going through” to a person to comfort them when really I don’t know what they’re going through.  I’m a blonde hair, blue eyed, nineteen year old boy, that was raised in a suburb of one of the most powerful cities in the world.  I’ve lived a life on a cushion and people feed me grapes when there have been people on the ground starving.  I don’t relate to everyone.  Jesus does and can.  That is why God made the gospel the way it is – it’s for that relationship.  Jesus went through the same thing so that He could have mercy on us. Beautiful.

Righteous

Some friends and I have been reading through Hebrews for the past couple of days — reading through a chapter a day, meditating on it, and trying to apply it.  I’ve come to the conclusion that there is a reason why this book isn’t among the popular ones.  To read through Hebrews, you have to understand the character of the trinity and you have to be able to take apart each verse, sometimes just phrases, and look at the bone of the verse; an action that should be applied to every book of the Bible but we don’t always do that.  Because Hebrews makes you do that, to grind into the verses, I feel like it is a very helpful book just because you will get mental exercise out of it.  Hebrews is a marathon for the mind.

Hebrews 1:2-4 But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also created the world.  He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.  After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

This passage just keeps on revealing the character of God and the character of Jesus as God to me; past, present, future.

“In these last days he has spoken to us by his Son”.  God’s prophecy in the Old Testament has come true through the Son, Jesus, the heir of all things, AND at the same time created the world.

It goes onto say that Jesus was the exact imprint of his nature.  When I think of this, “The exact imprint” I think of cloning for some reason.  We have been trying to figure out cloning sheep and  mice for so long and I just read today that they are trying to clone a neanderthal so it will come back to life and we can have a neanderthal running around. That be…cool? Right?  See, God 2010 years ago knew how to clone, actually he knew how to clone even before Adam ate the apple.  He didn’t have to start with mice and lab rats, he was just like “‘BAM’ I just cloned myself” and that was that.  2010 years later we still don’t know what the hell we are doing when it comes down to it.  I mean obviously would we expect God not to be able to clone? Of coarse not, He’s God, but this just shows to go at the same time how humans try and play God, and God is just like, “Hey, only I can play God.”

It goes onto say that “he upholds the universe by the word of his power”.  In other words, if God wants humans to be able to clone this Neanderthal, it’ll happen, but if God doesn’t want humanity to clone this neanderthal, God won’t allow it.  Everything in the universe is backed up by God’s word.  I understand that this might be a debatable subject for some people and you may not agree with that but find for me in the Bible a situation when God wasn’t in control…Then we will talk.

That was the past and here is part of the past and part of the future. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Now I know this might seem somewhat basic, but Jesus, after purifying sins forever, present and future, Jesus sat down at the right hand of God.

See, God had spoken through prophecies about the Messiah or Jesus and what He would be like on Earth and what His life would be on Earth.  And then Jesus came, He spoke to Earth, on the Earth. Once again I think this represents, Jesus meeting everybody where their at.  And then after Jesus had purified every sin, present and future, by coming to Earth, Jesus took a seat at the right hand of God the Father.

Verse four clearly states that Jesus is superior to angels.  See, I don’t understand angels.  I just don’t have an understanding on it, but clearly Angels have been a way of communicating to God’s people in the Old Testament.  They were sent by God to the people, so I can clearly see why this verse was put in here.  If the Jews believed that angels were sent by God, then they could clearly make an argument that Jesus was an angel.  By saying superior to the angels, and even the name of Jesus is more excellent than the name of the Angels, it shows that Jesus has to be the Messiah.

All this just shows God in all his Glory and why He deserves worship and praise — as if purifying our sins weren’t enough;  Which it is and which it always will be.