Therefore and So

I haven't posted here in a long time and Rymac has been continually challenging me to do so. So, I guess I will. Here goes it:
I want to write this to call to attention two of the most important words in the Bible: "Therefore" and "so." While I must admit that they don't have quite the glitz and glamor of some other cool biblical words like "atone" or "propitiation," I have been amazed at the power these two words have in the Bible. I urge you to look for these words as you go about your Bible reading. With the Spirit's help they will unlock new and deeper understanding of God's word. Here's why:
Have you ever taken a logic class? In a logic class if you are trying to break down a written argument and put it into standard form, an easy way to do that is to look for buzz words. "Therefore" and "So" are logic buzz words that will help show you what the conclusion the author is coming to. The conclusion is the meaty part, the whole point of it all.
So often when we read the Bible we can gloss over things. We look for cool verses that inspire or convict, but the problem is that these are just singular verses within a much larger context. Not that singular verses are bad, I certainly hope they're not, most of my memorized scripture are singular verses! But the bigger picture is "what is the passage saying? What is the book saying? What is the Bible saying?"
"Therefore" and "so" are words that connect other verses, passages, or ideas with another to make one grander point. When you see these words you need to ask "What is the 'therefore' there for?" I know that's cheesy, but hopefully that will help you remember.
A warning: This will make Bible reading take longer. Often you may read a passage and then the very end will have a "Therefore" or "so" and then you must step back and read it all over again to piece together the argument that the writer is concluding. However, the more often you do this, the more you will begin to piece together larger portions of scripture and begin to have a better of the greater themes of scripture, to the praise and glory of Christ!
Here are a couple of passage that you can read and think about to get you started:
Philippians 1:3-11, John 11:1-6, 1 Corinthians 15:50-58

Soli Deo Gloria!
dj

God and Evil

"If God didn't control evil then evil would go uncontrolled. God uses the things he hates to bring about the things he loves."

So often we hear people say, "How can a loving God allow evil to happen?" In reality we should praise God for His loving compassion for every moment in which we are not consumed. God is in control of evil, if He were not than evil would run rampant. If God were to destroy all evil than all those who are not in Christ would perish. It is best then that God permit evil for now, for the sake of good, to bring salvation to the world. (read 2 Peter 3:8-9)

Far too often we give evil an authority it does not merit when we say that it is in direct opposition to God. That is to say, somewhere in our unconscious we connect things that are rival to be things that carry equal weight. We envision God and evil off somewhere trading punches. That is called dualism and it is not true, God has the power and control over evil, the authority to be provident over evil and the ability to use it for good. For the Bible teaches us, "that for those who love God, all things work together for good." (Romans 8:27) But do not be mistaken, God does not react. He is not some sort of amazing magician that can take a bad situation and turn it around right quick for those who love Him, or an expert card player who just knows how to play his cards. God is the dealer. God has power over evil for the use of good. Not good that He brings about, in spite of evil, but good that he purposely brings about through evil.

My Birthday

"I'm telling you broseph, if you ever get an ish and have the opportunity to take her out on a gondola ride then you gotta do it. It was way awesome. Plus, rumor has it that every time you cross under a bridge you're supposed to kiss. I mean, if you're not at the point in your relationship than I guess it could be pretty awkward...but you could always find a creative way of getting around that. I didn't. But you certainly could."

Wise words from the Rymac

"Whenever I read from the Word and I come across something that rocks my world, I always say to myself, 'touche.'"

Dorm Revival

"It was shaky...you got the point across and God was glorified...but you certainly weren't. "

Sometimes it just has to be told like it is.

These are a few of my favorite things.

In order to develop a faithful following in the world of blog it is important to update your blog practically every day and to try and keep it interesting. This is a tough task to accomplish and so occasionally it is necessary to break from the thought-provoking entries and provide a fluff piece of sorts. You need to bring something easy, something entertaining, something to keep the masses continually clicking, clammoring, and crying at the chance to enter your realm of the blogosphere. Now considering I have little to no desire to acquire a faithful following and that I only post about once a month, it might surprise some people that I would write a fluff piece like the one you are about to read. To them I say, "Maybe you overestimated me." Without further ado:

A Few of My Favorite Things:

Basketball
I love basketball. I don't know why, which makes for a lousy topic to write about, but I just do. I am taking two different basketball classes at school, I play in a league on Thursday nights, and whenever anybody calls me to play I get as giddy as a little school girl. Every year on the first two days of the NCAA tournament I take the whole day off of school, work, and every other responsibility so I can watch basketball all day long. I rarely ever care who wins, I just root for overtime. If I watch basketball for too long I start to get really antsy, my stomach turns in knots, and my heart rate goes up. The basketball hoop at my house blew down in a rainstorm and crashed through the window of my mom's van, so we got rid of it. Don't tell anybody but sometimes I take a basketball and shoot where the hoop used to be. I still got it.

Death Cab for Cutie
It's tough and dangerous ground to ever give a group "favorite band" status and these guys are no exception. However, throughout the past 2-3 years of my life they haven't really been rivaled. So I don't know exactly what that means, but its's pretty impressive to say the least. A couple things about this band: 1) Most of their songs don't have choruses. Whenever you buy a DCfC album, you get a poetry book free with your purchase. Each song is riddled with beautiful imagery, metaphor, and sometimes a story that almost always culminates in a single profound thought that gets repeated a few times for emphasis. There's no catch, rarely a hook, just beautiful written lyrics that make each CD a compilation of poems. 2) These guys get humanity. They understand that life is filled with the constant battle between heart and mind, missed opportunities, and the failed promises of modernity. They write songs about life and aren't afraid to say that it is meaningless. Unfortunately, these guys aren't Christian. I've always thought that guys like Ben Gibbard (DCfC's lead man) and Mark Twain (another guy who understood humanity) would make powerful Christians because they brutally understand the human condition and I feel that a lot of people today and throughout history are too concerned about staying positive and living their best life now, and they forget to take off the rose-colored glasses off and say, "Oh yeah, a lot about this world sucks." 3) And I almost forgot, these guys absolutely rock. I saw these guys live in August and I was about 3 inches away from the stage. I didn't stop dancing once the whole time, quite arguably the best live show I've ever seen. Simply put, if you are not listening to DCfC on a regular basis you are probably committing a felony and deserve to be put in a penitentiary, so start listening now.

Gondolas
Not the little row boat. No, this is the pizza place across the street from my church. I kid you not; I eat here 3-4 times a week. It is the simply the best pizza in all of SoCal. And not only is it the best, if some other pizza even tried to rival it then Gondolas would probably just punch them in the throat. No questions asked. If I know you and you've never eaten here, call me, and we'll set a time to get lunch this week. You are not promised tomorrow, don't waste your life; get married, make some babies, share the gospel, listen to Death Cab, and for the love of all that is good please, please eat at Gondolas.

One love, dj out!

What do we proclaim?

One of the greatest evidences I see for the spiritual battle that rages within and around is the near constant discord between our beliefs and our actions. This must be what Paul was talking about in Galatians 5, "For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do" (v. 17) I don't write this to provide a solution to this battle. In truth, the more we grow and put on the full armor of God, the more vicious the attacks become. As we run further and further in the race we become increasingly aware of the raging warfare and territories at stake. No, I write this to caution what we proclaim.
If what we proclaim about God is not in continuity with the way we live than we are doing nothing but spewing lies. If we proclaim that Christ is the only way to salvation, but put our faith in other things to help us make it throughout the day, what message are we communicating about the sole power of the work of Christ? If we proclaim that "We love because Christ first loved us."(1 John 4:19) but do not demonstrate love to others then what are we saying? "If anyone says, "I love God" and hates his brother, he is a liar...whoever loves God must also love his brother." (1 John 4:20-21) Even if we proclaim such a simple truth as this, "God is good." then we are proven to be liars if we do not keep his commandments. If we truly believe that God is good then the plans that He has made in His infinite power must be the best for us. Yet how often do we take the trip to the belly of the whale instead of heading over to Ninevah?
I understand how very easy for me to sit behind my computer and talk about how great of liars we all are, how a conviction is nothing till it is fought for with action. The reality of it plays a little more out like the DC Talk song, "What If I Stumble?" We have been given a great responsibility, the message of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-21), yet even still we do what we don't want to do. (Romans 7:15) What happens to that message when we stumble? What happens to that message when our actions don't line up with what we proclaim?
I think that how we handle our shortcomings in our new creation can be a great message to those who are still dead in their trespasses. While we are called to be set apart and examples of righteousness, so often it is how we handle our own sin that can speak the loudest proclamation of all. We are taught to abhor evil and sin, but so often we get that confused and react by hiding our sin. If we are transparent with the sin in our lives then we are proclaiming loudly the message only found in the Bible, the message of God's grace.
So often I have heard people remarking about others or myself by saying, "He calls himself a Christian, but yet he does this sin." To them I say, "I do this sin, so I call myself a Christian."
In all Spirit-led effort, avoid sin and seek to have your actions align with what you proclaim. But should you succumb to the flesh, you have an opportunity to make a great proclamation in the Spirit by saying, "The sin that I commit has been paid for in full, for God extended His grace and mercy to me and sent His Son to die a once and for all time sacrifice. God's grace is infinite and so even though my actions do not coincide with what I so often say, Jesus Christ already died for that moment of discontent. His Spirit will lead me on." Fight the good fight. Hebrews 12:1-2.

Soli Deo Gloria!

One love,
Dj

A New Sword

I lost my Bible at a Denny's in San Diego, so I've been carrying around my study Bible. Anyway, I bought a new Bible this week and I just want to read it all the time. I don't know if thats because it's the word of God or if because it is new. All things considered, I think I might buy a new Bible every couple of weeks just to make sure I keep up good reading habits.

Intersection of Love

Have you ever stopped at a red light and looked over and seen a really attractive member of the opposite sex and they're sitting there doing something that says something about their personality that you really dig. So you totally fall in love with this person only to have the light turn green and you never see them again. Then you say to yourself, "I've been in love on thousand nights at a thousand lights but not like this before." Well I know I have found myself in this situation (but not recently because of the 'ole ball and chain that I have recently aqquired, so I'm not allowed to participate in any more of these intersection endeavors.). Anyway, I thought I would write a poem about this time in our lives, but I was far too lazy so I just wrote the last little bit. Enjoy!


And now I find I drive along the road and hope that chance will lead us to the light where we will stop and we will glance. I'd give my life, I'd give my heart, give all I can afford, to catch a glimpse and set my eyes, my eyes for your Accord.