Black and White Part 3: A Roll Of The Dice

Perhaps there is no truth more black and white than this: we all will die. No one is getting out of this world alive. The time and the date are uncertain to all, but what is certain is that at some point everyone’s life comes to an end.

Pour through the scriptures. Look for an exception. You won’t find it. There are certain cases where people are taken from this world rather than experiencing death. But everyone leaves this world at some point.

Still, we try to bargain and deal with death. We try to avoid his snare. And with science and medicine we can stave off his grasp for a moment. He won’t be satisfied though. He will return.

Black and White Part 2: Into The Mystery

I am a mystery to my dog. The Roc (pictured) is a wonderful and friendly dog I adopted a year ago. He’s been a blessing to have in my life. And I think he’s pretty happy to have me as his owner after being abused in the past. But I don’t think he can crack me.

Roc has to have some questions. He has to wonder how this mysterious man produces the food and water in his bowls twice a day. He has to wonder where this giant goes when he leaves for work every morning. There’s no way that Roc understands the truck rides I take him on, or the leash attached to his collar, or why he can’t just run around in the neighborhood freely. These all must be mysteries to his brain.

My dog must also wonder why.

“Why does this man give me food instead of eating it for himself?”

“Why does this man walk around with me everyday?”

“Why does this man take me outside when I have to go to the bathroom?”

“Why does this man spray me with water and soap?”

“Why does this man give me pain pills and ointments when things are wrong with me?”

“Why does this man care about me?”

Roc will never fully understand why I take care of him. His brain will not comprehend my relationship with him. He will never quite understand how much I love him. I know that he cannot take care of himself in this environment, so I reach down to help him. The same can be said with the relationship we have with God.

If we take a good long look at our relationship with God, the only question that can arise is, “Why?”

Black And White

Who hasn’t wanted to be The Beatles at some point in their life? The Beatles were at the height of their popularity when their film “A Hard Day’s Night” was released, and this opening scene encapsulates a bit of what life was like for the most famous band in the world. As a child I had dreams of being as famous as John, Paul, George, and Ringo. I craved their notoriety. I yearned to have adoring fans chasing me down the streets.

So when I was 18, I set out to make my dream happen.

A Little Bit Of Resolve

This is my Finish List for 2012, inspired by Jon Acuff’s blog. These are my goals for the year, my resolutions, the things I want to accomplish. In case you can’t make out my handwriting, they are as follows:

1) Go On More Dates Than Caleb (a friendly bet I made with a friend of mine)

2) Read Through The Entire Bible

3) Write 500 Words (Approximately 1 Page) Everyday

4) Take 15 Students On A Summer Mission Trip

5) Run The Warrior Dash On May 19

6) Double The Audience Of The News 2 Me Podcast

7) Wear More Wrestling Masks (mission accomplished)

All of these goals are important to me for various reasons. I want to be more of the man that God created me to be, and I feel like all of these goals will point me in that direction. As important as these goals are to me, I will undoubtedly be distracted from all of them at some point during this year. Multiple times.

We all get distracted, even from the things that are important to us. Just ask Homer:

Lost In The Flood

Think back to 2011. Ok. That shouldn’t be too hard. Now, try to think back to the beginning of 2011. Did you make any resolutions at the beginning of last year? Did you set any goals for yourself? Did you accomplish them? Do you even remember what they were?

One of my goals last year was to lose weight (how original). I joined together with five other friends as we started our own Biggest Loser competition. We divided ourselves into teams, set an end date, put money in a pool,  scheduled weekly weigh-ins, and pushed ourselves toward a serious goal of getting healthier in 2011.

“Weight Wars 2011″ is one of my favorite memories of last year. Most of us chose to go on a low-carb diet and for me the experience was an eye-opening eating revolution. I swiftly cut the majority of carbs and sugars out of my diet, denied myself fast food, and started taking my exercise habits seriously. One of my goals was to get under 160 lbs. by Wrestlemania at the beginning of April, and I did: I hit 158.5 lbs. the weekend before we headed to Atlanta for the big show.

For the first few months of 2011 I felt incredible. My clothes fit better. I was sleeping better at night. I had more energy. I completed a half-marathon. I didn’t ever want to go back to my old Taco Bell eating ways.

As the months rolled on and the summer came along, my friends and I all began to veer off the tracks. Scheduling conflicts got in the way of our weigh-ins. We no longer had the incentive to push each other toward our goals. Pretty soon we had all gained back some or all of the weight we lost. We never actually completed our competition.

Hand Turkeys

A tracing of your hand colored in and decorated as a turkey does not constitute high art. But this elementary construction may be one of the most beautiful artistic expressions the world has ever seen.

Trade Value

I’ve always been fond of secondhand stores. I frequented Goodwill and Salvation Army in high school, and I still love finding a great deal on a used cd from FYE. The prospect of trading in old media always excites me as well. I have a sizable collection of dvds, cds, and books. Sometimes when I’m really strapped for cash I’ll gather up some old movies I bought on a whim when I was still getting an employee discount at Movie Gallery and head to Moviestop to try and boost my bank account. But I always, always end up disappointed.

There’s a variety of secondhand stores popping up across the nation buying back used movies and games. Besides stores like Gamestop and Moviestop and 2nd And Charles which specialize in secondhand media, big businesses like Best Buy and Toys R Us are now giving away cash instead of taking it, buying back old video games, blu rays, and dvds.

http://bit.ly/pIkh2H

But it seems trade-in value for old media seems to be at an all-time low. Just the other day I tried to sell back some of my less-watched DVDs at a couple of stores. I ended up just keeping them as I saw the trade-in value come up on the screen: 75 cents, 15, cents, 10 cents, 5 cents, 1 cent. How could a DVD that cost $15 have a trade-in value of just a penny? The stores didn’t even want some of my movies, rejecting them out right.

Again, this isn’t the first time this has happened to me. I always build myself up hoping I’m going to get a fortune for my old movies or clothes, and I always end up angry that stores like FYE and Plato’s Closet don’t want what I have to offer.

It’s embarrassing, too, having to take the walk of shame out of a secondhand store carrying the goods I brought in now deemed no good. I feel that same sort of embarrassment sometimes when I come before God.

God too is in the trade-in business. He is always looking to buy back what we have to offer. In Matthew 4 Jesus comes upon Peter and Andrew, a pair of fishermen. He calls upon them to trade in the tools of their trade – their boat, their nets, their hooks, their entire way of life they had built for years. Jesus says to Peter and Andrew in verse 19, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Jesus tells Peter and Andrew that if they are willing to trade in the life they have built, He will give them a life that is infinitely more fulfilling.

In a world where we get very little value from our trade-ins at the thrift store, it’s enticing to hear God’s offer. When I look at my life, I don’t see much value. I don’t see much to offer. I see all the mistakes, the imperfections. I see the depreciation that 25 years on this earth can bring about on a human being. I’m embarrassed to come to the counter and lay what I have before Him, thinking there’s no way He’ll want any of this.

God does not see things the way I do. God does not look for the scratches on us like the employees at Gamestop look for them on a used video game. God does not look for the holes on us like an employee at Goodwill might look for on a used blouse. God is not looking for perfection from those He asks to join Him.

In fact, there are no prerequisites for following God. He does not have a summer reading list you have to complete to qualify for a spot to follow Him. All He asks is that we join Him for the ride.

Take Peter and Andrew, for instance. A pair of average fishermen. Ever watched “Deadliest Catch” on the Discovery Channel? Have you seen the lifestyle that those fishermen lead? Have you heard what comes out of their mouths? I’m not saying this to judge them. That’s the life of a fishermen. It’s rough. It’s full of NSFW conversation. And it’s been like that forever, I’m sure. I’m sure Peter and Andrew were cut from that same ilk. And Jesus wanted these rough and tumble imperfect fishermen as the first two people to stand by Him as He went about changing the world.

God uses prostitutes, alcoholics, liars, cheats, thieves, and sex addicts. God accepts them all. God traded in His one and only son’s life in order to buy back ours. God accepts whatever we have to bring to the trade in table. All we have to do is walk in the door.

You don’t have to clean up what you have to offer. You don’t have to wait until you clean up your life to be of use to God. You don’t have to wait until you read the entire Bible. You don’t have to wait until you’re not shy. You don’t have to wait until you stop drinking. You don’t have to wait until you’ve conquered your addiction to porn. You don’t have to wait until you stop gossiping. You don’t have to wait until you can go 24 hours without sin.

You don’t have to wait until you accomplish these things because you will never reach these points. You will never find perfection in yourself. You will only find it once you trade in your fishing net and your boat and everything you are attached to in your old way of life.

Don’t be afraid of bringing what you have to God. Don’t be afraid that He may not accept you. Remember the words of 1st John 4:18, which tells us that, “Perfect love drives out fear.” God is the manifestation of perfect love, and God drives our fears out of the room, out of the window, into the abyss. “There is no fear in love,” John writes, and when we know that God is love, and when we know how much He loves us, we know that we don’t have to ever be afraid again.

Your life is now. The kingdom of God is at hand, in the present. The time is now to stop just singing about God, and to start being about God in everything that you do. It’s time to stop just singing God’s praises on a Wednesday night and start taking your faith and His love Beyond the Building.

What are you holding on to that you don’t want to trade in? What are you trying to fix before you come to God? His trade-in offer is always available to you, but why are you waiting to take Him up on it? Ask yourself what you have to lose, and come to the trade-in counter to ask Him what you have to gain by giving it all away.

Safe

Jesus was never the type of guy to play it safe. Whenever Jesus made a choice, He never chose the safe, easy way of doing things. Last week, as we held our Wednesday night service on the roof of the church, we talked about one of Jesus’s most infamous moments – the Sermon On The Mount.

This was a moment where Jesus, being hounded and surrounded by people questioning who He was, walked to the top of a hill. In this moment He did not shy away. He did not seek shelter or safety. He did not try to appease anyone. He sat down on the side of a hill and began to tell everyone that everything they believed was wrong. In this moment Jesus told the people around Him that the laws and rules and restrictions they followed were not enough to be considered holy. God was calling the people to a higher way of life, Jesus proclaimed – a life set apart by love.

Surely this was not an easy thing to hear for the crowds. The bible says the crowd was “astonished” at Jesus’s teaching, that He would teach them with “authority”. You can probably assume that were also angry, frustrated, and confused by this teaching as well. Jesus was taking the God the people had been worshipping Beyond The Building and into real life. This was a dangerous thing to do. Jesus was risking His life every time He opened His mouth. How was Jesus able to do this? How was He able to go out on the ledge and speak and not worry about being safe? How can we do the same? How can we stop being afraid for our safety and start taking chances in life?

Playing it safe can often lead to disappointment. Check out this video from a celebrity edition of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” featuring comedian Norm MacDonald. Norm is about to go for $500,000 and has no lifelines left. Consider the choices he makes during this video:

You see two different sides of Norm in this clip. For the $500,000 question Norm is bold and brave, cutting Regis off before he can be talked out of his answer. But when the million is on the line, Norm decides to play it safe. He betrays the strategy that has worked for him for 14 questions beforehand. My heart breaks watching this clip now as much as it did when I originally saw it ten years ago. This is the pain, the danger of playing it safe.

Sometimes in life all we want is to just be safe. In the game of baseball, for example, the number one goal is to make it home safe. If you can’t get all the way to home plate safe, just get as far as you can as long as you’ll still be safe. Safe is always the key word in baseball, and players will do wacky things to make sure they are safe. They’ll run around in circles, run back and forth, run outside the lines, throw up crazy hand signals, whatever it takes to be safe.

Don’t we do the same thing? Don’t we also do a ridiculous dance just to be safe in our life? We lie, trying to take control of a situation so that other people won’t think strangely of us. We make fun of other people so that we don’t get made fun of ourselves. We avoid certain situations that seem sticky or difficult. We stay home instead of taking a risk. We try to control our destiny, thinking we know better than God. All this just to be safe.

We worry about what we look like, what others think of us, where we stand on the popularity scale. These are the ways we measure our safety. It’s funny that Jesus never worried about these things. Jesus never really worried about anything, especially not about being safe. Jesus was able to not worry about being safe, because He knew that He was already safe.

I will both lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, Lord, make me live in safety. Psalm 4:8

The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom should I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom should I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

Jesus didn’t just know these words from the Psalms – He lived them. He lived confident in the safety that being a child of God afforded Him. That same perfect protection from God is afforded to us. We too are God’s children. We too can live unafraid for our safety, trusting that God is taking care of us. We too can live dangerously, because of what 1st John 4:18 says:

There is no fear in love; instead perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears has not reached perfection in love.

Be made perfect in God’s love. Be convinced that you don’t have to fear for your own safety. Be convinced that you don’t have to work anymore to ensure your safety; you’re covered. Don’t fall into the same trap that befalls Walter White, the main character on AMC’s brilliant series “Breaking Bad”. Walt has a constant chip on his shoulder. Each week he digs himself deeper and deeper into a pit of crime and sin in his newfound life as a drug manufacturer. Even when Walt seems to dig himself out of trouble, when he seems to be freed from the snares that entangle him, he chooses to find new ways to stack the odds against himself. It’s as if Walt thrives on having the world against him, on being a martyr. Walt, and each and every one of us, should heed the advice of a character on the show named Mike The Cleaner.

Walter getting advice from Mike

Mike The Cleaner is a mysterious man who plays every side in the crime world. At many points during the series Walter has a chance to escape from his life crime and the constant fear for his life that comes with it. But Walter refuses to leave so easily. Venting his frustration that Walter always wants to play the victim, Mike gives him a great piece of advice: “Walter, why can’t you just take yes for an answer?”

Ask yourself that same question: why can’t you just take yes for an answer? God has been telling you yes for years. God has been telling you that you are special, that you are beloved, that you are safe. Why don’t you believe Him? Why don’t you try it?

Try accepting God’s yes today. Try accepting His love. Try believing that no matter what you do, you are still safe in His arms.

Bob Goff, one of the best persons you could ever follow on Twitter, recently tweeted this:

Jesus doesn’t try to entice us with success or scare us with failure; He wants to captivate us with purpose instead.

Be confident in God’s purpose for you. Let the knowledge of God’s love and protection inspire you to live without fear. Be inspired to take a chance today, to do something you wouldn’t normally do. Go do something dangerous.

Souvenirs

Who doesn’t love to find a great souvenir to take home from a special trip? Earlier this summer The Hill Youth embarked upon our very first international mission trip, spending a week building and repairing houses for underprivileged families in Jamaica. At the end of the week we all wanted to purchase some tangible reminders of this amazing week as well. I bought this bowl at a souvenir shop on our last day in Jamaica, wanting something to have in my office that I could look at each day and remind me of the incredible journey and life-changing message God spoke to me that week. What I thought I was getting was an authentic piece of Jamaica craftsmanship. When I got home and unpacked, I realized I had something else.

Made In Indonesia

I got got. That’s what I get for assuming, for not doing my due diligence and flipping the bowl over before I spent my money on it. Unfortunately, as much as I want to blame the shopowner for selling me misleading merchandise, I know that the blame is on me in this situation. It’s my fault for buying into something thinking it was something that it wasn’t.

Some people think that when they start to follow God. Some people want God to be something that He is not.

Some people want God to be a rulemaker, someone who tells us all the right rules and restrictions to follow to get the most out of life.

Some people want God to be like a magical genie, granting out their every demand and desire.

Some people want God to be an escape from reality, an escape from hardship. Some people want God to take away all their pain and to be like a cruise to the Caribbean.

God is not a rulemaker. He frees us from rules and restrictions.

God is not a magical genie. He doesn’t always give us what we want, but He does give us more than we need.

God is not an escape from reality. God offers us victory in reality.

At one time or another most of us have wanted God to be something or someone that He is not. At one time or another most of us have asked the question, “Where is God in all of this?” At one time or another most of us have questioned if the God we follow is the same one that we originally bought into. Have we been bamboozled? Are we getting everything we bargained for? No. We get so much more.

We aren’t the first generation to struggle with the question of “Where is God?” Joshua, the man who took over for Moses in leading the tribes of Israel to freedom from slavery, addressed the Israelites who were asking this same questions that we do.

This is what God, the God of Israel says: A long time ago your ancestors, Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor, lived to the east of the River Euphrates. They worshiped other gods. I took your ancestor Abraham from the far side of The River. I led him all over the land of Canaan and multiplied his descendants. I gave him Isaac. then I gave Isaac Jacob and Esau. I let Esau have the mountains of Seir as home, but Jacob and his sons ended up in Egypt. I sent Moses and Aaron. I hit Egypt hard with plagues and then led you out of there. I brought your ancestors out of Egypt. You came to the sea, the Egyptians in hot pursuit with chariots and calvary, to the very edge of the Red Sea!

Then they cried out for help to God. He put a cloud between you and the Egyptians and then let the sea loose on them. It drowned them.

You watched the whole thing with your own eyes, what I did to Egypt. And then you lived in the wilderness for along time. I brought you to the country of the Amorites, who lived east of the Jordan, and the fought you. But I fought for you and you took their land. I destroyed them for you. Then Balak son of Zippor made his appearance. He was the king of Moab. He got ready to fight Israel by sending for Balaam son of Beor to come and curse you. But I wouldn’t listen to Balaam – he ended up blessing you over and over! I saved you from him.

You then crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The Jericho leaders ganged up on you as well as the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites, but I turned them ahead of you.

I sent the Hornet ahead of you. It drove out the two Amorite kings – did your work for you. You didn’t have to do a thing, not so much as raise a finger.

I handed you a land for which you did not work, towns you did not build. And here you are now living in them and eating from vineyards and olive groves you did not plant.

So now: Fear God. Worship him in total commitment. Get rid of the gods your ancestors worshiped on the far side of The River and in Egypt. You, worship God.

If you decide that it’s a bad thing to worship God, then choose a god you’d rather serve – and do it today. Choose one of the gods your ancestors worshiped from the country beyond The River, or one of the gods of the Amorites, on whose land you’re living. As for me and my family, we’ll worship God. (Joshua 24:2-15)

The Israelites ask, “Where is God?” Joshua answers, “Are you serious? He is all around you. He has always been with you. And He will never leave you.” Joshua answers the Israelites cries by rattling off God’s impressive resume. God brought His people out of Egypt. He led them to victory over Amorites and Moabites and any other -ite that came their way. He gave them land and food and life. He does the same for us. All He asks in return is that they, and we, worship Him over any other god.

Yet He still gives us the freedom to choose. After He gave them all, God offered the Israelites the ability to worship other gods, gods that would fit into the ideas they had about who God was. That same freedom is afforded to those of us who want God to be something that He is not. There are plenty of gods who will be want we want them to be, and we are free to worship them. We are free to experience the pain and heartbreak that worshipping these Gods will lead to as well.

God gave the Israelites an opportunity to choose who they would follow. That same choice is one that we need to make each day. And like Joshua, I know that I too will choose to worship God. Because I know that just like my souvenir bowl from Jamaica was an impostor, there are many impostor gods out there who are trying to offer people what they want but will never be able to do so. Instead of wavering off to every false god who fits into who I want God to be, instead I will choose to worship the God who I know will be real, who will give me more than I could ever bargain for. The God who does not waver. The God who does not falter. The God who is victorious.

I’m disappointed that I don’t have a beautiful authentic souvenir from Jamaica. But what I’ve realized is that the greatest souvenirs any of us have from any experience are our memories. Too often we forget how awesome an experience or a trip was. And even more often we forget how awesome God is. Don’t let your memory play tricks on you. Let the presence of God, let His resume, let the memories of His continued work in your life never fade from the forefront of your mind.

Summer Blockbuster

Seen any good movies this summer? What was the best? Captain America: First Avenger? Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 2? Something without a colon in the title?

My Favorite Movie Of The Summer

The summer movie season is the most lucrative time of the year for the motion picture industry. From May to August each Friday (and now sometimes each Thursday or Wednesday) at least one new sure-fire blockbuster arrives at the cineplex hoping to draw in the eyes and wallets of teenagers and young adults. In the summer season success is not measured in how much money the movie makes during the 8 or so weeks it sits in theaters. Instead a movie’s success is measured in how much money it makes during the opening weekend – the first 3 days of its release.

When advertising a new film, a marketing company’s job is to make you feel like you need to see a movie during the opening weekend. A great movie trailer should make you feel like if you don’t see a movie during the opening weekend then you will be culturally irrelevant – left behind all of the cool people since anyone who’s anyone will be spending their $10 ($15 for IMAX 3D) to catch the latest CGI masterpiece.

Of course in our heads we know that a good movie is still a good movie whether you see it the first weekend, the second weekend, midday on a Wednesday, three months later at the dollar theater (which is now a two dollar theater even though no one ever calls it that) or at your home on Netflix or Blu Ray. It is much cheaper to see a movie a few months later than it is on opening weekend, and a movie is just as enjoyable whenever you see it. Yet a great movie trailer can trigger our impulses and sucker us into parting with our money because we think we need to see a movie immediately.

Summer blockbuster movies are just one of the many things in life that we think we are in immediate need of. Like kids in the checkout aisle of a grocery store enchanted by the shiny candy wrappers enveloping them we think our lives will be incomplete unless we have what we want right now. We are rarely satisfied with what we have. We are rarely content to wait on what we want. We are rarely content to do as Jesus advises and trust God enough to give us everything we need and more than we could ever want.

What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” Matthew 6:31-34

As the summer comes to a close and school kicks back into session you may find yourself feeling the feeling of having to have certain things right now. It may be a new bookbag or iPad or purse or pair of shoes. It may be a boyfriend or girlfriend or prom date or dance partner. It may be an invitation to a party or a club or a circle of friends. Whatever it may be that has you thinking your life won’t be complete without it, know that if you give your attention to God then the desires of your heart will be met. They will not always be met in the way you expect, but God promises more than you could ever imagine if you seek Him above all else. And unlike the majority of the summer blockbusters at the movie theater, God never disappoints.