Immigration and Aliens

If the title made you read this looking for a political discussion...look somewhere else. This is about something else.

Recently some things in this world have really ticked me off. Racism ticks me off, and between Barry Bonds and immigration I've about reached my limit of racist comments (coming from all people- white, black, brown, purple and pink). Why can't the ignorance of racism just disappear. Other things tick me off too. It ticks me off when I see people choosing to not do the right thing. It makes me mad when I have to clean up a mess for someone who was too lazy to clean it up themself. War worries me. How much longer will we have soldiers dying, people in Iraq dying, and terrorism. I hope to be a father some day. Child abusers tick me off. Speaking of fathers, mine was killed a few months ago, and I'm crying as I write this.

Say it with me, "Life isn't fair."

But here is the good news:

Read what God says in Hebrews Chapter 11. The Bible has just listed the names of some of the most Godly men in history. We pick up the story in verse 13.

"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on the earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a contry of their own...they were longing for a better country- a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."

Later in the chapter it is talking about all the things that these Godly people had suffered. Verses 37 and 38 say, "...[they were] persecuted and mistreated- the world was not worthy of them."

The Bible basically is telling us that this world isn't our home. We are just missionaries living here for a little while. If I were a missionary in Africa, I wouldn't expect everything to go the way I wanted it to. After all it isn't my home. These people have different customs, different values, and different ideas. But I wouldn't get frustrated. I would simply continue to tell them about Jesus.

Brothers and sisters, this isn't our home. This world has different customs, different values, and different ideas. Lets not get frustrated. Lets simply continue to tell the world about Jesus.

Greatness

Anyone who knows me knows that "competitive" is a pretty fitting adjective for my life. There are few things that I enjoy more than competition. I coach two sports and compete regularly in three more. I do it because I need the exercise and because I get a high when I am able to succeed.

On Sundays I play in a flag football league. It is fun, but it is also hard for me. I played football in college and did pretty well, but on our flag football team I'm not one of the stars. It is hard for me to accept and I want so badly to be the best at EVERYTHING I do.

A few weeks ago as I was driving to my game I felt like asked me a question. He asked me, "If I make you great in one thing, what do you want it to be?" I began to think about it. Would I really choose to be great in my flag football league? How about in my slow pitch softball league or pick up basketball games? Would I want to be a great coach or a great husband?

I gave God an answer that day. I told Him the one thing that I wanted to be great in. I will share that later, but would first like to hear from you. If God would make you great in one aspect of your life or personality, what would you choose?

The DaVinci Code

First let me say how much I hate to read. You will almost never see me reading for pleasure, but recently I picked up a copy of The DaVinci Code. I figured that since the movie was coming out I should really read the book so that I could talk to people about what the movie says. I really enjoyed the action in the book, but really disliked what the book was saying.

In a nutshell, the book says that what we know about Jesus is a lie fabricated by the Church. It says that the "truth" is that there are many "gods," all of whom are equal. Jesus was special, but certainly wasn't God's only son. Jesus was in fact a mortal man who was never crucified and never raised from the dead. The story is built around legends and "clues" that DaVinci left for us in his paintings.

First let me say that these beliefs do not allign with Christianity at all. If you look in this blog's archives you will see some "Well I believe..." posts- this is a must believe point.

Here are some of my ideas about this story. Maybe DaVinci really did believe what the book is saying. Maybe he really did hide things in his paintings. That still proves nothing! If you read Mien Kampf you see that Hitler was convinced that the Jews were an inferior race. Swastikas are symbols of this belief. But, obviously that doesn't make it true, no matter how much Hitler believed it. The same it true of DaVinci. It doesn't matter how much he believed this myth, it still doesn't make it true.

Something else to think about. DaVinci's paintings came 1400 years after Jesus. DaVinci's symbols claim to hold the truth about the man (Jesus).

The Bible also contains hundreds of symbols and writings about Jesus (see the post- Easter Symbolism). They tell us that Jesus was God, He became man, lived a perfect life, was murdered, rose from the dead, and returned to heaven. Several huge differences in the symbols of the Bible compared to the symbols of DaVinci exists. Think about this. DaVinci's symbols came 1400 years after Jesus, the Bible's symbols came several thousand years before Jesus. The writings and symbols were not an afterthought...there were a prophecy. DaVinci claimed to know the truth about the man. The Bible says that Jesus is the man about the truth!

If you want a spectacular treasure hunt read Genesis, Exodus, Isaiah and then Matthew.

What does it mean to you that Jesus is the man about the truth?

Hypocrites Part II

I'm going to go about this two different ways. First a short note to people who have been burned by the Church. I won't try to appologize because I imagine that an appology coming from a member of the Church might not carry much weight. I will tell you though that I believe Jesus is often saddened by the actions of those who claim His name. Hopefully you will be able to not judge our leader by his followers.

Second, I want to write to Christians. I want to challenge us to stop calling each other hypocrites. Of course we are hypocrites. We are all hypocrites. I believe that the most dangerous "hypocricy issue" to the Church is the fact that we have forgotten that we are all hypocrites. At the core, Christianity says that we cannot live up to the standard that God has set. Thus unless we lower that standard we are all hypocrites.

Here is an example from my life. Last week I lost my temper in a game of basketball. Let's imagine that some kids from my youth group saw me. Now I'm faced with a dilema. I can no longer talk to my youth group kids about anger without them seeing me as a hypocrite. So, I have a few options.

Option 1: avoidance- I never talk about anger again.

Option 2: I lower God's standard and tell kids that everyone sins so it really doesn't matter if we loose our temper- God loves us anyway.

Both of these options would prevent me from being hypocritical, but both of these options are dead wrong. How about option 3: I tell the kids that Jesus tells us not to loose our temper (Matthew 5:22). I admit that I struggle with this, but I remind them that I am not the example that they are to follow- Jesus is. I may be a hypocrite, but Jesus is not. I tell them that though I may fail, I am still going to keep striving for the standard that God has set. I challenge them to do the same, and I promise to support them as they try and sometimes fail.

I really appreciate the comments that were left on the post from Friday. I think you both were right on. I think that the Church would be far better off and make a much greater impact if we would constantly remember that we are all hypocritical sinners who are in need of the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. Let's remeber that and strive to extend that grace to each other as well.

As a "Work in Progress" I want to leave you with my favorite verse: Philippians 3:12- "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me."