Paradise Lost

I'm coming to the conclusion that I am too grown-up. I have lost my sense of awe, wonder, and adventure, curiosity, courage, and innocence. I see this in my daily personal life. I see it specifically applied as I attempt to live my life as a follower of Jesus. I don't want to be a cold calculated Christian. I want to be a Christian that gets lost in the sheer wonder of the grace of God. I want to marvel at the simple things in life--the blooming of a flower, the beauty of a smile, and the joy of laughter. These are the gifts of God; given to us so that we might enjoy them, and so that we might know God better. (So that we might know God; not know about God.) My move into adulthood seems in some sense to mirror the fall. It does so in that I have lost my childlikeness and replaced it with facts and stastics--I have lost my innocence and replaced it with the knowledge of good and evil. I pray that just as God is redeeming his creation, he will likewise redeem my personality and character, restoring my childlikeness.

A Helper From Within

Humanitarianism is good. It is good that people of substantial means are willing to leave their comforts for a time to travel to a needy region in order to help needy people. Recently though I have been thinking a lot about what it might mean to be missional. Along with this, I've been considering the possibility of planting a church (at some point in my future; whether sooner or later I am not certain). I'm excited about the idea of planting a church in an inner-city community, a depressed and needy community. The type of community that most people wouldn't necessarily want to live in. The type of community that attracts suburban humanitarians. What especially excites me about this possibility is the idea of moving into and living in such a community. To make myself one of the people that I seek to minister to. This is what being missional is all about. It is not trying to cater to a culture, but becoming immersed in a culture (it should go without saying that all cultures have ungodly aspects that are to be avoided). Missionaries travel to tribal villages and become a part of the culture. The Apostle Paul speaks of becoming all things to all people in order to spread the gospel. I want to become a member of the community that I seek to minister to. In doing so I attempt to humble myself, to make myself not a condescending savior for these people, but instead a helper from within.

Just Another Brick In The Wall?

So often we think that Christianity (as the story of God, his people, and redemption) is something separate from reality. We put Christianity under the umbrella of some other total reality. It, along with myriad other things, comprises the total reality. It is as if reality is a brick wall and Christianity is just one brick among others. In our conversations with people of different beliefs we find ourselves trying to pit our ideas against their ideas--one brick against another, as it were. We perceive this total reality to be morally/religiously/ethically neutral.

We are terribly mistaken though if we think reality is neutral. It is anything but neutral. In fact Christianity--again meant as the story of God, his people, and redemption--is the total reality. Christianity is not just another brick in the wall; it is the wall! All the bricks, all things, are not under a neutral reality, rather, they are subject to, and point to, the reality of Christianity--the truth of God.

Family, vocation, ideas, communication; none of it is neutral. No matter how hard we may try, none of it can be separated from the ultimate reality of God. ALL THINGS are deeply and intensely bound up, and rooted in, the truth and reality of God--the "I Am," the ultimate reality.
Further Study:
God as Creator: Gen. 1, 2; Col. 1.
God as "I Am": Ex.
God as active redeemer: Covenants/Christ, New Heavens and New Earth.
ALL creation groans: Rom. 8

Why I'm Here

I am starting this blog in hopes of using it as a tool to record the many jumbled thoughts that are continually rocketing through my brain. So many ideas pop into my head, only to vanish the following day. I hope to start keeping track of these fleeting epiphanic moments, and perhaps start connecting them as I attempt to form what Miroslav Volf calls "a compelling account of a way of life"--a way of life that is focused on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus; the work of God to bring grace and forgiveness as he redeems his creation. This blog is more for my benefit, more or less a journal of sorts, than for any particular readership.