It's way too late for me to be up seeing as how I have to be awake at 7:15 tomorrow morning, but I was laying in bed with my mind racing so I figure why not take some time to write and get it out there! Rick Mckinley's This Beautiful Mess has been absolutely what I needed to hear this week. Every where I go , I see tension. Not necessarily tension between people (although that's everywhere too :)), but a tension that's crying to be realized.
The word of the year for college group at RMCC has been inaugurated eschatology. It kind of makes me feel really smart even to repeat and spell it out. Inaugurated Eschatology is the principle that the Kingdom of God is already here, but not yet completely here. I'm finding that this has a way of manifesting itself in so many different ways that we just don't take time to sit and think through. Why is it there's so much brokenness in the world? Why is it that when things don't necessarily work out the way I picture in my life, my world falls apart? Why is it that I find that sin has this uncanny way of creeping up and infecting my life? Why? Tension. Jesus is in the process of ushering in this Kingdom that we can't wrap our minds around, but because of sin we must wait. At the same time though, there's this awesome picture of a people completely broken; waiting for a God who desperately wants to rescue them. So while I wrestle with the thoughts of a fallen world and with the continual reminders of the fallenness in myself, I rest in the fact that Jesus is making all things new.
Community and the Church
In the past weeks, a common theme that God's been placing on my heart and in my path has been this intrinsic need for Christians to be in community with one another. It all started with the college retreat that we went on two weekends ago up at Prescott Pines. The speaker, Andrew Faris, had an awesome foundation at Biola and Talbot from which he was able to speak in the context of our group's temperament. The Book he was referencing and borrowing material from (of course, outside the Bible) was called When the Church was a Family by Joseph Hellerman. Basically, the main message was that you can't grasp the fullness and entirety of that all Christ has given us through Himself outside of the church.
I guess what I've been wrestling through and thinking about with all of this is how much I never saw and thought about in regards to community. Honestly, my thoughts have always been very me-centered. With that train of thought, God has presented so many people and obstacles in my life that have simply been hammering this notion that life is better lived together. The book that I have been reading on my own the past week or so is actually called Life Together, written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and it's been pretty much a punch in the stomach to several of the things that I thought, keyword thought I had going well. In the 4th chapter, he talks about meekness and he says this, "Only he who lives by the forgiveness of sin in Jesus Christ will rightly think little of himself." My Response: I want to experience life in community and allow those relationships to be shaped by the Gospel.
I guess what I've been wrestling through and thinking about with all of this is how much I never saw and thought about in regards to community. Honestly, my thoughts have always been very me-centered. With that train of thought, God has presented so many people and obstacles in my life that have simply been hammering this notion that life is better lived together. The book that I have been reading on my own the past week or so is actually called Life Together, written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and it's been pretty much a punch in the stomach to several of the things that I thought, keyword thought I had going well. In the 4th chapter, he talks about meekness and he says this, "Only he who lives by the forgiveness of sin in Jesus Christ will rightly think little of himself." My Response: I want to experience life in community and allow those relationships to be shaped by the Gospel.
Book List So far for 2010!
2010 Reading List!
1.) Prodigal God- Tim Keller
2.) Counterfeit Gods-Tim Keller
3.) A Thousand Miles in a Million years- Donald Miller
4.) The Pursuit of God-A.W. Tozer
5.) Searching for God knows what- Donald Miller
6.) Forgotten God- Francis Chan
7.) Christless Christianity-Michael Horton
8.) Life Together-Dietrich Bonhoeffer
9.) This Beautiful Mess- Rick McKinley
10.) The Reason for God-Tim Keller
11.) Jesus Wants to Save Christians- Rob Bell
12.) Mere Christianity- C.S. Lewis
13.) Flickering Pixels- Shane Hipps
14.) The Great Omission- Dallas Willard
15.) The Road- Cormac McCarthy
16.) Surprised by Hope-N.T. Wright
17.) The Cost of Discipleship- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
18.) Doctrine-What Christians Should Believe- Mark Driscoll
19.) Scandalous- The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus- D.A. Carson
20.) The Tipping Point- Malcolm Gladwell
21.) Outliars- Malcolm Gladwell
22.) In the Name of Jesus- Henri Nouwen
23.) Jesus of Suburbia- Mike Eerie
1.) Prodigal God- Tim Keller
2.) Counterfeit Gods-Tim Keller
3.) A Thousand Miles in a Million years- Donald Miller
4.) The Pursuit of God-A.W. Tozer
5.) Searching for God knows what- Donald Miller
6.) Forgotten God- Francis Chan
7.) Christless Christianity-Michael Horton
8.) Life Together-Dietrich Bonhoeffer
9.) This Beautiful Mess- Rick McKinley
10.) The Reason for God-Tim Keller
11.) Jesus Wants to Save Christians- Rob Bell
12.) Mere Christianity- C.S. Lewis
13.) Flickering Pixels- Shane Hipps
14.) The Great Omission- Dallas Willard
15.) The Road- Cormac McCarthy
16.) Surprised by Hope-N.T. Wright
17.) The Cost of Discipleship- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
18.) Doctrine-What Christians Should Believe- Mark Driscoll
19.) Scandalous- The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus- D.A. Carson
20.) The Tipping Point- Malcolm Gladwell
21.) Outliars- Malcolm Gladwell
22.) In the Name of Jesus- Henri Nouwen
23.) Jesus of Suburbia- Mike Eerie
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The Ragamuffin
Have you ever had those days when you really start to question why Jesus would choose to do what He did for us? Although I tend to live a busy life and am around people frequently, in the rare quiet time that I do get to have, I find myself contemplating the truth of the Gospel. When I look at the cross, I think about the way that my view of Jesus has utterly and completely been warped over the years. To me, Christianity and Jesus were a set of rules that caused me to get caught up in a bunch of religion. Religion says that we do good things and make the honor roll in order to be loved by God because Jesus loves the boys and girls who do things well. On the other hand, we have the Gospel which says that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. This never realy hit me until this summer. God has completely revolutionized the way that I look at life. The truth is that I'm starting to see that I never really had much figured out to begin with. Far too often, I got stuck in this way of life that was so concerned with the things that I was doing and what I had going on that I lost sight of what it means to live a life worthy of the calling I've received. So in the midst of all of these contemplations and deep thoughts about religion versus the Gospel, God allowed my eyes to be opened to see the truth behind what each side holds to be important and which way leads to life. I'm starting to come to an understanding that I'm never going to have much figured out in life, but that's why Christ died for us while we were still sinners!
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Welcome to the Life of Blogging!
So this is my first public blog in quite a while. I used to get really into this sort of thing but actually allowed myself to fall away from it. It's funny in life how we allow the busyness of life to get in the way of doing the things that we love. I hope and pray that for those people who start to read this blog that I'll provide a glimpse of the way that my heart is changing and breaking daily for the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm an ambassador and that's what I'm here for!
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