Worth Fighting For

For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter.

These are the words inscribed in the Mandiba statue in South Africa. They are very powerful words, words that make us think. The thought that came to my mind after hearing this was a simple one, yet it is the most perplexing question of all to humans. Why are we here?

The words inscribed on the statue of Nelson Mandela made me think that the purpose of this life is to free people. Freedom is an amazing gift that we in America have been given, but around the world, there are chains and cells. This is our calling, to bind the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives. Freedom is so much more than "to cast off one's chains". When someone is truly free, they are the closest to God that they can be on this earth, free from the bondings of the earth, no longer ruled by flesh. Freedom, therefore, is our calling on this earth. God doesn't send us to go out and convert everyone and hope that they accept him, He calls us to free them, every man woman and child.

Freedom is worth fighting for.

What is "the Trinity"?

I had a question in history class this week that brought this up. We were talking in revelation and reading that Jesus would come back on the last day, and how it said that God only knows the time of Jesus' coming.

Well, I've always been told all my life that God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are all the same, yet all different, but how could they be the same and yet not know what the other one thought? Wouldn't that make God, un-God? If He didn't know everything that is and will happen then how could our world exist? God could not be who he is without having all knowledge, could He? So how then can you say that God knows something that Jesus does not, if indeed God and Jesus are the same? Would it be possible for the two to inhabit the same space, and yet not know the same things? If indeed it is possible, and God knows something that Jesus does not, wouldn't that make Jesus inferrior to God in that way? Just some food for thought. Please, post replies, I'd like to hear what everyone else thinks about this.

The Eternal Choir?

I don't know about any of you, but heaven used to scare me to death. I remember sitting on the purple stained pews, trying to grasp my little mind around how anyone would want to sing forever in heaven. That sounded very scary to me. I didn't like to sing, especially out loud, and I certainly didn't want to do it for all of eternity. I was scared to leave the earth, I liked it here and I wouldn't mind staying here always. I had my friends, my parents, food, a nice house, what else could God have better in heaven?

All of these things ran through my little eight-year-old mind on Sunday morning. Would we really sing forever? Then I heard a preacher talk about how, if we didn't like singing, we might not like heaven. That was even scarier. Not only was I going to have to fake liking to sing, but it was also going to go on forever and forever, trapped in the eternal church service. Why would God do that to us? Did he really want us to sing for all of eternity endlessly? I thought hard about it and started praying, and God has really comforted me on the matter. I know that he cherishes me, and that whatever he is doing is for my own good. I thought some more and thought, "alright, if I was a good father, would I have my kids sing endlessly to me? Even if I was perfect, I can't imagine doing something like that. It was a very comforting thing to know that God is not only a perfect father, but a good father as well. The more I get to know God, the more excited I am to see him. It's like waiting to see for the first time. I long to open my eyes and see God face to face, as my father greeting my with tears in his eyes and welcoming me home.

Heaven is no longer A scary "if", it is instead a longing "when", when I will praise my father and sing to him because of my love for him.

With the Light come the Dark

Hey guys, I've got a prayer request that has been brewing for a while now, but I'm in a real state of need and would really appreciate any prayer.

Since I got back from Sky Ranch last summer, I've been having weird problems with my stomach. It's come and gone, but for the most part, it's been persistent. At first I thought it was just my body having some sort of allergic reaction to something, but it's been getting worse and worse until this week when I started this blog when it really became clear that it was an attack on me. It was so perfect too. Satan would get me down through my greatest weakness: My Body. I've always had this part of me that would be willing to do anything to look good and now it is being exposed and used as a weakness. I've constantly tried to shut it down and it has even been a separating point between me and God until just recently. I feel like Job when he came under attack for living for God, like Satan wants to shut me up and keep me from what God has planned for me.

Would you just pray that I will hold strong through all this and that it will strengthen my love for God. Thank you so much.

God is good

Semper Fidelis

Semper Fidelis: Always Faithful.
This has really meant alot to me over the last couple of months, knowing that God is always faithful. I've really had some soul searching recently, starting back at Sky Ranch last summer. It was the last night of camp and I was balling my eyes out, I was so sad that I has to leave this place where I felt like I was camping with God. But then it struck me, why did I think that this was the only place I could be with God? Was there something magical about this place, or had I really found God for the first time? I looked up at the moonlit clouds that warm summer night and saw God's face, like I'd never seen him before and he had been behind a mask all along.
I gave my life to God that night, but this time, not just so I could be cool like my friend and get to be on the big TV screen, but because I had found God. He had been waiting for me for 16 years, never questioning whether or not I was worth it, but truly waiting for me. From that day forward He has been the first one I told how I feel, the first one I told what I think. He is truly my father and my greatest friend, and no matter what what I do on this earth, whether I turn my back on him or even spit on his face, he is Semper Fidelis.

Here With Us

A friend of mine has been writing a lot of amazing music lately and she let me listen to a song she had just recorded on her iPod. It was an amazing song, so peaceful and calm, it made me just want to find a hammock and take a nap for a while. I gave her back the iPod and then we got back to talking again. Just this morning, I had a though about this, why would I listen to something she did when she was right here with me, and I could be hearing what she is doing? And while I love to listen to her music (and will definitely buy a copy when she get's a record deal), I could be talking with her face to face. This seems kinda like how we see God. We read his word, which is something he has said, when we could be talking directly to him and hear what he is saying. And while the bible is a beautiful book, and has so many amazing things in it, wouldn't we rather talk to God himself, the author of not only the book, but of all life? You don't have to wait until a meal to talk with him, I mean, do you think your friend would appreciate it if you only talked to him while your mouth is full? God doesn't want to wait for us to get everything straight in our lives before we talk to him, he's waiting and he is longing to talk to you.

Newspaper Men

This evening, my sister and I went to go see State of Play (great movie by the way, you should definitely go see it) at Tinseltown. I was going on and on in the car about how we would probably not get good seats if any considering it was 4:20 and that the movie started at 4:40 and we were 15 minutes drive away from the theater. We got there and got our tickets, and then headed to the "big screen" to go see it. We got into the theater and there were maybe three people there. I was shocked, why would a movie this big not bring an equally big crowd?

We watched the movie and I absolutely LOVED it. It was brilliantly written and masterfully filmed and I can't wait to go see it again (anyone wanna go?). So, we get to the end of the film and I rave on about how great the movie was and my sister nodded and said "I though it was alright". This also confused me. How could you not see how amazing and complex this story was, how masterfully the characters played out and how well the actors were cast (except for the editor-in-chief lady, don't get me started about her...).

Then we watched through the credits like any teenagers would do when it was between that and going home to hear your little brother crying about not getting "pink juice". The credits were so neat to me, with the newspapers being printed and how those guys in the printing room had absolutely no frigin clue what was going on. They probably just though "Hey look, it's a new paper! I wonder what this one's about?". They had no conception that this paper would change everything. This was an amazing thought to me, this is how Jesus came to the world. He didn't go around alerting everyone that he was coming or run through the print factory telling everyone that this story would change the world, he just came, like any ordinary baby, or paper would come. God sat up endless nights writing this amazing story, and most people see it as "alright". They miss the sheer brilliance of it and they miss how this story will change the very foundations of their lives. This story is big, and the sad thing is, most people just don't see it.