Blog ideas

I just wanted to start off by thanking those that read my blog.  This has been a new way for me to communicate (because if you know me this is probably better than me talking) my ideas about what I am learning at school and what I have been thinking.  I would like to now focus my blog towards specific areas that interest me the most.
Several areas that I will be focusing my blogs towards are the following:
a) Postmodernism.  I have begun to have a fascination with this because our world is becoming (or has already become) a postmodern society.  Yet so many people, including church people, do not even realize where our society is heading.
b) A college faith.  From this area I would like to just share my journey of faith as a college student at MVNU.  I would like to start being more open and hopefully also hear some stories from those reading my blogs. 
c. Youth Ministry/ Young Adults.  A passion that I have is a desire to talk with those that are between ages of 18-29.  This group sometimes gets so neglected by society and sometimes we get a lot of "stuff" thrown at us that we cannot handle.  I just thought this would be an interesting area (because I am around this age range) to look into.
d. Israel.  I have not really had the chance to share my experience in Israel and would like to start sharing some experiences (as well as explain some pictures in more detail :)).
e. Liberalism and Conservatism.  Our churches fall into either category of these, sometimes, extreme categories.  Yet, I feel that a misunderstanding has taken place among the two groups.  As I am developing my thoughts on these I would just like to share opinions that I have read and even from what the world today is saying from these two areas of thought.
f. Theology and Holiness.  A very strong passion of mine is theology and Wesleyan holiness thought.  I have learned so much in this area and would like to try and put my thoughts out there.
g. Hebrew and Greek.  Learning some Hebrew and Greek words lately, and how to translate them, I thought it would then be fun to come up with some devotionals from them.  I do not want to try to go into great depth into them.  But, to just share some thoughts on what may be a stronger point that the old language is making or something that is new that these texts are saying.
These are some ideas that I hope to write about and will hopefully interest you in reading about my opinions or what I am learning in college.  I am hoping to get some responses from some people about these and get some great conversations going.

Postmodernism 101 (for the church)

Postmodernity is something that I have a growing appreciation for lately.  The way that our worldviews have changed has been an amazing thing to track and see the new developments played out.  It was difficult for me to want to learn about postmodernity at first because it does not feel that we are heading the directions that they say we are going. 

After reading Postmodernism 101 by Heath White I have come to a different perspective.  I hope to help you understand in this blog that we in fact do live in a postmodern environment and we (as the church) need to know how to respond to it which is what Heath White tries to do.

What White does in the first chapters is lay out the framework from what Postmodernism has come from and what it is today.  Postmodernism is not what has always described our worldviews.  Originally, during the biblical times to the Enlightenment or the premodern era, people lived by faith.  Faith was in regards more toward authority.  This was authority in the king, or even the Pope.  People were to respect those that were in charge and to listen to what they declared right.

From the premodern era, the world moved into the modern age.  This was largely focusing on the areas of reason and rationality.  All people were to come to the same conclusion on every issue and if you did not come to the same conclusion then you simply did the problem wrong. 

For example, people would come to read the Bible and if a scientist would say that science does not fit with the Bible, then that was it.  Pure reason would say that religion and science could not coexist.  This separated religion from the rest of the world because much of the Bible was not "rational."  Yet, when people began finding out that much of what the rational thinkers were saying, not only in regards of the Bible, were wrong, people began to lose hope.

This leads into the new age of postmodernity.  Postmodernism gets away from rationality into more of a relativist type of way of looking at things.  Relativism more or less says "what is true for you is not true for me."  Absolute truth is not universal, but truth is based upon culture or self.  This does not mean that truth does not exist, but that truth is dependent on a universal statement.  For example, Rhode Island is the smallest state would be a universally held truth and thus absolute truth.

So, what does all of this mean for the church?  Some churches seem to stay within the area of modernity unwilling to budge from the changing cultures around us.  This is influenced on preaching that says there is an absolute truth is the traditional view of Scripture. 

Yet, our culture asks the questions of science and reason and ask if they coexist with Scripture.  Our answer should be to this not a yes or a no, but a dialogue between the two.  Church needs to become apart of the culture, not in becoming "worldly", but by listening to what the world is saying and working to understand the world and the people that we are trying to reach.

My goal is not to seem really smart or anything (most of what I got from postmodernism is from the book and some classes).  But, I wish for a church that does not shut itself off from the world that we live in!  Let us become open with how people act and live.  Our world is changing while the church has simply stayed the same.  Let us not conform to the world, but let us know the people and be open to them.

Hand sanitized grace

Grace is fully abound in our world.  It is everywhere and fills the entire world.  Yet, many people continually ask where grace is.  When our lives hit the bottom of the ground it feels like there is nothing to stand on for hope.  We like feel that grace completely transforms us whenever we experience it.  It is almost like we pray for God's grace and expect Him to poor down a bottle of hand sanitizer on us!  A lot of people do not read into the descriptions of hand sanitizer as it only cleans 99.9% of germs (unless you ask for the cheap grace).
One main reason this may be is because we feel so weak that we just hope for something to come in an take control of everything.  It's almost like driving for the first time and completely enjoy our freedom to do what we want to.  We can go where we want and do all that we desire.  However, when we experience a difficulty it's like we have no idea what to do.  So, we call our parents, or AAA, and ask them to fix the problem fast.  The faster the solution the better so that we can experience our freedom again.
Our sense of freedom may not be the same freedom that God seeks with us.  Grace is praying "your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10).  This becomes the very heart of Jesus' ministry to bring grace to a world that has become perverted on freedom.  I am not meaning that freedom is a bad thing.  I believe in freedom of religion and freedom of speech and the like, but our freedom is from authority.  If we do not have our rights, then we want nothing to do with what is happening.
Grace is not based on freedom alone, but a divine and human relationship.  Grace is freedom from sin and despair, but it does not destroy all sin and evil because if God seeks a relationship than He would not force us into relationship, but welcome us home.  We are to seek out the holy God of the universe by seeking to be in relationship with His will to enact that very will on earth.
This kind of grace is not something to be seen.  It is not an emotional high that we are to experience.  Christianity has focused to reach our very minds and hearts by trying to turn on a light switch in our heads for only a moment by saying grace is right in front of you, see it there it is!  But, grace is so much more!  It is about seeing this grace through the lives of others, its about giving our lives to others, and it is about continually giving our lives to God.
A practical tip that I leave you with is to pray every morning and night.  I do not need to tell you what to say because each of us have our own words to say to God that He wishes to hear from us.  But, I encourage you to do one act of kindness for someone everyday for week.  If you want to see grace fully alive, do not seek a thank you, but seek a smiling face from another person. 

God will prevail!

What has been an interesting topic of discussion among my theology class, has recently made me wrestle with whether God creates a world of evil or whether evil crept its way into existence.  I am no theologian or anything, but the question of evil persists to bring its head up in theological topics. 
My goal in this blog is not to go into great depth of what the specifics of theodicy (the problem of evil) or the like, but to ask the question from the perspective of a layperson.  What do we say to those who are going through hard times?

Many of us like to think that if we tell someone "God is in control" that it will then make all things better for that person.  I, however, have come to see differently.  If we say that "God is in control", then God made that event happen to make that person suffer.  If you do not agree with me on this and say that God is still in control because He can take that situation and use it for good.  It's almost like saying then that God messed up and feel obligated to fix the problem. 

I do believe that God will fix the problem, but not by taking control of a situation, but by providing grace in a time of suffering and hardship.

Grace is a powerful gift that God grants to humanity by allowing His creatures to choose Him.  I understand grace from a free will perspective by participating in the invitation of God's grace.  But, is not that the hardest thing to do or even see?  That may be why we are so used to saying "God is in control," because if grace is to work than God must be in control.  However, saying that "God will prevail" may be a better explanation for how God responds.

No matter what situation we may deal with in our lives, we can trust that God will work with us when we suffer.  Many of us may be dealing with a loss of a family member, or a situation that may seem so hard to see God in. 

When we understand that God will prevail, God does not become something that takes control and moves us around as puppets, but we become the very image of grace that God provides.

Here are just a few ways to express how God may prevail in your life.
1. Understand who you are.  We are finite creatures who are made from the very ground that we walk on.  But, our very small and tiny beings mean so much to the God of the universe who created us to have a relationship with.

2. Be a walking light.  Having a relationship with God is one thing that is an important part of our Christian life.  When Moses was in the very presence of God his face glowed (Exodus 34:29-35).  If we may understand that God wants to be with us and prevail with us under the most extreme circumstances, people around us will see how we respond to God with trust and faith.  We may not actually walk around with a glowing light, but people will see and ask us how we are making it through.  It is all because God will prevail.

3. Understanding God's plan.  God has a purpose for our world.  We are moving to a coming kingdom, in fact, a kingdom already here!  Trust that God has a purpose for our lives.  Our lives are not meaningless, but we will be wrapped in the loving arms of God and will be with Him.

Are we in a post Christian society?

A lot of my blogs are very opinionated and I like to share my thoughts.  This is a subject that I have particular interest in and especially when addressing teenagers and college students.  A very key question is does Christianity really exist?  An answer I would like to some day say is no.  I would support more of a Christlike faith that becomes a movement not as a church denomination, but as a universal Church that seeks to exist to follow in the likeness of Christ.
I feel that our world has become too skeptical in nature that fear makes us question whether Christ even exists.  I remember for me as a teenager, I had a calling to follow Christ, but I never fully understood Christ.  Something in my heart pulled at me to search for Christ.  After hearing many other college students and teenagers I believe that skepticism has crept its head up into our world.  I do understand that we are know in a postmodern and relativistic society where skepticism reigns king.  But, something in our world gives me hope that a Christlike society can become possible.
This may be a very scattered blog post with a lot of questions of skepticism, so I hope to hear some of your stories.  Do you believe that we are in a skeptical society where Christ is a mere person instead of a Savior?  If you have an opinion on this or would like to share a story I would love to hear it!

10 Important things to have to be a Christian.

For a lot of new believers, finding the right things to have to be a Christian can be a hard thing.  Searching for the right Bible, to the right cross necklace can be hard to find.  This is why I find it important to state what it really means to be a Christian in the 21st Century.  If you have these things laying around in your home or appartment, then you are on the right path to following Christianity.  (These will not be in order so do not think I am placing them on a level of importance).

1) An NIV Bible.  If you have more than one than you get 10 extra points for every extra Bible you have.

2) At least 3 T-shirts with a Christian slogan on the front (I had to count mine to make sure I had enough).

3) One book by Max Lucado.

4) Your favorite Bible verse written on a notebook or journal.

5) A cross necklace (or if you have an extra T-shirt with a cross on it is okay).

6) A hanging slogan for your home that say's, "This house is blessed by the Lord."

7) The Ten Commandments on a plaque or a poster.

8) Anything else with the name Jesus on it.

9) Two or three pairs of dress clothes for just church ONLY.

and 10) A Christian bumper sticker.

So, go count your things because these are necessary for the kingdom of heaven!

Matthew 5:13: Temptation

A commonly heard message in a Sunday service contains this phrase, "Our lives are filled with junk."  Really, but, what kind of junk?  Most often this phrase is in reference to sin.  We more than often hear "sin is crouching at your door, you must master it" (paraphrasing Genesis 4:7).  Some of us go as far as to pray day and night that we would be delivered from our sin while others decide for themselves that sin is okay.  Jesus say's something that has been challenging to me about this sin.  In the Lord's Prayer Jesus ends by saying, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."  What does Jesus mean by this?  Does God do the tempting and must we ask for God to not bring sin upon us?

Sin, defined by John Wesley, is a voluntary transgression against the known law of God.  As we understand God's law and the difference between good and evil, we become even more able to sin when we know what we are doing but choose to then disobey God.  This may be confusing when associating God with the one who makes us sin.  Why would God make sinful creatures but then provide Jesus Christ as a means of grace?

To try and clear this up, I am hoping to not get to in depth with Greek understanding or deep theological interpretations.  But, I wish to clear up and state that sin is not given by God, but sin came from our disobedience to God and God sent His Son to free us from our mistake.

One word that I would like to clarify is the word "lead."  The Greek translation is different because the word to lead is represented by the word eijsenevgkh/V which is translated as "you might not lead us."  From reading this from the understanding of "might not lead us," I believe that the person in control of not being tempted is not God, but ourselves.

As human beings, we like to find other people to blame.  For example, I do not like being wrong.  So, in order to make things right, I find a way around being wrong so that I do not get in trouble.   When we sin, we like to say that God made us do it.  Or, we even go as far as to say that Satan made us.  I believe that Satan and Hell exist and that they may be who Jesus references to as "the evil one."  Yet, I also believe that since the Garden of Eden in Genesis chapter 3, that mankind has always sought to be like God.

Immortality and power is something that human beings have sought.  We crave to be in control, and when a situation gets out of hand we tend to try to fix it before things get out of hand and we lose control.  You may read this passage as a deliverance from Satan's power to tempt us.  Or, you may also read this passage as a decision on our part to pray to God to deliver us from ourselves.

I believe this last sentence calls from us two things:

Having a humble heart.  Humility is a central theme because it causes us to pray to God to save us from ourselves.  It shows that we are able to take responsibility for our actions and repent to God for the sins that we have committed.  I even believe that we should pray this prayer daily to say to remind ourselves that we are the cause and we are choosing to repent of our sin.

Redemption.  I also so signs of redemption.  The prayer does not end with hopelessness, but provides forgiveness as Jesus becomes the very fulfillment of this prayer.  Jesus provides us a way to be delivered from "the evil one" and to be free.