Reflections: 2006

Monday, November 13, 2006

To Him Who is Able to Keep You From Falling

Jude 1:20-25 (New International Version)

20But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

22Be merciful to those who doubt; 23snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

Doxology

24To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

I was reading in Jude tonight and I was overwhelmed by the amazing grace of this chapter. I had started reading and one of the verses struck me as strange at first. "Keep yourselves in God's love..." vs. 21. The first thought that came to my mind was 'Isn't it Jesus who keeps us in God's love? vs. 1 says that we are "kept by Jesus Christ", so what on earth is Jude talking about here? Well, as usual, God in His great mercy revealed to me a very awesome explanation when I read further. Jude ends his letter with a doxology. He says "To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault" vs. 24. What Jude is explaining to his audience is that God keeps believers in His love and enables them to keep themselves in His love (NIV note). It's all apart of His amazing grace: not only does Christ save us, but He also keeps us from falling and gives us the ability not to fall. What a comfort it is to know that we are always safe in His hands. What a comfort is it to know, as my pastor says, that in the hands of God we may stumble, but we will never fall. "To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! AMEN!"

~~@

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Hula!

Hula girls, it was so fun watching them.

Fireguy

Hot isn't he? Ok, bad joke.

Heckleopter

Pretty sweet huh? I got to ride in that!

Parental Units

Aren't they cute.

Curly Girls

This would be my mother. I'm drinking a daquri. It was really good and we had a lot of fun. If you ever wondered where I got the curly hair from, this lady is it.

'Little Bro'

Can you believe that he's younger?

Random Note 2 Peter 3:7

Though to God "a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day" Genesis was written by a human, to whom a day is a day. God is not a God of confusion: if it had taken Him (or if He decided to take) a thousand years to create each creation He would have said so. 2 Peter 3?9 isn't talking about creation anyway but God's timing in fulfilling His promises. He waits so that all His children are saved.

Short Story

darren’s crimes were heinous, but he didn’t care. he tried to overthrow the King, the man who had taken their dying country and turned it into a paradise, the man who had healed their sick, brought people to life, the man who cared for them. The King set up laws for their protection, and issued a small tax for the betterment of their country. compared to the love He had shown His small requirements should have been accepted with great enthusiasm. but in the beginning all resisted. they didn’t want to be ruled, they didn’t even believe that they were drowning slowly, dead men walking. His love turned many. but darren was too smart for that kind of ‘manipulation’. sheep, they were all sheep. so he built an army.

their first attack was on The King’s people. the crimes against them, women, children, infants, were too horrifying to even be told to The King, but He knew. their actions brought more people to The King’s side. and The King captured darren and his followers with the people’s help.

so now darren stood at the edge. in the center of the round stone room a belt waited for him. this belt contained all of the punishment the man deserved, The King’s righteous judgment, for the crimes against Himself and against His people. the belt induced a blinding, debilitating, never-ending pain.

even as it was strapped to him by the guards darren sneered. he even wished he could do more than what he did. the torture he brought on children, shouting at them to denounce The King. the burning, the terror, all of it he not only didn’t regret, he loved.

the guards left and the pain started. it shook every thought from his mind. his body fell to the ground and his ears were filled with his own screams. they were the same screams of those he had killed. he was in so much pain that when The Son of The King entered he barely noticed. He walked close to the writhing man and bent down so the two were face to face. something filled His eyes that darren did not understand. they were strange, wide, full, so unlike his own. he expected more pain, if it was even possible, but something inexplicable happened. The Son reach out and grabbed the belt. in a flash of white light darren found himself standing in the center of The Palace. no pain. his clothes were clean, white, new. and he wasn’t alone. The Son stood across from him wearing no shirt. across his midsection, where the belt would have been, the skin was black, burned. His hands were the same.

“what-?”

“I took it from you.”

“but why?”

“because I’ve chosen to love you, and I am the only one who could.”

“why-why would you love me?” something had changed in darren. it was as if he had been in a dirty room with very little air, eating rotten food, all but dead, and someone had pulled him out, cleaned him up, gave him breath, and fresh food. he felt that he had been given life.

“because I am love.”

“you are?”

“I am.”

Monday, April 17, 2006

Foiled Joy

There were two times in my life where I've spoiled my own suprise, and it always took some of the joy away from the actual gift. The first was a Christmas present. I had asked my parents for a bike because I wanted to start riding every day (hey, I did it for a while, now I use it for college). As Christmas was approaching I decided to go into the guest room to get something or other, and there in the corner by the bed stood a beautiful mountain bike. When my parents brought it out Christmas morning I was excited, but not half as excited as I would have been had I not known I was getting it. Some of the 'flavor' was sucked from my joy. The other instance was my nineteenth birthday. It was summer and we had an intern at our church who was really good about hanging out with my little brother. He called the house and asked for Thomas. In a moment of immaturity I listened to their conversation for two seconds; two seconds too long. He informed my brother that there was a surprise for my birthday that afternoon. I hung up feeling dissapointed. I knew that joys of being surprised before and at that moment I understood how it felt to have a surprise ruined. It was even worse because it was my fault.
So why all this about ruining surprises and such? Well last Wednessday at RUF (Reformed University christian Fellowship) we had a girl's night and we talked about sexual purity. I was thinking about my upcoming birthday and about this subject (and looking at wedding dresses like a silly little girl); don't start the honey moon early. Besides the most important issue of waiting for marriage because God commands us to, the fact is, sex outside of marriage is like a spoiled gift. It is like someone taking a present, a very precious present, giving it to one person, taking it back, then giving it to someone else. It looses it's value and the joy it brings. The present bares evidence of being handled by someone else. It's like the Seinfeld episode where the dentist gets a present from Elaine, then gives it to Jerry. A 'regifter' I believe is the term used. And how much more valuble are our bodies? Scripture says that out bodies are a temple, God's temple. So don't start the honey moon early. Don't peek under the wrapping paper. Be patient, and God will bless you.

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Me and the Monument

Reflection

Left to right: Mom, me, Thomas

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Peruvian Beach

Yawn, I was getting ti-red! But that trip rocked despite the exhaustion. I would do it again in a second.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

All in Vain?

In a world where everything you do is analyzed to death, you start to feel like a statistic. Sociologists say you're a product of society and basically have no hope of being something new, psychologists say that you're a product of you're experiences (from childhood of course) and argue how much is nurture or nature, and some say it all has to do with sin. Honestly, looking at little kids (those least exposed to society and experiences) I'd have to argree that the way we are roots back to sin nature. Kids don't have to be taught the word "mine", nor do parents have to teach them how to be disrespectful. Parents do, hawever, have to teach kids how to share and be polite. One very personal example I've found is my cousin. His parents have done an excellent job of disciplining and loving him and yet he has basically thrown away bits and pieces of his life. So should we give up, believing that our best efforts are worthless and let future generations rot and decay? No. For there is One who has power over the all consuming sin nature. One who "did not consider equality with God something to be grasped", one who "gave His life as a ransom for many". Jesus came to earth, was tempted in every way, conquered in every way, paid the pentalty for our sins by dying on the cross, and rose again. He left us the Holy Spirit to be our life renewer and guide. Just think. Christ left His Father's throne above...to make a wretch His treasure. Chew on that.