Implications

Words. They're goofy. They mean different things to different people. Ask a climber what they have on their "rack" and you will get a completely different response than asking the same question to a family of five in a minivan in an area known for mountain biking, or a skier enroute to the mountain. There are others that I won't get into. But it's funny, because in simply saying that, your brain automatically searches for the information I haven't given you, and fills in the blanks you are so desperately trying to leave empty.

There is a certain phrase I hear fairly often, and it may just be my nit-picky mind drawing theological implications from phrases in common "Christianese." But it bothers me. And again, perhaps it's unfounded, but I feel it's worth pointing to for no other reason than to think about the implications of what we say.

I read a lot of books for my work. And one of the things I read fairly often in the current set of resources I've been assigned is "He accepted the Lord as his Savior."

So-and-so became a Christian, and that's awesome! The best thing that we could pray for that person.

My mind, though, makes a distinction. Do we accept Jesus? What I do know, based on Romans 4:24 - 5:1, which speaks from the context of Abram believing God and "it was counted to him as righteousness" (Romans 4:3), is that we are accepted because of Jesus.

And maybe that's what people mean. But when we phrase it like that, the words sound as if we were somehow the activating force to God's grace, rather than him being the initiator of his plan to rescue us from the darkness in which we once walked.

Again, my point is not so much to say whether or not a way of expressing an idea is inherently right or wrong as it is to draw awareness to the implications of how we express those ideas.

We are sinful, fallen people. We cannot do anything to rid ourselves of our fallen state. The Holy Spirit through Paul says in the book of Ephesians (Chap. 2 specifically) that all Christians were once dead in our trespasses and sins, and were by nature children of wrath. Yet God, being rich in love and mercy, didn't give us what we deserved, but entered into human history as a man, Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, to live the life we couldn't live, and died the death we should have died, in which he absorbed all the wrath and fury of a holy God that would take every believer an eternity to endure. Jesus then demonstrated his power by rising from the dead, which is where the aforementioned passage in Romans comes into play:

It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, ²⁵ who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Because Jesus bore our sin on the cross, we are justified. The debt has been paid. In addition, Jesus didn't just pay for the sin we committed before we were saved, but also gives us the right-standing that he has with his Father, and eternal life to those who repent of their sin and believe that Jesus really has paid it all, and that he is the way, the truth, and the life.

So, again, do we "accept Christ as our Lord and Savior?"

Sure, that's what we see when people come to faith in Christ.

But what we are accepting is that Jesus is Lord, and the gift of eternal life that he paid for. And because we are clothed in his righteousness, we are accepted.

Bible Shopping

Last night, a Friday, Anna and I found ourselves perusing the local christian book store after dinner. Since one of my favorite things to do is look at the different covers, pages, translations in which God's word appears in our culture (and I've been eying the ESV Study Bible), when we head in there we tend to stay a little while, until we get sick of the self-help titles and discuss Christian culture on the way to one of our domiciles.

Last night, it was kid's Bibles.

Oh my stars.

There were Bibles with glitter, the Precious Princess Bible, the Adventure Bible, the Treasure Chest Bible (complete with plastic clasp.)

At this point, I will discuss a little bit of insight into my brain. I used to be far more militant than I am now about feminism. I would no longer call myself a feminist due to the social implications of such a label. However, I believe that men and women are both made in the image of God, and that they have different roles to play in family and church structure.

Nowhere in the Bible, though, does Paul, or Moses, or Luke, or Jesus talk about glitter. In fact, in multiple places in the Bible (1st Peter 3, 1st Timothy 2, Proverbs 31 all come to mind) women are exhorted not to put their hope in their external beauty. This doesn't make glitter and fashion and the like bad, but the mind and heart are what are emphasized in these passages.

In all of the kids' Bibles I looked at, all the "boys" Bibles had maps in the back, and the "girls" Bibles did not. This is frustrating to me as well because three very important women in my life are really visual. So they like maps.

There is nothing wrong with Bibles having glitter on them. Not my cup of tea, but if that's yours, fantastic. But if the ones with glitter on them, marketed towards girls don't have a map in the back, I take issue. For visual women to not have that aspect of their brain cultivated at an early age really bothers me.

What are some of the reasons that the publishers might leave this information out?

Nukes

A few weeks ago, Obama and Medvedev (the presidents for the United States and Russia respectively) signed an historic arms agreement that essentially reduced the amount of nuclear warheads that each country could have in it's arsenal. However, the United States is looking at new means of defense to replace the lost weapons systems. The New York Times describes the weapons under consideration as well suited for quick, pinpoint attacks that would be able to take out, say, a nuclear facility in Iran without all the nuclear fall-out.

The thing is, these new weapons actually make conflict MORE likely. Part of the historic reasons for even having nukes is that they preserve the balance of power between nations; if you hit the button, they hit the button, and everyone dies. But with these new weapons, the damage isn't as great, at least in a localized sense. So the incentive NOT to launch isn't as high, especially on the peripheries of the larger nations.

Russia worries that these attacks may be directed at them. Naw, because Russia still has nukes. But smaller nations that aren't allowed nukes are definitely at greater risk of an attack.

Could be bunk, but it's interesting to think about.

Someone's In Trouble

Bummer.

Not Really Feelin' It

First, I must say I am REALLY tired. The mega-church worship team thing is definitely an interesting departure from picking up a guitar and leading a handful of people in worship. It's no less important, but it's certainly more tiring.

We are currently two services through our five- service Easter weekend. I hopped on a bus to the church at 12:04 and got home right around 9:00. Luckily I'm doing okay, having rationed my energy, amending a mistake I made the last time I played this much. Still, dealing with job-hunting, feeding myself, and working on my feet full-time leaves me worn out at the end of a week, and the weekend and the rest it entails never comes a moment too soon.

And frankly, I am not always excited to worship musically. Shoot, I'm not always excited to do things God's way.

But worship is not about how we feel. It's about giving God the glory he deserves. Not even because of what he did through Jesus on the cross. Just because he's God.

My feelings are irrelevant. I promise you that I won't want to get out of bed tomorrow morning at 5:30, much like many other Christ Followers. I know he deserves everything. Because of this knowledge, I get up, thank God for choosing me as one of his representatives in this present age, strap on my bass, plug in, tune up, and let music be an expression of my gratitude for his sacrifice and victory over Satan, sin, and death.

It's not about how I feel.

It's all about Jesus.

Knowledge is Weakness

We all know the phrase "knowledge is power," right?

I'm not so sure. Knowing is good, I won't deny that. However, I've noticed recently that the more I learn, the more want to learn, and the more aware I am of how little I know within the spectrum of what want to know. So really, I'm just learning that I can't learn everything I want to at the comprehension which I want to.

And the more I learn, the less power I feel like I have. The more I read about Jesus' work on the cross, the more I know I need him. So as I learn, I am more aware of my weakness and more aware of God's power.

With respect to the Gospel, knowledge is knowing your weakness, and knowing the power of your Savior.

These are the things I ponder while I sweep stairwells. No wonder I come home exhausted.

Holiday at the Sea?

"We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." - C.S. Lewis

Yesterday morning, I arose at the pleasant hour of about 9:30. I boiled some water, took my shower, then made morning coffee in my beloved french press, which was given to me by my parents for my birthday. (Funny how much things like that mean to me as I get older. I frequently try to figure at which point in my life I stopped asking for toys of the children's variety.) While my coffee brewed, I started making my breakfast: red potatoes, onions, eggs, and sausage all fried together. Just as the food finished cooking, the sun came out, and it occurred to me that I should sit outside. Our deck is severely lacking in the area of seating. So I settled for the roof.

It wasn't long before I was laying on my back on the roof with my eyes closed, soaking in all the vitamin D I could and singing to Zac Brown Band. Right about the time I realized what I was doing, I thought of this quote and started laughing.

"Far too easily pleased? Are you kidding?" I thought. That was the most fun I'd had in so long, and I was doing NOTHING. Yet this quote was telling me that I should want more than that. I realized I really would have just as much fun, if not more, making throwing mud around than I would going to the beach. Being able to sit on the roof in the sun was a huge blessing to me, and yet somehow, according to Lewis, I was supposed to be striving for more.

Being easily amused has given me so much joy in all of the little things that people always overlook. All the little wisecracks or the puns that occur in conversation and cause groans from everyone else make me laugh more than things that everyone else finds hysterical. I don't know what it is, but I actually like being content with the little things like mud pies.

Because there's sand at the beach.

And that stuff is IRRITATING.