Hey guys! SO I'm trying some new looks for my blog, and I want to know what you think. Should I
go back to the original, or keep this one? Comment on this post and let me know. Thanks a million!
Saturday, October 12, 2013
What is love? Part One
What is love exactly?
Many people, including myself, either are, have been, or will be confused on this subject.
I never used to think about love a lot. Not because I didn't want to think about it (I wasn't the kind of kid that though that girls had cooties) but because I didn't think that it was relevant. Growing up to where I am now, a young teen, I thought, yes, my mother and father love me, and that is a natural part of life. Older folks got married, heaven knew why, and I knew someday I would too. But I didn't think much about it. What did it have to do with me? With my Christian walk?
Have you ever heard of the saying that "Love was what held Jesus on the cross"?
I realize now exactly what that means.
So we've all heard faith hope love, and the greatest of these is love (Hebrews). But WHY is love the greatest?
Well, let's begin at the beginning, shall we?
So at the beginning, before time and space and everything, there was this huge cloud of darkness that just kinda hung over the earth, which was at that time water. (Genesis 1:2) God came from heaven and said? (Sunday school students should now reply to their computer monitors or tablet screens "LET THERE BE LIGHT!!!") Then the world was light. And so on. And after seven days, God was like, "Okay, hard weeks work. Time for a nice, long nap." And so he did just that. He rested with a pina colada in hand watching the sun set over the world He had created. He said, "You know what? It IS good!" Another way to say that would be; "I love this job!"
And we all know what eventually happens.
But what happened before that?
God loves His angels. But he had a plan. So there is this guy Lucifer, right? And he is big man on campus. Michael, Gabriel, all the heavenly host got nothing on this guy, okay. He is numero uno.
But wait. He is actually numero dos. And he wants the top spot.
That's right. This Lucifer character has a truly diabolical plan. He gets one third of the angels on his side, and waits.
Then God says, "Hey Lou! I got this idea. So what I planned is I'm gonna make these things called humans to rule over this planet called earth in this universe I'm gonna make, and they are gonna be with me forever and be a little higher than the angels."
And Lucifer is like; "Higher than the angels? Did you just say HIGHER!?!"
So He goes along with this little plan according to sources such as Job, but then he decides that he is gonna blow this pop stand. So he rallies his armies, and fights God.
Fights. God.
Okay, can I just say, talk about a BONE HEADED IDEA!?!
So obviously he loses the war. And God makes a mockery of him and casts him down to the earth he made. Talk about ironic.
Then, in the form of a serpent, he messes everything up again. And then we get sin. Hooray.
But God loves us. And two thirds of the angels had enough sense to stay with Him, and now Michael sits in Lucifer's spot. And he is one good angel. According to Job, he wouldn't even accuse Lucifer (Now called Satan "The deceiver") Of wrong-doing in front of Father God! Talk about blameless! And Gabe helps too. Hes the mailman (Luke 1.) So God sits down and says that "Okay, I love these humans, so I have a plan." So He tries sacrifice and the old testament law.
It doesn't go well.
All bets are off on the Law, so He says, "I am now gonna put my final plan into action, the plan I have had all along. Jesus, come look at this. You cool with this?" And Jesus, one with the Father says, "Sure. I know its gonna be hard. But I'll do it. That way, we can adopt these people into our forever family, and sacrifice wont be necessary!"
To imagine what it was like for Christ, use this analogy my pastor uses on occasion. With a few of my own special twists.
So you are you, and you play with Legos. And so let's say for the given purpose that Legos are alive, that they are humans. And you are you. A supreme being to them. Capable of wiping them out with your shoe. You can kill a Lego with your pinkie. But you love your little Lego people.
But then they turn around and say; "Go away. We don't need you."
So you send them little Lego prophet after little Lego prophet. And they kill them all right in front of you. And so finally you say: "Okay. I am going to become Lego. And I am going to go be a limited little Lego gut with a plastic head and non-bendable elbows, so that I can bring these people into my forever home. That's how much I love my creation."
And then, they kill you. And in your last moments, you say:
"Father, forgive them. They know not what they do."
And do you, when you resurrect, stomp all over them? You could, after all. They KILLED YOU.
But you extend them grace. And an invitation.
That's how much, in a nutshell, God loves us. US. His little Lego people.
When people ask me what God is. This is what I tell them.
"God is Love."
It's really as simple as that. Love is God. Love is from God. God is Love.
Many people, including myself, either are, have been, or will be confused on this subject.
I never used to think about love a lot. Not because I didn't want to think about it (I wasn't the kind of kid that though that girls had cooties) but because I didn't think that it was relevant. Growing up to where I am now, a young teen, I thought, yes, my mother and father love me, and that is a natural part of life. Older folks got married, heaven knew why, and I knew someday I would too. But I didn't think much about it. What did it have to do with me? With my Christian walk?
Have you ever heard of the saying that "Love was what held Jesus on the cross"?
I realize now exactly what that means.
So we've all heard faith hope love, and the greatest of these is love (Hebrews). But WHY is love the greatest?
Well, let's begin at the beginning, shall we?
So at the beginning, before time and space and everything, there was this huge cloud of darkness that just kinda hung over the earth, which was at that time water. (Genesis 1:2) God came from heaven and said? (Sunday school students should now reply to their computer monitors or tablet screens "LET THERE BE LIGHT!!!") Then the world was light. And so on. And after seven days, God was like, "Okay, hard weeks work. Time for a nice, long nap." And so he did just that. He rested with a pina colada in hand watching the sun set over the world He had created. He said, "You know what? It IS good!" Another way to say that would be; "I love this job!"
And we all know what eventually happens.
But what happened before that?
God loves His angels. But he had a plan. So there is this guy Lucifer, right? And he is big man on campus. Michael, Gabriel, all the heavenly host got nothing on this guy, okay. He is numero uno.
But wait. He is actually numero dos. And he wants the top spot.
That's right. This Lucifer character has a truly diabolical plan. He gets one third of the angels on his side, and waits.
Then God says, "Hey Lou! I got this idea. So what I planned is I'm gonna make these things called humans to rule over this planet called earth in this universe I'm gonna make, and they are gonna be with me forever and be a little higher than the angels."
And Lucifer is like; "Higher than the angels? Did you just say HIGHER!?!"
So He goes along with this little plan according to sources such as Job, but then he decides that he is gonna blow this pop stand. So he rallies his armies, and fights God.
Fights. God.
Okay, can I just say, talk about a BONE HEADED IDEA!?!
So obviously he loses the war. And God makes a mockery of him and casts him down to the earth he made. Talk about ironic.
Then, in the form of a serpent, he messes everything up again. And then we get sin. Hooray.
But God loves us. And two thirds of the angels had enough sense to stay with Him, and now Michael sits in Lucifer's spot. And he is one good angel. According to Job, he wouldn't even accuse Lucifer (Now called Satan "The deceiver") Of wrong-doing in front of Father God! Talk about blameless! And Gabe helps too. Hes the mailman (Luke 1.) So God sits down and says that "Okay, I love these humans, so I have a plan." So He tries sacrifice and the old testament law.
It doesn't go well.
All bets are off on the Law, so He says, "I am now gonna put my final plan into action, the plan I have had all along. Jesus, come look at this. You cool with this?" And Jesus, one with the Father says, "Sure. I know its gonna be hard. But I'll do it. That way, we can adopt these people into our forever family, and sacrifice wont be necessary!"
To imagine what it was like for Christ, use this analogy my pastor uses on occasion. With a few of my own special twists.
So you are you, and you play with Legos. And so let's say for the given purpose that Legos are alive, that they are humans. And you are you. A supreme being to them. Capable of wiping them out with your shoe. You can kill a Lego with your pinkie. But you love your little Lego people.
But then they turn around and say; "Go away. We don't need you."
So you send them little Lego prophet after little Lego prophet. And they kill them all right in front of you. And so finally you say: "Okay. I am going to become Lego. And I am going to go be a limited little Lego gut with a plastic head and non-bendable elbows, so that I can bring these people into my forever home. That's how much I love my creation."
And then, they kill you. And in your last moments, you say:
"Father, forgive them. They know not what they do."
And do you, when you resurrect, stomp all over them? You could, after all. They KILLED YOU.
But you extend them grace. And an invitation.
That's how much, in a nutshell, God loves us. US. His little Lego people.
When people ask me what God is. This is what I tell them.
"God is Love."
It's really as simple as that. Love is God. Love is from God. God is Love.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Your Permanent Home
My church recently bought its own property after renting space from other churches for almost 8 years.
We found a permanent home at last!
The property is about 8 acres of land, including a school, sanctuary, playground, wallball and basketball courts, tetherball, soccer field, housing and giant refrigerators we have no idea what to do with (not to mention the cafeteria, offices, and hallway space and a sound room the size of a small apartment). Nothing short of a miracle, for a small sabbatarian church of roughly 85 people. Despite several bumps in the road and a 2M price tag, we are finished with escrow and plan to move in to the building for our first service there on November 1st. Very exciting.
But that's not what I want to talk about.
I play a lot of online games such as Minecraft, and one day when on the said Minecraft the subject of religion came up with some online friends. Now if you know me, and even if you don't, you might have guessed by my previous posts that I KNOW what I believe and I KNOW why I believe it. I know why it's true. But many others, well, don't. I talked over the web with a Mormon, a Presbyterian, a Catholic, an agnostic, three Muslims and someone who believed in reincarnation.
And other than a few, most of them were very confused about what they believed.
Religion for some never crosses the mind, while for others it's something to actively avoid. Many people don't want to talk about it. Even strong Christians sometimes have nothing to go on other than "Jesus loves you" while that may be a great starting point, there are other things that need to be discussed. But what shocks me is that people don't know where they are going.
Even Christians of the highest degree sometimes have no concept of life after death. It's just not important to them. But it is, contrary to the popular belief, ESSENTIAL to our walk as Christians. Why am I a Christian? Because I love Jesus, yes, but also because I want to go to heaven. I want to live eternally with God. Without that hope of eternity, what is religion? Why serve God all your life when you could have been partying and doing really messed up things without eternal consequences? Heaven (And the opposite) Are abSOULutely CRUCIAL to our faith. Without it, we have nothing.
Now, I am not going to launch into a sermon with scripture references and quotes and hypotheses, again, this blog is designed to make you think. What do you think? About life after death? Take some time and think about it. Pray about it. Study the scriptures like I did. (It's extremely beneficial.) Find out what is true! Use supplemental material. Talk to your pastor or parent or even a friend. (Make sure it's a friend who knows what he or she is talking about! =-) ) Use your head and your heart. Search out the truth. You can even email me or comment on what you found personally. Get a discussion going! Find out where your permanent home will be in eternity.....!
We found a permanent home at last!
The property is about 8 acres of land, including a school, sanctuary, playground, wallball and basketball courts, tetherball, soccer field, housing and giant refrigerators we have no idea what to do with (not to mention the cafeteria, offices, and hallway space and a sound room the size of a small apartment). Nothing short of a miracle, for a small sabbatarian church of roughly 85 people. Despite several bumps in the road and a 2M price tag, we are finished with escrow and plan to move in to the building for our first service there on November 1st. Very exciting.
But that's not what I want to talk about.
I play a lot of online games such as Minecraft, and one day when on the said Minecraft the subject of religion came up with some online friends. Now if you know me, and even if you don't, you might have guessed by my previous posts that I KNOW what I believe and I KNOW why I believe it. I know why it's true. But many others, well, don't. I talked over the web with a Mormon, a Presbyterian, a Catholic, an agnostic, three Muslims and someone who believed in reincarnation.
And other than a few, most of them were very confused about what they believed.
Religion for some never crosses the mind, while for others it's something to actively avoid. Many people don't want to talk about it. Even strong Christians sometimes have nothing to go on other than "Jesus loves you" while that may be a great starting point, there are other things that need to be discussed. But what shocks me is that people don't know where they are going.
Even Christians of the highest degree sometimes have no concept of life after death. It's just not important to them. But it is, contrary to the popular belief, ESSENTIAL to our walk as Christians. Why am I a Christian? Because I love Jesus, yes, but also because I want to go to heaven. I want to live eternally with God. Without that hope of eternity, what is religion? Why serve God all your life when you could have been partying and doing really messed up things without eternal consequences? Heaven (And the opposite) Are abSOULutely CRUCIAL to our faith. Without it, we have nothing.
Now, I am not going to launch into a sermon with scripture references and quotes and hypotheses, again, this blog is designed to make you think. What do you think? About life after death? Take some time and think about it. Pray about it. Study the scriptures like I did. (It's extremely beneficial.) Find out what is true! Use supplemental material. Talk to your pastor or parent or even a friend. (Make sure it's a friend who knows what he or she is talking about! =-) ) Use your head and your heart. Search out the truth. You can even email me or comment on what you found personally. Get a discussion going! Find out where your permanent home will be in eternity.....!
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