Difficult Battlefields

I had an encouraging conversation with a friend today. What made it encouraging? Well, we were conversing about ministry in the future.

You see, he's a Pastoral Leadership student from an affluent, upper-class background who wants to minister specifically to upper-class individuals in "post-Christian" nations.

You can stop staring at the screen like I'm crazy.

"But isn't he supposed to forsake all riches and go dig sewage ditches in India for Jesus?"

Only if God calls him to, which, as much as was apparent, He hadn't.

Now, as for why I'm encouraged: compared to reaching affluent individuals, particularly of my generation, in developed countries, evangelizing to the poor, impoverished, and malnourished is almost like comparing a multiplication quiz to integral calculus.

Now, I'm not saying we shouldn't minister to the poor, because we should. We're called to do so  as Christians. What I'm saying is that it's a completely different ballgame and here are a few reasons why:

• The needs to be met are often not physical and not apparent, hidden by many layers
• You need to discern and address the individual's philosophy
• You need to be able to think on your feet - there are many stock arguments used to tie up Christians in logical fallacies
• You need to be able to refute the most recent pop philosophy, atheist argument, or evolutionary discovery
• You need to be able to stand your own in both a formal and an informal debate
• You need to be able to conduct yourself and converse at the appropriate level (the upper crust can be very particular about its ways, many of which don't quite fit with Christianity, but anyone trying to spread the Gospel must be aware of and fluent in these nuances)
• Having successfully shown yourself as a well-educated member of society, you may have been allowed a step closer into confidence - don't mess up now.
• Is there any resistance to religion/Christianity? Subtly address it without religious arguments

Finally, after going through all of these hoops, and more, after having refuted and addressed their intellectual strongholds and beliefs, once you have cleared away the dross, then you may begin to use the Bible.

As you can see, it takes a very unique individual to reach the higher strata of society, strata which are comprising a larger and larger percentage of the Western world while becoming more and more areligious. 

So, yes, I'm encouraged. I'm encouraged because I see that God has called and equipped him to a difficult battlefield, a battlefield more mental than physical.

Fast Dieting

So, with Lent around the corner (it starts on Wed.), I figured I'd talk about something I have done that I want to encourage all of you to avoid - dieting over Lent.

Let me explain myself. Lent is a period of time before Easter during which celebrants abstain from a particular something and, instead, spend the time in prayer; this is also called fasting. Most commonly, people choose to abstain from some sort of foodstuff they particularly enjoy.

There's a fine line between fasting from certain foods and dieting.

Last year, I chose to fast from desserts as a whole. For me, that was something I enjoyed and spent too much time and thought over - a perfect choice for a fast. Now, here's the kicker: I never actually fasted. I merely dieted.

So, yes, I abstained from all desserts during Lent, but what I didn't do was redeem that time otherwise spent eating or craving dessert in prayer, devouring the Word of God and desiring Him. My fast had become a diet.

This, I think, is one of the biggest dangers a faster faces and in the face of this, I want to encourage you to spend Lent fasting, but properly so. Give something up for these next 40 days, but also remember to be praying and seeking God throughout the whole time. In fact, set goals to fast about during this time, while you're at it.

Footnote: I think it's fine to turn a diet into a fast. You're already giving something up, now you're just redeeming it to draw closer to God. Turning a fast into a diet, however, I think is a big mistake, as outlined above.

My Conversion Story

So, I had to write this up for my Theology class (It was due this morning) and I figured, "Why not publish it to the world at large?"

"Looking back, the last 14 years have been largely impacted by a single event. Had this event not happened or merely happened at a later date, I would be a very different person with unknowable different experiences. This event, of course, was my decision to accept Jesus as the payment for my sin and my lord.

The details, some 14 years old, are somewhat hazy, but I remember having grown up a pastor's kid at a decently-sized country church outside of Richmond, VA. I knew all the Sunday School stories and answers, but, increasingly, I was becoming aware that there was something more than  a picture Bible and itchy sweaters.

All of this culminated during the summer of '98. I remember going to our church's VBS, being excited because of the space theme and looking forward to Mrs. Pope's desserts. little was I to know that on that day, my teacher would hit the nail on the head. She was teaching on Jesus' Sacrifice & payment for our sins - the culmination of the week's lessons. To this day I do not know what moved me to mark the back of the card, but I have a fairly good guess it was the Holy Spirit.

A few days later, my dad, having been told by my teacher, sat me down and explained in detail what it meant to be a Christian. Not long after that, I remember praying through the ABC's of salvation in an earnest 8-year-old's prayer, acknowledging my sin, committing my life to Christ, and knowing full well what that meant."

Yes = No?

**Let me preface this with some context: I attend a university with a moderately strict code of conduct/hair & dress code. I am a member of student leadership (although not an RA) at said school.**

Some things irritate me. Some things puzzle me. Some things do both.


As prefaced, my school has a hair/dress code attached to its code of conduct. At my school, I see students, every day, in direct contravention to the codes (more the former than the latter - violators of the latter know better than to be seen). This irritates me. This angers me and yet, I feel nothing but pity for these fellow students.

"Why?"

Because I cannot trust them.

"Hold on, what?"

I cannot trust them. Let me explain. When prospective students enter my school and accept its offered acceptance, they are required to read and sign that they have read and will follow the codes (hair/dress and conduct). Additionally, the students are reminded of these codes in every syllabus of every class they will take.

"Okay, how does breaking hair code mean they are untrustworthy?"

When they signed acceptance of the codes, they gave their word that they would follow and abide by the codes. Their word was and is their bond.

Bond. That's an interesting concept. have you ever given someone your credit card, ID, watch, etc as collateral that you would honor your word and perform a specific task? As a waiter, I've held many people's driver's licenses as they went to go draw money from the bank to pay for the meal.

When someone's word is their bond, it means that they nave nothing riding on their promise that they will lose except their name/word/honor. The esteem to which one holds one's name/word/honor says a lot about a person. I for one, hold my honor, my word as a valuable commodity; after all, if I do not have my word, what have I that may be trusted?

In Matthew 5, Jesus talks about taking oaths. He advises that we not swear upon the earth, the sky or on God himself as we are de facto making these our bond, but rather, we should let our yes mean yes and our no, no. Basically, we should be holding our word as bond. We should not need to be making promises or oaths to reassure others that what we say we will do, we will do.

So, to you few students walking around out of code, you men with too-long hair, t-shirts with no jacket/sweater, earrings, and you women who wear overly revealing tops or too-short skirts, I apologize. I do not mean to judge. I do not mean to belittle, but I must inform you that I cannot trust you. Do you hold your word, your name to such little esteem that you do not even hold yourself to something as easy to follow as a hair/dress code?

That is what I see. If you do not value your own word, how can I trust it?

Post-Christmas Lesson

When I was younger, I used to watch Sesame Street.
Let me rephrase that.
When I was younger, I wanted to live on Sesame Street.

I watched that show multiple times a day, almost every day; I never got tired of it. One reason I loved it was the songs. I remember one in particular song around this time of year (well, two, but, for the sake of this post, one) from one of the Christmas Specials (I can't remember which one, but I'm pretty sure it's not Big Bird Searches for Santa):

"Keep Christmas with you| All through the year.| When Christmas is over| Save some Christmas cheer.| These precious moments,| Hold them very dear.| So keep Christmas with you| All through the year."

Pretty profound for a kids' show.

Now, I know the song is talking about saving the love, joy, and general "Christmas-y" concepts to enjoy throughout the year, but I cannot help but draw all of this back to God.

You see, Christmas is truly about love, joy, peace, hope, etc., but the reason for that is not because of the people, the gifts, or even the "Christmas Spirit". The reason for Christmas and all its associated marvels lies in its name - Christ.

Christ, or Messiah in Hebrew, is a title meaning "Anointed One".

Okay, well, what does that mean?

In Jewish society (the Jews were the ones awaiting the Messiah, after all), anointing was a physical demonstration of the appointing of one by God to a specific calling, notably the high priest, prophet, or king.

So, we have this Anointed One, Jesus, who is appointed by God for a specific task - namely the rescue and redemption of mankind from sin to God. Which means that He had to have been free from sin as well. (Think about it: can one mired in sin rescue all others from their sin? No, only one who is already free from sin can bring others to freedom.) Because mankind is inherently sinful (thank Adam and Eve for that), to be born free from sin, the Messiah must have been conceived sinlessly, i.e. from the seed of a sinless being - God.

Enter the "Immaculate Conception". As was prophesied (Isaiah 7:14), God begat a child with a virgin woman, Mary. Why a virgin? Two reasons: 1) To prevent any doubt as to whether the child was really the son of God and 2) to be miraculous - normally, to conceive, a virgin must lose her virginity; therefore conception without a loss of virginity is miraculous. (no, IVF hadn't been devised and I'm pretty sure that would constitute a loss of virginity anyways)

So, we have a sinless Anointed One, born of a virgin, who is supposed to free mankind from sin, which is separation from God. God is holy, perfect, and just. As such, God cannot stand sin as it is less than perfection and neither can he ignore it as to do so would not be perfectly just. So, to save mankind from sin, someone had to pay the punishment and the only one able to pay the punishment for another is one who has not committed the crime. (otherwise he's merely doing his own punishment) It is for this reason, redemption, that Jesus the Christ came into this world as a sinless, Anointed One.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whosoever believes in Him might not perish, but have eternal life" - John 3:16

Oh, I forgot to mention, the punishment for sin: death, and by death I mean a final, total, spiritual death following one's corporeal death, while the end of those redeemed by Christ is life eternally in the presence of God.

This is the message of Christmas. This message of God's love, redemption, and forgiveness and our subsequent peace, hope, and joy is the reason we celebrate Christmas. This is what we must keep with us, carrying it all through the year, reminding ourselves and telling others this very same message of the Anointed One, Christ Jesus.

Seeking the King

So, with my family in the US and all, my dad, of course has done and will be doing some speaking engagements. Today was one such day. One thing he said (which was also touched upon by the Sunday School teacher) struck a bit of a chord.

Looking at the magi which traveled to honour the (at the time) newborn Messiah (Matt 2:1-12), he illustrated, amongst other ideas, the dedication and drive possessed by the magi to finding this newborn king.

These men saw a star, traveled for ~2 years, found that their initial idea of the child's location was wrong, found correct information and went to the child. They brought with them gifts; some might say they were symbolic, but all will agree they were expensive gifts, gifts deemed the best to give to honour the now-come Messiah.

Conversely, the Jews in Herod's court (and Herod himself) knew about the coming arrival of the Messiah and where He would be born. They were a very short distance away from Him, yet when they heard that He was born, they couldn't be bothered to take a measly day's travel to seek Him out.

The question my dad asked [well, either that or implied] which caught my ear, and I hope it catches yours, was "What is your reaction to the newborn King?" Is it "I must follow after and seek out the King" or merely "Meh"?

Ooh, and add to that the shepherds' reaction - they were rejoicing and ecstatic about the birth of the Messiah, while, once again, the Jewish advisers and scholars reacted indifferently, a distinction of "THE MESSIAH IS BORN! WE MUST GO AND SEE; TELL THE OTHERS!" versus "The Messiah? He's supposed to be over there."

So, I ask myself as I ask you, the reader, "What is your reaction to Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the saviour of the world?"

Finals Week

Once again, it is that time, the time of year when millions of students across the land lose sleep, sanity, and sociability. It is the time of year when hours spent toiling under the forbearing glare of paper taskmasters breed new colourful epithets describing the derisive tortures of the soul

Fear not, my people, for an end is nigh! Though your strength might fall, your courage falter, and your determination faint, there is an end and soon, very soon, that end shall be upon us; on some it had indeed already fallen. So, gather yourselves! There shall come a day when the grip of your hand may fail, when the words trail off the edge of the paper in a senseless line, but it is not this day.

So you can give up and roll back in bed, yes, or you can study, get up and take the final. You may fail, yes, but years from now, as you walk into that interview, do you desire to look back into the past at these finals and regale your prospective employer or graduate school provost with tales of your cowardice or tales of your fight, your struggle, of hours spent slaving away under harsh light, staring at the manifold scribings of ink on pages? Simply remember this: they may take our time, they may take our sanity, but they will never take Winter break!