nicodemus, my homeboy...

Thanks to the Gladding's back at UCA, I discovered memverse.com, a great tool for memorizing Scripture. I've been spending about twenty minutes there each morning and it's been fantastic for my devotional life.

One passage I've been memorizing is John 3:1-21. I memorized it back in high school for my senior Bible class taught by Mark Janke. I chose it by accident, thinking I had written down John 1. But I didn't and Janke encouraged me to stick with the passage because he said it it one of the most clear presentations of the gospel message. I agree and am glad I stuck with it.  Anyways, I thought I would relearn this important passage of Scripture...

I've been spending each day with this passage for the past ten day. It was starting to get boring (just shows I was reading it wrong), but this morning I read it from my Bible slowly, without focusing on memorization, and it came alive.

I think that Nicodemus is one of the most relatable of Biblical individuals to modern-day Christians. Here, we have a sincere leader of the Jews recognizing Jesus' obvious call and God's presence within (v. 2). He's a Pharisee, so he's obviously a recognized scholar. He craves knowledge. He wants to know more about this special individual sent to earth. However, his colleagues despise and fear Jesus and he himself is leery to commit to someone preaching such blasphemy (Jesus had just talked of temple destruction and a quick rebuilding project - 2:19). So, he comes by night.

Jesus realizes Nicodemus' intentions, that he wants to know without action, without belief. Nicodemus begins the discussion but Jesus immediately takes control, saying we must all be born again, "from above" (v. 3). Because once we submit to God, He will change us, and guide us in a way as unseen as the wind (v. 8). Again, Jesus points out that Nicodemus wants to simply know more about Jesus and not submit, so he asks Nicodemus "how can you believe if I tell you about earthly things" (v. 12)? He continues (and I summarize) that only the Son of Man has been to heaven and He is here to save the world, to save all who believe. Don't be the version of yourself unwilling to believe so that you might be lost. Avoid judgment, come into the light, "so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God" (v. 21).

God wants our submission. He wants to change us, to make us the best possible versions of ourselves. We need to crave more than knowledge. Too often, I have found myself like Nicodemus, coming to God alone by night wanting to know more about God and unwilling to truly let God guide me. That's been getting better, but it requires active submission. From me. From you. From our church. From all of us.

Nicodemus' story doesn't end here. He's mentioned again in John 7:50 encouraging the Pharisees to publicly question Jesus through a hearing rather than a private arrest. And in John 19:38-40, he and Joseph of Arimathea  helped with the burial of Jesus. I wish there was more, a detailed biography perhaps. But I'm glad that Nicodemus' story doesn't end there. He chose to continue learning about Jesus and show Him respect. I hope the belief came and suspect it did. That's a direction I want to continue relating. Nicodemus, my homeboy...

protests over the anti-islam film

Is the world really this pathetic? Apparently so. If you don't believe me, check out this article from BBC America.

Muslims blaming the U.S. for a private film made apparently blaspheming Muhammad. Meanwhile, countless episodes of Family Guy and South Park mock Jesus Christ. Did I like that? No. Do you see me warning my own country, threatening lives? No.

Are human lives worth such petty conflicts? We’ll never agree. Christianity vs. Islam vs. Atheism vs. the countless other religions. Democrats vs. Republicans and their neverending corporate-driven hypocritical feuds.

But this is ridiculous. Pacificism is a far greater rallying cry. So many Muslims and Christians cherish our God-ordained love and peace. While we should never support films that give way to such hatred, our response from one religion to the other, from one political party to the other, should be emblazoned with love and peace.

I think God would find that response much less pathetic.

bonhoeffer does love

I finished reading two books a couple weeks back. This is quite the accomplishment for me. You see, I was at some point in seven books at the time. And after finishing these two, I immediately started three more. It's a disease and it's nearly lethal. Precisely why I rarely visit bookstores...

The two books I finished were fantastic and it turned out fitting that I read them at the same time...

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a name I'd heard a few times. I knew he was a German theologian and that he was somehow involved in the plot against Hitler. That's it. He was those things. And far more. He was a thinker, a family man, a musician, a writer, a teacher, a spy and ultimately a martyr. He was inspiring. He was constantly looking at the words of Jesus and trying to apply them to his life. He believed in the entire Bible and wouldn't give in when the Nazis threw out the Old Testament in order to punish the Jews. He practiced equality (attending a black church while spending several months in New York City) and he wasn't ashamed to publicly defy those went against what he believed to be true. Eric Metaxas did a fantastic job of utilizing quotes from his theological works, journal entries from Bonhoeffer and others within his inner circle, and interviewing living family members who knew him best. This is a book that is essential for anyone who loves a good biography and something spiritually challenging...

Bob Goff is not your everyday individual. He refused to accept his rejection from law school and literally lived on a bench across from the dean's office. He was accepted before the first week had finished. He also wouldn't accept that his now-wife didn't want to date him. So, he played the friend card and made sure to stick around long enough for her to change her mind. He refuses to live a boring life now too, working with refugee victims in Africa, foreign leaders on peace topics. He is adamant that the duty of Christians is to love, and that love isn't just words. Love Does.

Bonhoeffer wouldn't have to be convinced. His life echoed Goff's words. Does yours? Does mine? Good goals as we surrender all we are to Christ to better showcase his love.

what could have been

A few days ago, I started thinking about what the Seattle Mariners' lineup would look like if we hadn't made such foolish trades a few years ago.

Let's take a quick look:

• Adam Jones, Chris Tillman and others to the Baltimore Orioles for Erik Bedard, the talented but oft-injured pitcher who never really helped.
• Asdrubal Cabrera to the Cleveland Indians for Eduardo Perez, a platoon first baseman...
• Shin-Soo Choo to the Cleveland Indians for Ben Broussard, the second half of the Indians' platoon...

Those trades failed. We traded future stars and received little if nothing in return.

Here's what today's lineup could look like:

1. 2B Dustin Ackley

2. SS Asdrubal Cabrera

3. CF Adam Jones

4. RF Shin-Soo Choo

5. DH Jesus Montero

6. LF Michael Saunders

7. 3B Kyle Seager

8. 1B Mike Carp

9. C John Jaso / Miguel Olivo

There. A semi-decent lineup. The three hitters we traded would be in the middle! It wouldn't make us a playoff contender overnight but it would sure strike more fear in opponents. 

This is frustrating. Please don't make more trades like these, or the all-time evil trade for Heathcliff Slocumb...

rain

Summer in TN.
No rain for one month.
Dead Grass.
Raining all week.
Greenery returns immediately.
God is good.

void

Blogging seems to have lost its trendiness.

My news feed is about as cluttered my grandmother's kitchen.

Now I can feel like I'm contributing once again. You're welcome, blogging world.

leaving christianity?

Here is a great blog entry on why young people are leaving Christianity.

It can be easy to blame college for doubts. I too first experienced serious doubt while a college student. However, I feel it had nothing to do with my professors. It had more to do with realizing how Christianity really is, with making my relationship with God even more my own (my parents and friends had encouraged that process throughout, but it really sharpened in college).

If anything, I'm a Christian today still because of college professors. One in particular realized that something was wrong and spent a tremendous amount of time in order to make sure I didn't just slip away. Other professors were also encouraging. If anything, doubt fostered stronger Christian community for me.

I didn't doubt because of college. And neither do most of my friends who struggled with Christianity. We're too often looking to pass blame elsewhere instead of first looking in the mirror. We need to be the change we wish to see in Christianity...

Thanks for sharing this link, Ryan Billington

origins

First of all, I want to say that I'm proud of The Collegian. As the student newspaper for Walla Walla University, it continues to be a place of dialogue and discourse. For years, The Collegian has published special issues (e.g. alcohol, Sabbath, sexuality, beliefs, etc.) in correlation with a survey of students.

This year's special issue centered around the topic of origins, a controversial topic to be certain. Ever since the La Sierra issue a few years back, everyone seems to be avoiding the topic. And when mentioned at all, everyone seems to be looking over their shoulder... That's why I'm proud of The Collegian. It confronted a tough subject head-on. Professionally. Tactfully. And willing to look at both sides.

A slight majority of students still hold to the SDA belief of a six literal day creation. That doesn't surprise me. It did, however, surprise Sean Pittman and his website, Educate Truth. There, he wrote an entry that simply angered me. Not only was it full of errors (both factually and stylistically), but it was simply a careless attack without merit. WWU pictures were even used without consent.

Pittman stated:

Clearly, La Sierra University is not the only Adventist school that has been challenged by the issue of origins. While LSU may have been the most blatant in attacking and undermining the Adventist position on origins, many of our other schools (with the exception of Southern Adventist University and Southwestern Adventist University where the Adventist position on origins is still strongly upheld and promoted) seem to be heading down the same path or are at least very weak in their active support of the Church on this issue.

How does he know what is taught in WWU classes? Does he know that WWU professors teach evolution? Has he polled SAU or SWAU students? Might they think similar things? As a former WWU student, I heard little talk of evolution period. Or even talk of an extended time period for creation. Anywhere on campus. By any professor. And my friends who have taken Biology courses say similar things.

The comment thread was particularly frustrating, where further attacks were unleashed without merit. Many WWU students got involved in attempt to correct, which was nice to see, but the piece is still up... If you want a frustrating read, try to make it all the way through the comment thread.  

If you want a more accurate summary of the issue, try Adventist Today. Or better yet, read through the actual issue at The Collegian's website.

And to start some fire. Why does it even matter? If creation didn't happen in 6 literal days, is God any less powerful? Aren't issues like this just widening the divide within Christianity. Discussion is good. Infighting is not. Instead, shouldn't we be focusing more on Jesus and our true mission of making Him known to the world instead of infighting over issues such as origins? Just seems like one more way to anger people into leaving Christian churches...

beardless

Students have been walking right past me today, forgetting who I am.

I know I look younger without facial hair, but wow...

Last night, I let four sophomore girls shave my beard off at Dorm Worship. It kicked off Lumberjack Week and Facial Hair February for our dormitory.

My face feels naked.

Here's the video:

disheartening political imagery

Everyone seems to be uploading random pictures to Facebook these days. Some are humorous. Some factual. Some absurd and/or angering.

This week, I found two that I had to mention. I hate getting into long, drawn-out Facebook battles with political extremists, but I had to make a comment somewhere, hence here.

First, the budget on the right is fascinating. It really is amazing what removing a few zeroes can do. It's impossible for a family to survive on such outlandish spending. I'm a firm believer in fiscal conservatism, meaning limited spending and spending within one's means. I find it amusing that the ones harping on this are Republicans who rarely realize just how much spending Reagan and George W. Bush spent. It's not simply the evil Obama. Now, I'm not one to simply quote a liberal economics blog (in fact, they can be annoying for me to read at times), but this one by Paul Krugman, a New York Times opinion contributor, was particularly relevant. Here, he briefly reminds us where we are indebted to, largely ourselves. While this is still not where anyone should want our government to be, it's less scary than it could be. While I don't support a balanced budget amendment just yet (I don't think our country could survive), I believe we need to do mass scaling back until we can live within our means. Just not all at once.

Second, this picture ANGERS me. My friends posting this are pandering to political extremism. Clinton clapping for the forgotten American? I'm not necessarily a Democrat, but aren't Democrats doing more for forgotten Americans than Republicans? Aren't Republicans arguing solely for corporations? Okay, I exaggerated there, but being a lifelong student of History, I see this as an extremely inaccurate representation. While I instantly loved seeing presidents together, I found it disheartening to see such division. This picture does correctly identify that division. However, it only increases the divide and further damages Republican and Democrat collaboration. It shows flawed and close-minded both parties are. This picture shows me a need for a third party, a party where one isn't forced to worship Obama or find him a Constitution-crushing dictator (which he is not). I really hope people stop giving credence to an artist pandering to reckless political extremism.