Where is the church?

"They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
Acts 2:42-47
Have you ever seen something like that? Let me tell you, right now, I am longing for that. I dearly desire to have fellowship and have everything in common and work and sell things to help those who don't have as much as I do. I want all of that, with the love of God at the center of it all. Where is the church?

"All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need."
Acts 4:32-35
Have you ever seen anything like this? No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had... God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. Have you seen anything like this, ever? Have you seen a group of people so motivated by God's love that they lived in complete communism (yes, that is what it is, but if I am wrong, please correct me) so that everyone had what they needed?? Right now, I am longing for that.

Does anyone else feel that intense desire for a real church? Am I the only one who wants to live in a community, a real community with communism and the like, with God and His great love and mercy at the center of it all? I want that so much...but I know that my desire alone is not enough to do it.

What if instead of going to church, we became the church??

Spoudazo app finished!

And here is the devotional I wrote for it, if you are interested:


“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10 NIV

I think it is easy for us to read this verse and say, ok, here is the check list: 1) tell someone that Jesus is Lord, 2) believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead. Boom, done, hello heavenly dwelling. Right?
But there is so much more to this than Paul lets on. Simply saying “Jesus is Lord,” is easy, anyone can do that, and anyone can choose not to mean that when they say it, or they may not fully understand what it means to follow up those words with action (See James 2). Likewise, what does it mean to “believe in your heart that God raised [Jesus] from the dead”?
I think it is more than simply accepting that Jesus died for you and washed your sins away, so that now you are holy in God’s sight. Jesus’ resurrection was (one of?) the last miracle(s) He did while He was physically on this earth. If you truly believe in the resurrection of Christ, then what does that say about all the miracles He did before that one? Do you believe in those too? And if you believe in all of the previous miracles He did (after all, if He could come back from the grave, what is turning water into wine or feeding thousands of people with a couple loaves of bread?), then do you believe the things He said as well? And if you believe the things He said, do you follow His advice? CS Lewis once said, “There would be no sense in saying you trusted Jesus if you did not take His advice.”
So I ask you, what is Jesus advising you to do? Has He advised you to do something recently that you have not done? Good news, He is patient and merciful, and He allows second tries. If you faltered previously, spend some time with God and ask for another chance. Ask that He would change your heart so that you would desire to follow His advice, and listen for His voice.

Blue Like Jazz comes out in 1 week!

I want you to enjoy this with me, so check out the trailer :)



Unfortunately, I do not think the movie will be opening in Lincoln :( which makes me very sad..

12 Step Program

So, in a Bible study I go to, we recently started going over The(?) 12 Step Program to help a person get past an addiction. It is popularly known by its use in Alcoholics Anonymous, and the leaders/hosts of the Bible study have both been through AA and are recovering alcoholics - they have personal experience with the program and its success.
The 12 Step program was mentioned in my Abnormal Psych class the other day, but the grad student who was giving the lecture (My professor focuses on a different subject matter and is starting to invite guest lecturers in to cover topics he is not as familiar with.), she mentioned that the 12 step program was good for people who are at a point where they want to get help and get past an addiction, but that the program had been criticized for its emphasis on spirituality, which is not for everyone.

And that is what I want to vent about, sort of. Because when I hear something like, "Spirituality/Religion/God is not for everyone," what I am actually hearing is "The truth is not for everyone." And I am strongly against that stance. I believe that everyone deserves to hear and know the truth. But, I don't think that the person/people who would make a statement like the first would understand that I transition to the second almost instantly. And this, I think, is the underlying issue. Or at least one of them.

The issue I talk about the is question about whether or not there is absolute truth. Is it an absolute truth that God, heaven, and hell exist, or do they just exist for me because I believe in them? (the second part being a relativistic truth system)
I've been thinking about it lately, sort of. I can come up with several arguments against that idea, the one about relative truth, but I have a hard time coming up with arguments for that idea. I would like to think that this is one of a few discussions that I don't know much about both sides while still holding a firm stance, but I don't know for sure. That being said, if you have any arguments for the idea of relative truth (regardless of your personal beliefs), I would be happy to hear them, because I don't want to just rant at nothing.

Relative truth. What I believe exists for me, and what you believe exists for you. Everyone wins, right? But what happens when I try to do that with a physical object? You throw a baseball at me, and I will choose to believe that you did not throw a baseball at me. Now, depending on your accuracy, I will get hit with a baseball. That is what happens, physical things do not disappear simply because we choose not to believe in them. (haha the idea of the cat in the box comes to mind...but I think that has more to do with atomic/nuclear things rather than spiritual things. I could be wrong, feel free to correct me.)
If you choose to believe that the speed limit is 50 mph and drive accordingly, you will still get pulled over if you are driving on a street where the speed limit is 35 and there is a police vehicle watching for speeders. Your beliefs do not change reality. Neither do mine. We will still be held accountable for speeding, even though we may choose to believe otherwise. (possible circumstances where you don't get a ticket: you are not from the area and did not know what the speed limit was, maybe you bribe the police officer or something else illegal, like running away. There are probably more.)

So, does this idea apply to spiritual/religious/God things as well as physical things? Obviously I think so... If I would choose to believe that God did not exist, that I did not have a soul that endures beyond my physical body, that would not change the reality of those things. If I choose to believe that God will not find out or punish me for doing something like running over pedestrians while driving 50 in a 35, that does not change the reality that I will receive punishment for such things. (Now here is where the Gospel comes in. Interesting, because I never intended to make that point. God is pretty neat :P )

As a side note: I am assuming the presence of a spiritual reality, which I know is not agreed upon by all. I can write another blog about why I believe that, but you may have to ask me to or let me know somehow or another. But this one is about truth.

So what is truth? Jesus claimed He was truth. Jesus claimed that He was the only way to the Father (God). (Another possible tangent: Was Jesus being close-minded? Was He being arrogant in saying He is the 'only way'?) Jesus said that He was the one that the Jewish prophets talked about when they talked about a sacrifice that would be sufficient for all sin, for all people. They talk about a person who is God incarnate, someone who is a ruler and a king, someone who is a servant, who is beaten and ultimately executed. This is the same someone, and many believe that Jesus is the person they were describing. Jesus said that He is/was the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that no one comes to God except through Him (John 14:6). That sounds pretty absolute. And if Jesus was serious, and correct, about the claims He made, then shouldn't we take them seriously? Shouldn't we look at what Jesus claimed before we try to dismiss Him as some other crazy guy who thought he was God? What merit does Jesus, or the Bible, have? I think these questions are worth answering because, again, if what is in the Bible is true, and if what Jesus said is true, then it is of the utmost importance.

Conglomerate n. - a bunch of things

husband and wife, God and church - insults/disrespect
So today I was thinking about what might happen if someone were to insult my wife. (I was thinking about the future.) I feel like, depending on who it is and what is said, I would have to restrain myself from punching them right in the mouth. Or at least the face. Now, for those of you that don't know me well, I don't get angry/violent about much. That, however, would make me pretty mad. But no one is going to treat my wife that way.
And then a thought came to me: How does God feel when His bride is insulted or disrespected? I'm sure He is quite upset about it. I mean, His love far surpasses any sort of love that I will ever feel. And since God is outside of time, things that hurt don't exactly go away with the passage of time, as I understand things. (The idea comes from something I am pretty sure CS Lewis wrote, that we are under the illusion that our sins are somehow not as bad after 'enough time' passes.) Honestly, I feel kind of sorry for anyone who insults, disrespects, or imitates the bride of Christ. Because God has said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them."

beauty and nature
At another point in time today, I was thinking about just enjoying the weather and nature and the earth and sunshine. I wanted to stand barefoot in the grass and feel the warmth from the sun and the grass by my feet. I wanted to relish in it, to enjoy it, to take it in, to be healed. Being there (in my head), I could only wonder, How could someone take all this in and not think that there is purpose behind it? And I heard a reply, How can you see all this and say, 'Oh, there must be a God.'? And the truth is, I don't. But I also don't see how you can see all this and say, 'There is no purpose, it all happened by chance. This is a chance collection of atoms that has no reason to be.'
And then I thought, where does that sense of beauty and awe of nature come from in the first place? Why are people so moved to keep trees and the land alive so that they even stand in front of large machines or tie themselves to trees or something else like that? Why is it of such consensus that the earth is a valuable resource, that nature is good to look at and appreciate? Why is it that things like art and music appeal so much to so many? I want you to wonder that as well. Why do we appreciate and desire things that are given the quality of 'beautiful' or 'beauty'? Where does that even come from?

finding something of substance in conversations -I think I desire close relationships instead of frivolous friendships
Lately, I have noticed that I have not been as patient around others as I normally am. I'm going to be honest here, and I hope you can handle it. I don't say it to be insulting or disrespectful, I just want to be open and honest. Because I desire openness and honesty. I desire relationships that are worth something to me, that are deep and meaningful and have truth at their core. I don't want frivolous friendships far and wide.
Lately, I have noticed that I seem to get irritable around groups of more than 4 people when I am with them for more than about 10 minutes at a time. I noticed that I feel like I am forcing laughter, rather than feeling it and expressing it. I don't like that. I kept thinking - and realized that perhaps it was more that I just wanted to be around certain people, that I wanted to know certain people more and let them know that they are valued and appreciated and desired. (On a side note, maybe I'm shallow, but I don't think that is what is happening here. I may write another blog about that.)
I realized that because I know I haven't gotten irritable around everyone I've been with. There are a few people that I enjoy being with, and that I want to be with more. There are a few relationships that I feel are about to be even better than they were before, and I am eager to have that happen. I desire relationships that are real, that are honest and open, that involve maturity and immaturity. I desire relationships that are not based on something stupid like school or a job or which dining hall I go to. I want relationships that are deep, that are connecting and push me to be a better person.

And the relationship I want to grow the most is my relationship with God. I feel like I have almost forgotten who He is and what He wants for me. I feel like God is looking toward me and saying, "When can we hang out and talk? I miss you." And I miss God too...

Prayer, Giving, and Deeds

Let's look at a few chapters from Matthew (specifically 5-7). This is sometimes referred to as the Sermon on the Mount, from what I understand. In it, Jesus talks about many things, and to name a few of those things, prayer, giving to the poor, and doing works. Prayer, Jesus says, is to be done in a personal place, away from others. Not on street corners, because if you do it there, you get recognition from people. God recognizes what is done in secret as well as in public. Jesus says that giving to the poor should not be proclaimed, but done so secretly that one hand will not even know what the other hand is doing. When it comes to doing works/deeds, Jesus says that we (Christians/those who follow God and do His will) are the light of the earth, and to not hide our deeds. By letting others see our deeds, that will bring praise to God, which is a very good thing. Later on, Jesus talks about how you can recognize who is a false/true prophet by the things that that person does. He says you know a tree is an apple tree because you see apples on it. Likewise, you can see that a person is serving God if they do things that are in line with God's character. However, just after that, Jesus says that there will be people who, on the day of judgement, will proclaim the things they did 'in God's name' but who will be denied by Jesus because, "[He] never knew [them.]"

So I am sensing something of a tension...or at least something that I have not been taught before. Praying and giving are not deeds that should be seen by others. They should be done for God's glory, not public recognition. Yet Jesus still said that we are to show others who we serve. This is something I am still learning how to do.

Two things I support

First one! Going alphabetically, it is the Blue Like Jazz movie! I would suggest looking at the website to watch the trailer for it, but I may just include it here later on :P After watching the trailer, I feel like it gives a brief idea of what the book is about, but since I haven't seen the movie I don't know how much of the movie it shows ;) Anyway, I read the book a few years ago and I liked it a lot. The author, Donald Miller, is simply writing about some of his experiences with his friends at college and religion and God. He seems to take an honest look at things, and realizes some of the great shortcomings of Christians in America today.

The second thing is FreeRice.com. It is a website that is also a game, and it is one I played regularly last year and have not been in the habit of playing this year. I want to play it more, because I want to have more of an impact on this earth and the people on it. You ask, "How does playing a game make an impact on this world?"
Well, playing FreeRice literally provides people with food to eat when they may not otherwise have some. The game runs off of money from ads on the page, and when you view those ads, they pay for the rice that you 'donate.' The game you play is a vocabulary game (or a geography game, or a chemistry game...there are different subjects!) where each answer is 'worth' 10 grains of rice. I know it isn't much, I mean, what can you do with 10 grains of rice? And honestly, no, you cannot do much with 10 grains of rice. But by donating 10 grains of rice at a time, I have cumulatively donated 889900 grains of rice (at the time of this blog post). I know what you are thinking: That's OVER 9000!!!!! and it is. well over 9000.
Together, we can and will make a difference, and it will be good :)

So there it is. Two things I support, and I hope you take a look at them! That's all I ask, really. Just look at them. See if you are interested in them, and take the next step accordingly :)

PS- The movie comes out on Jessica's birthday. Happy birthday Jessica!