Remembering the Event

So today is September 11th, 2015. 14 years ago today, I was sitting in 5th grade, doing my usual morning routine. Every morning we had to do a DOL, or daily oral language. I have no idea why they call it oral, when we didn't ever talk. All we had to do was fix the grammatical mistakes in different sentences. After that we got to do a journal entry, I can't remember what it was. Then we had a brain buster is we got done with all of that. I was sitting next to a kid named Dominic. We both got done about the same time, were going through the brain buster which had us name things with holes in them. He calls the teacher over and goes, "A plan few into the World Trade Center this morning so there's a hole in that, can I use that?"

And that's how I first heard about what was happening in New York. Of course being only 11 years old I didn't think too much of it. As the day went on my class got smaller and smaller as parents left work to grab their kids and bring them home. Finally I remember coming home and my mom being there. At this time she never beat me home, so I was really confused. I walk in the house and CNN is on showing again and again planes flying into buildings.

Over the years I've heard people say there are some events they will never forget. I remember 9/11 incredibly well. My mom talks about how she remembers the day Kennedy died. Simmons in Transformers 3 says, "They'll ask 'Where were you when the transformers took over?'"

Throughout our lives we have events that take place that place a deep groove in our mind that stays there. First child, wedding day, traumatic events, random things that make shaped your thought on something.

For example, I don't like clowns. I'm not scared of clowns, I just don't like them. And this is why: When I was a kid I went to a birthday party. There was a clown there, he was boring, so I started playing with one of the maze things with a ball in it because I thought that was cooler than the clown. Well he saw me, got mad, came up took it away and told me to pay attention. To this day I don't like clowns because of that. Jerk.

What about our salvation? Sometimes yes, our salvation will seemingly take a while and we can't pinpoint, "That was when I was saved." Others can say, "June 22nd, 2010 is when I was saved." But there was an event, there was a series of events where we look back and see God redeeming us. Maybe bit by bit, chipping away at the block, or just taking a sledge hammer and shattering us with one hit. My question is how often do we look back to these moments? Do we get saved then just move on? Do we continually look back and compare now to then?

I like to talk about my salvation process and the event where I went, "I know I'm saved now." It weaves together a story for those listening, telling them who I am and where I came from and how I got to where I'm at now. My salvation is the event in my life where I go, "There I truly began to live. There I dedicated my life to whatever ministry God has called me to."

Look back through your life, look for your salvation event. If you can't find it, then you have a conversation with God that needs to take place. Self examination is a big aspect of Christianity, knowing who you are in this group of believers and also knowing who you are in relation to being a child of God. That event in your life should be bigger than 9/11, the day JFK was shot, the day you had your first child, all because everything else changes in relation to your change in relation to God.

Stewards

Last night we had our second CSF and I think it went pretty well. But I guess time will tell. We are still trying to find our groove though. But we'll get it.

What I talked about last night was what Religion as a verb means, and it's all about our actions stemming from our relationship with God. A part of what this includes is our stewardship.

What is stewardship? When it really comes down to it, stewardship is taking care of something. In Lord of the Rings we got Denethor who's the Steward of Gondor, he's supposed to take care of Gondor since there wasn't a king. Adam and Eve were supposed to take care of the Garden of Eden, but didn't.

We as Christians are stewards as well. All of us. Paul calls himself a steward of God's grace in Ephesians 3.2, Jesus makes us stewards of forgiveness in John 20.23, Paul says that we are stewards of reconciliation in 2 Corinthians 5.

So what does all of this mean?

We have been given grace, forgiveness, have been reconciled to God, all by God. He then equips us for ministry (Ephesians 4.12) with different gifts, but also for the stewardship of the grace, forgiveness and reconciliation that he's given us.

Now we're not just supposed to take care of it. We're not just supposed to work out what it means to be saved with fear and trembling. Yes, we're supposed to do that, but John 20.23 shows us that Jesus gives our stewardship more responsibility than that. We take this gift that we've received, and we're supposed to demonstrate it to the world. We take this forgiveness and forgive those that sin against us just as God forgives us of our sin. We are gracious towards others just as God was gracious towards us. We work to restore the relationship between us and those that have wronged us because God has restored our relationship, he has reconciled us.

Look through your life and see what God has done for you, and imitate it. Show those around you what God has done in your life by replicating it in theirs, leading them to see your restored relationship with God and therefore leading them to their own.

"Speak, for your servant hears"

This morning I was doing my reading, and I usually hate doing things on what I'm doing personally, but I think this is a good one. But I was reading 1 Samuel 3 today, and Samuel is there laying in the temple and three different times he hears someone call him. Each time he thinks it's the priest Eli. Finally on the third time Eli goes, "God's trying to speak to you."

So God calls Samuel again, and his response is, "Speak, for your servant hears."

As I read this I noticed a couple of things.

1) Samuel was kinda a jerk, commanding God to speak.
2) Samuel was really humble, calling himself God's servant.
3) Samuel states that he is listening.

How often do we hear God speak in our lives? And how often do we ignore his call?

Sometimes when God speaks to us it's just a simple point.

"I love you."

Other times he's telling us what we need to do.

"Go to Altoona and do campus ministry."

Or even don't do.

"Don't move home."

God speaks to us on a daily basis. Sometimes we think it's someone else telling us to do something. When I was debating if I should come to Altoona or not I had a couple other people telling me I should stay in Pittsburgh, or move back to Columbus, or just get out of campus ministry in general. Each person had a valid reason for their thought, but overall the reason was more selfish than anything else. So as I prayed over my situation I asked God what he wanted me to do. And I head others calling me. But unlike Samuel, I didn't think that they were being a voice for God, I didn't mix them up. I heard each voice clearly, and knew where God was calling me.

As you go throughout your week, listen for your name. God is calling you somewhere, either to stay, go forward, or back. Listen for God's call, and know when you're being called by others.

A Psalm a day keeps your brain in pain

I don't REALLY mean that title. But in the same way I kind of do, for myself. Everyone has things they really like in the Bible, while everyone has things they don't. I just read in one of my text books about a possible purpose for genealogies in the Bible. It was short and only an example, but it was in there! Some people like the history in the Old Testament, seeing the changing of Israel over time and seeing God's plan come to completion. Other's enjoy prophets, the imagery, the analogies, the message, the points in the text, sometimes obvious other times less evident. Personally I really enjoy the Epistles. They're full of theology and while reading them I take my time to find out what is really being said in the complicated language that it's in. On the flip side, a lot of people have things they don't like in the Bible. Not that they think it's bad, but they just have trouble with it. For me, it's the Psalms. They're very poetic and I have a hard time with that. So to attempt to remedy this I decided to read a Psalm a day with my other reading taking me to one OT chapter, one NT chapter, and a Psalm. I've been doing this for a while now, but I've had periods of not reading, or skipping some, so today I just read Psalm 57.

But the one that I want to look at today is Psalm 39. That was one of the days where I actually got a good bit out of it. I encourage you to go read it now, and tell me if you see this outline that I saw.

This is a Psalm of David, when and why it was written I have no idea.

But in verses 1-3 I saw David saying this: That he is discontent with God. He kept himself mute, trying not to say anything against God, but his anger grew and finally he spoke to God. Verse 4 shows us what he said, which came down to he wanted to be humbled. "Let me know how fleeting I am!"

Verses 5-6 have David acknowledging how men are truly nothing compared to the only thing that matters, that is God.

7-11 shows him confessing that he is absolutely powerless in the grand scheme of things, even in saving himself.

Which takes us to 12-13 where David begs God for his salvation, peace, and joy.

Sometimes when we read, things are plain, other times they make no sense. We take them as they come and trust that God is telling us exactly what we need to hear when we need it.

Behind Enemy Lines

I would have to say that the second biggest OSU rivalry is with Penn State.
My mom went to OSU for a degree.
My brother went to OSU for two.
My dad has worked, and I believe still is working, on OSU's campus for different building projects.
I grew up not 30 minutes from campus. Every Saturday a game was on TV, or the radio if we weren't home.

One can say that OSU is in my blood. I bleed Scarlet and Gray.

But now I'm a campus minister in Altoona, PA, an hour south of State College, the main campus of Penn State, at a Penn State branch campus. Whenever I meet someone in this new town one of the first things they ask me is, "Where are you from?" to which I respond, "Columbus" because no one will know where my home town is. As soon as I say Columbus, I get crap about being an OSU fan, and how I'll need to convert to Penn State.

Where I'm from has given me part of my identity. I am identified here as an OSU fan. Not just a campus minister, or even as myself. I'm the Ohio State fan. And I'm behind enemy lines.

Recently I had a class on the Doctrine of Salvation, and while we're sitting around a table talking about a lot of big concepts, we get on the subject of atonement. Now before this, I haven't thought a lot about what I believed about atonement theories. But I did come to the realization that I never believed in penal substitution atonement.

But there's a lot there and I don't want to get into that. Let's just suffice it to say that I don't believe in that form of atonement.

Instead I believe in Identification Atonement. Or, I identify with Christ, and because of that I am forgiven. And because I identify with Christ, I am counted as righteous as him. I am now his ambassador, a fellow minister with him of the ministry of reconciliation. I am a new creation! And though I am in a world that is broken and full of sin and the consequences of sin, I still identify with Christ. I am behind enemy lines, and I make it known because I am proud of that fact.

I'm proud to be a Buckeye, and I'm more proud to be a disciple of Jesus!

Communion Part 3- The Party

A month ago today I wrote a post titled, "Sell the Master" which focused on being able to tell others about God because of the great feast we will have at the wedding banquet.

Well today I want to look at the feast.

As we've been looking at, communion was instituted during a feast. So it's like we're still partaking in the feast today whenever we have communion.

Across all cultures the breaking of bread together, the act of eating a meal together is always a time of peace, even if those partaking are enemies. There are of course some exceptions, see Godfather part 1, but overall the breaking of bread together is done with friends, family, people close to you.

A wedding feast is a celebration with friends and family.
A Passover feast is celebrated among family.
A after church lunch is a time of fellowship with family and friends.

Communion is breaking bread, with God in his house. He brings us into his home, and asks us to break bread with him. This is what he does for a friend.

Romans 5 tells us that while we were still enemies Christ died for us, and because of that we now have peace with God. We are no longer in open rebellion or at war with him. And now, having come into the saving grace of Christ, we reap the benefits of his righteousness, and are at peace with God. Because of that he invites us over every week, to come into his house, and take part in the meal that celebrates our freedom from slavery, with which we look forward to our coming resurrection.

Hopefully this week I've given you a lot to reflect on concerning communion, and when you take it on Sunday you don't sit there and think, "What should I be focusing on?" or "Where am I going to lunch afterwards?" Instead, focus on the salvation that comes from Christ, and celebrate it with the bread and the cup, knowing that you are proclaiming the death and resurrection of God's only son, and because of that your sin has been defeated.

Communion pt. 2

WARNING: GAME OF THRONES SPOILERS AHEAD

At the end of the finale of this past season on Game of Thrones, Jon Snow got stabbed. A lot. All the major sources are saying, "Yes, he's dead. As sure as Winter is coming, he is dead." Everyone is freaking out, thinking that the true hero is gone, but throughout the show we've seen resurrection. 

A note that I've made on some forums about Jon Snow's death is this: You cannot have resurrection without death. This I got from 2 Corinthians 4.10: Always carrying in [our] body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

We carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that we can carry his life as well. But how can we carry both life and death? Doesn't death come after life and death is final? No. Because we have the resurrection. And you cannot have resurrection, a permanent state, without death, turned from a permanent state into an non-permanent state because of the resurrection.

What does this have to do with communion?

Monday we looked at where Communion came from, and we ended with Paul writing in 1 Corinthians 11.26: For as often as you eat of this bread and drink of this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Connecting this back to what was said on Monday, We proclaim the death of an innocent, a firstborn, we remember the sacrifice made, so that we could have life and freedom from slavery. 

But it's more than that. The Passover celebration is a meal, a feast! Think Thanksgiving for Jews, but kosher, and with lamb. For the Jew's it's a time of celebration and anticipation; celebrating their deliverance, but also looking forward to the coming Messiah. For us, Christians, we take part in the feast every week now, and it's an act of remembrance of the sacrifice made for our deliverance, but ti's also a victory meal, still looking back at our deliverance and Jesus' triumph over sin!

So while we proclaim his death each time we take communion, we also celebrate his resurrection and his victory. Today I read 1 Corinthians 15. There are four distinct passages there. Three over resurrection proving that one, Christ is risen, we too shall rise with him, and that we will be given new bodies that will not perish. The final passage is about the victory over sin and death, which comes from the resurrection, from Christ's resurrection. If you truly believe in the Risen Christ then this is a cause for celebration! If you truly believe that you were completely condemned to death because of your sin this is cause for celebration! The resurrection of Christ opened the door for us to life! 

And this is what we proclaim every time we take communion. 

We remember where we were in our slavery to sin. We remember the sacrifice and death of Christ, which we proclaim by taking the bread which was broken like his body, and drinking the juice which was poured out like his blood. But we also celebrate the resurrection of Christ, which brings new life to us.