A Freedom No Man Can Take

So, I got married. (Whoo!)

It's been a busy summer and I've rarely had time to think.

I'm going to start posting again more often.

I've been thinking recently about how we view other people- how we usually pick and choose who we want to be compassionate towards.

I've been guilty at times of holding a slight superiority complex when speaking with people who particularly annoy me and/or seem uninformed regarding whatever subject we may be talking about.

But the problem with that notion is that Jesus would have me do more than that. He spent a lot of time giving dignity and grace to those for whom it did not come naturally.

So I want to do that. I want to be amazed at the accomplishments of others, to encourage them and help them. I want to be proud of friends' successes and to hope their dreams come true.

Jesus once said that among those born of women there was not one like John the Baptist-

And guess what he said? "He must become greater, I must become less."

I'm pretty sure John the Baptist had some reasons to think highly of himself. But he knew that there was a greater purpose in it all.

I just hope that I can continue to grow in the strengths God has given me, and that I can in some way share His love towards humanity through the people He allows me to interact with.

And that's not just fleeting moment interaction (though some of it may be)- it's investing yourself in people, so they know that you care, and as a by-product, know that God cares.

So that's the new goal.

I am free to love the people of this world. (Just not getting too attached to this world.)

Because as my favorite rapper says, the gift of salvation is a "freedom no man can take."

Isn't that awesome?

-D.B.

Differences for Differences' Sake

In my life I've met many people. Being my age, I meet many people who are trying to be cool, trendy, or something of the like.

I listen to musicians who expound in their lyrics about the virtues of not being part of the "system" or being very different.

I've always thought it was a good idea to be different, but it seems like these musicians, actors, etc. all can say that it's worth it to be different because they found immense success and wealth from being different.

I imagine what it would have been like for them if they had ended up at a dead-end job, wishing they had made it big. Perhaps the content of their speech would be different. Who knows?

I also seem to think that celebrities love the idea of being different for different's sake, as opposed to any sort of good reason. I recently read a book that mentioned that now all the meaning in art has been taken away by making it art for art's sake. So if we're different just for the sake of being different, it actually is pointless. (and a waste of our time)

As followers of Christ, we are called to be different, but not just to be weird or off-beat, and certainly not to be noticed. We're called to live such good lives among non-believers that "though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." 1 Peter 2:12

If I'm honest with myself, I enjoy being different because I like the attention. But unless being different has a purpose, it's really just a waste of time and resources.

-D.B

What is "fair?"

Sometimes, people ask you questions that you've had yourself for quite some time.

The other day I was working with a friend of mine who has no background in Christ, not even cultural familiarity with the concept of God.

This makes for some interesting questions.

Questions that you wish there were easy answers to, but you know there are not.

Something many people talk about is whether or not things that God decrees are fair.
So let's define fair:

fair 1 |fer|adjective
1 in accordance with the rules or standards

So being fair is to act in accordance to rules or standards. My question is- who makes the rules or standards?

There are many things I don't understand about the Lord. Sometimes I am frustrated at why things in this life are the way they are.

Part of it is my culture. I am from a culture that wants to make everything "fair" at the cost of being unrealistic. I am from a culture that says that everything that once was thought to be right is no longer true.

Thus, I am from a culture of skepticism.

And that makes it hard to have faith. You see, the cultural side of me- even as I write this- says that to have faith in something that logically doesn't always make sense is foolishness.

Which again begs the question, who is more aware? More logical?

There's a song I used to listen to that says "You never minded giving us the stars- and then showing us how blind and unaware of you we are."

While I'm not writing this to show you about all the song/pop culture references I know, I think that it's a valid point- we don't know everything.

But I think that having a professed faith also means that our actions must speak more than our words. We are not here to show everyone our "Christian ID badge" and then make declarations about what is right or wrong.

Because God didn't tell us to be the police of the world.

"For God wants you to silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good."
1 Peter 2:15

-D.B.

Putting first things first

I suppose I haven't written in the last few weeks for a few reasons.

The first and most obvious is that I've been busy. I'm getting married soon, looking for a new job, and a whole assortment of other things.

The second is that I've let those things disturb my relationship with the Lord.

It's strange how we allow the simple, mundane aspects of life overcrowd and overwhelm are lives.

I went from spending great time with the Lord to hoping I get chance to talk with Him on the way out the door or in the car.

And it's there that I've realized I have put the meaningless in front of the meaningful.

The things to do, work, and everything else needs to wait.

Because we need our God.

-D.B.

Granola bars in your hand, not in your stomach?

It's been a week or so since I've written.

I'd sort of dropped off over the last week, kind of checked out.

Sometimes it feels as if I do that with the Lord.

I ask God for help, beg him for assistance. He is great, and He shows His love for us many times over. Yet, I always find myself making excuses, trying to avoid God. Sometimes it's because I convince myself I'm too tired to read from the bible, or pray.

But I wasn't too tired to read news articles online for forty-five minutes, so where was my priority?

To be honest, I spend more time on trivial things that don't matter then on reading good books, doing good deeds, and making righteous plans.

So what does that say about my love for God?

It basically says I don't love God more than these things. I know that in my heart I feel love for God, and I vocally state that I love God, but my actions are often third to cross the finish line.

God's grace is sufficient, but I know I need and want more than what I'm doing.

What I mean is this: You know how during the day, if you haven't eaten much, or you perhaps skipped lunch, that you can physically tell your blood sugar is a bit low?

Usually the tell-tale signs are unprovoked frustration, headaches, apathy, etc.

I think the same thing goes for our experience with God. We have the Holy Spirit within us, but when we don't actively seek out the Lord it's kind of like being hungry all day while holding a granola bar in your hand. It leaves you feeling empty, when all you had to do was realize you had the solution with you all along.

-D.B.

Hiring the Pizza Guy to be Your Electrician

"Man, I feel so low, I can't take no more- come and lift me up, come lift me higher"

Those are the lyrics to a song I like to listen to.

The lyricist of this song often writes about his insecurities, weaknesses, and his doubts. I like it because it's very real.

We all know that we all experience these things, but knowing that it's a universal condition doesn't make experiencing it any better.

There's another piece of that song in which the singer is voicing his frustration, and he says:

"Prayers unanswered and God won't speak."

It feels like that a lot, doesn't it?

David felt that way, Elijah felt that way.

Abandoned, lost.....wanting to know what was coming next. I don't blame them for feeling that way. I feel that way all too often.

I am looking for work. I prayed and prayed about the work I'm looking for, and after God provided a good friend to give me counsel, I found an opportunity to pursue. I applied for the job, and....waited.

Today I found that I did not get chosen for that position.

My initial reaction? Frustration. My current reaction? Awkward peace.

I believe and know that God leads me where He wants me to go.


But it would be nice to feel like I didn't have a blindfold on half of the time.

Though, I think if I were told exactly what to do and when to do it, I would absolutely despise that situation.

"I know that I'm alive by what you place into my hands."

My feelings of general stress related to all of this are likely compounded by the economy, major life changes, existential crisis, and the list goes on and on.

I'm not very old, but I feel like perhaps all of these excuses for why I'm not trusting God the way I should only get replaced by different excuses-

-Because a life that is not dependent on God is like hiring the pizza delivery guy to rewire your house.

We are terrible at taking care of ourselves.

Good thing God is not.

-D.B.

I don't need a surge protector.

I'm incredibly tired.

Probably because I woke up once each hour during the night.

When I feel like this, it's easy to justify my lack of direction, focus, and purpose. Quite honestly, writing this is another way to distract myself from being proactive.

I've been thinking about desiring God lately, and I've come to find that it's extremely difficult.

Please don't think that I mean that it's difficult to love God, or that there isn't a reason (or many) to love Him. It's just that our society has done a great job of paralyzing our spirits. We've created a ton of really cool things to entertain us.

In fact, right now I'm thinking about the TV show I'll probably watch later on.

Is it important? Is it useful. Not really.

A couple weeks ago I realized that I am addicted to entertainment. The majority of the time it's a waste of that time. But we've latched onto it so much that I sometimes forget that God's word, God's Spirit, and the business of Heaven are so much more inviting.

Lately I've been reading Isaiah and Jeremiah.

It has been captivating.

Reading those books, you can hear the voice of God, in all range of emotions. First you hear Him outraged, shocked at the betrayal of the people He loves. You hear his frustration as His people have the audacity to doubt His power.

But my favorite is when you can hear his love. He has been betrayed, doubted, forgotten, and cheated on, yet his love hasn't shrunk back.

If anything it surges, desiring to take back what is His.

God's love surges to take us back.

I am not a good person, and I often waste my time. I struggle and wrestle with how to be proactive with the gifts God has given me.

I sometimes don't even know if the good I think I'm doing is good at all.

Yet God's love surges to take me back.

-D.B.