JC Goes M.I.A.

Ok, so admittedly, it's a funny title. Jesus Christ goes missing in action. Before you read the rest of this, I would like to encourage you to go read Luke 2:41-52. It's really funny in a sad way. Twelve year old Jesus goes missing, so naturally Mary and Joseph freak out like any other parents who lost their twelve year old child would. They search for him, looking for him among their friends and family, tracing their steps back to Jerusalem, and basically running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Finally, they check the synagogue; Low and behold, Jesus is there. Mary scolds him for going away from them, but Jesus says something that makes so much sense that I just sat there for a second and pondered it. "Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?"

When I was seven, I went "missing" in Wal-Mart. Actually, I told my mom 3 times where I was going to be, but she wasn't listening to me. "Hey mom, I’m going to the arcade. Mom, I’m going to go to the arcade ok? Mommy, I’ll be playing games in the arcade." So I went to the arcade. Kids like arcades! It would make perfect sense to go looking for a kid in the arcade, wouldn't it? I guess not, because after about 20 minutes, she had the whole store looking for me. When she finally found me, she burst into tears and hugged me and kissed me like she thought she'd lost me forever, which I guess I understand in some respects, but at the time I was in shock and all I said was, "I told you where I was going to be..."

The synagogue was the last place that Mary and Joseph looked, but it should have been the first. Put two and two together! Son of God>>> let’s check the synagogue! It seems simple right? It seems simple enough... But really, don't we all make that mistake? Don't we all look for Christ in the last places He would be, but never in the first place He would be? Do you ever feel like a chicken running around with your head cut off, trying to find Christ? Do you ever feel like you've lost Him, like He isn't around, like He is distant or has departed from you...?

WHY? He TOLD us where He would be! And even if He didn't tell us, wouldn't it be obvious? Christ died so that we could have the Holy Spirit within us (John 7:38-39) so why are we ignoring it? We should KNOW it's there. We should KNOW where Jesus is. He told us! Take Him at His Word, and never believe that Christ is gone from you or invisible or departed. He IS omnipresent. Everywhere, inside and out. Even though He is with The Father, He is also within us. Never tell yourself anything different. God didn't leave you. Christ didn't abandon you. The Trinity is like a rock that never moves. So did you ever think... Maybe we are the ones who move away? More soon

I Hand Everything Over

If you've ever read the book Radical by David Platt, you know  it's insane. No lie, it will mess you up. I'm barely half way through and it has already changed so much about the way I think. Platt gives his first hand experiences of poverty and need in the world, but more than that he gives examples of people who are ready to hand everything over just to learn the gospel. Before I start off on a rant about this amazing book, let me just say what we were meant to do with the Word of God. We are not only meant to enjoy His grace, we are meant to extend His glory. It's important for us to go out into the world and reproduce the Word of God. Platt gives us a picture of almost a hundred people jam packed into a tiny room with one light, no chairs, no music, nothing but Bibles open on their laps and thirst in their souls. These people were gathered together to  learn about the gospel. Not to be with friends or listen to music or out of habit. This is absolutely amazing! These people risk their lives and the lives of their families to get their hands on the Word of God and learn! We are so guilty as a culture for ignoring the Word of God... It's SO abundant and so few people use it the way it was meant to be used. We sit in our comfortable chairs in church and listen to stories of missionaries and give offering and listen to music and the truth is we don't appreciate it like we should... We don't appreciate hearing the Word of God like we need to. People DIE for it. Why can't we live for it...?

Some of what Platt is saying, frankly, hurts. And it hurts a lot. So many of us (me included) we don't want to face the fact that we have been mediocre disciples... I am throughly guilty of being self-centered and looking at the world through my eyes alone. It's just true. A lot of us are guilty of that because we are human. But being human won't prevent us from realizing what we are not doing... Christianity is one of the only religions in the world that bases our belief system on things we don't do. "I don't drink, I don't do drugs, I don't cheat on my wife, I don't kill people, I don't, I don't, I don't"...... BUT WHAT DO WE DO? "I serve God by living every day in his name. I feed the hungry. I care for the poor. I love my neighbor." Doesn't that sound more like a Christian? We can't earn salvation through what we do, but remember that faith without works is dead. Let there be some evidence of your salvation in your life. LIVE. SERVE. Do it for those brothers and sisters on the other side of the world who are being persecuted in ways that you can't imagine. Do it for your Lord.

What if we handed everything over? What if we gave up all we have? Radical is a wake up call. Go read it. I'm starting to see how ignorant I really am and how many opportunities and blessings that God has given me just so that I can use those blessings to serve others. Our God is amazing, and this book is a perfect example of how God can use one man to impact the world. He goes to New Orleans and sets up a stand next to the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans and puts up a sign that says "We'll Tell You Your Future For Free". People come and they tell them about Jesus, and many of them come to Christ. A drug smuggler is changed by the power of the Holy Spirit and ends up using his expertise to smuggle Bibles into foreign countries. SERIOUSLY amazing stuff... Check it out!