Well…I think it’s official. I am writing on this blog for myself. It’s been neglected, unmaintained, and I am all alone with my thoughts and reflections…and in fact, this post has taken me 3 different times of sitting down to finish!

So, with that being said…

This morning I was reading about time and what I read is applicable to me…

There is absolutely no need to run after time to catch it. It does not run away from us, it runs toward us. Whether you are intent on the next minute coming your way, or whether you are completely unaware of it, it will come your way. The future, whatever you do about it, will become the present, and so there is no need to try to jump out of the present into the future. We can simply wait for it to be there, and in that respect we can perfectly well be completely stable and yet move in time, because it is time that moves.

Beginning to Pray – Anthony Bloom

In the next season of life that comes my way, I am committing to be more aware of being present. The only place that we can truly change is the present. Certainly my present choices affect my future, but the future is not mine to determine. In the Scriptures, Joshua says to the people of Israel, “Choose this day whom you will serve…As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” I think that there is something significant about ‘choosing this day’ that I will serve. Life is too fragile to wait until tomorrow to do become the person that God wants me to be…

This morning I watched the Obama inauguration and to be honest, it was moving. This is a historic moment in world history and I am thankful to be alive to experience it. (I think that hype and celebrity may even make this historic event too much about pop-culture and some may miss the true global impact of this!)

As I watched people celebrate Obama (and even think I heard a presenter say, The United States of Obama) and all that many believe he will bring, I realized something: People want a savior! Today I saw proof that there is something in everyone, celebrities and the poor, that believes that another person can bring healing, hope, and even ‘salvation’. Today I saw that given the right circumstances people are not too proud to accept a savior. People cried, people cheered, people danced, and people laughed…because of their excitement over what is going on. I guess I’m trying to say that people aren’t as far away from wanting a savior as we might think they are…

So I guess my question is this: why have so many been willing to ‘accept Obama as savior’ while Jesus is oft ignored? Since people are searching for a savior, and Jesus is creation’s true savior, what’s gone wrong? 

If anything, I was writing just to make an observation that people of all stations in life are searching and hoping…and I think that this is a great thing to see regardless of how misplaced it may be.

I really just got the urge to write…this has been rare for me as you can tell by the serious lack of posts lately. 

But I wanted to write about relationships…just some random, semi-unconnected thoughts

I really love relationships with people when I have a history with people. Don’t get me wrong, love new friends…but today I was at a church where I saw a lot of people that I spent time with when we lived here. There is something significant when you  know where a person has come from, when you’ve been able to see them grow and become more like Jesus. 

I love relationships where it seems like I’ve never left. Paul, Ryan, Jeremy, Christian, Jason….these are some of my friends (and there are others) where when we hang out, it just feels like we haven’t ever been apart. I especially love this about my friend Ryan…we were in each others weddings and then didn’t really stay in touch. After years of not really talking, we can see each other and be laughing within seconds…

I hate not being settled in life right now…for two main reason, well three: One: I don’t like that it’s driving our family crazy. Two: I hate living out of out a camping backpack and having all of my nice shirts wrinkly. But the big one for me is that I hate the limited time I get with people that are significant in my life. I hate that I feel like everything important to be said has a sense of urgency…I really miss sharing life…simple life with people where there is a mix between the simple and the significant.

The thing I enjoy the most about ‘going to church’ is hearing people’s stories…listening. Knowing. Praying. I think that there is something truly sacred in taking a moment to really enter into another’s presence and hear them. To enjoy their laughter and to say ‘Thanks God’ for the gift that they are. 

Laughter is really important to me…I’m realizing that the people that I am close to, I laugh with. I like to think of Jesus laughing…and I really love the Jesus film where the guy who plays Jesus smiles a lot. I think Jesus and I will laugh a lot in Heaven together. 

I really want to be known…I really want to know others. If I have to spend much more of my life in a cycle of engage-disengage…move on to the next friendship….I think I’ll go crazy. I just want to be settled and have people into my home, hang out in cafés…and know I’m not going to be moving on in a few weeks…is that too much to ask? 

God…help me to engage well…to love well…to have the capacity to push through. Help me reveal your care for people. Help me to slow down. Help me to listen well. Make me into a good friend.

For some reason the line from Acts 4 ‘they recognized that they had been with Jesus’ has been on my mind a lot. In the context of Acts it was Peter and John’s boldness that provoked this statement. They were ordinary people, fisherman, yet their wisdom was bold and it was apparent that there was something different in these men. 

I’ve been thinking…How is it that we, in our time, display that we ‘have been with Jesus’? Being nice, going to church, talking about Jesus…these things are all good and a good start (if birthed from within). But I’m going to go out on a limb and say that exterior actions are not as convincing as we may think. Because our relationship with Jesus ultimately begins within, within our minds, souls, and hearts, then it is from that place that He lives through us. It is from the good stored up from within us that good things come out. We could say, “It is from the Jesus stored up from within us that Jesus comes out.” 

I’m wondering if there are times that we work too hard at trying to act like Jesus (or how we would think he would act) and not enough time just allowing His teachings and life to really absorb us at such a deep place that we just end up being like Him. I want this for myself so badly…I want to give up contrived efforts…and I simply want Jesus to be in my words, speech, actions, and thoughts without me having to think about it. I want Jesus to be unrestrained in me…

The ‘ouch’ question of the hour is….do I pursue friendship with Jesus to know Him well enough? You know how old married couples somehow start to look alike? Or dress alike? Laugh alike? Like the same food? Speak alike? It’s because they have spent their lives together! Jen and I have been married for seven and a half years now and there are times where we end up wearing the same colors, shoes, and styles on the same day even when get dressed separately! This didn’t happen on day one of the honeymoon…it’s kind of happened over time and we’ve just now realized it. If we started wearing matching outfits on purpose from day one that is just a little cheesy and would look like we’re trying too hard! (which another point could be drawn from!)

I’m not saying that I want to be an old married couple with Jesus…but I am saying that as I spend more and more time with Him I want to start looking more and more like Him without even knowing it…Here’s the scary thing: Jesus was persecuted, followed, beaten, admired, hated, healing, betrayed, loved, and was servant to all…this mixed bag is what following Jesus gets us in this life. Looking like Jesus can be dangerous stuff…but this is the journey of faith that we choose when we choose to follow Him…

No, I don’t know who won the election already because I live further east…I wrote this title in past tense because it is simply a future reality. 

It seems on Facebook that everyone is using their status to communicate something about their opinions on the election, but that’s just not enough room for me! And the thing is…what I’m writing about isn’t entirely about the candidates, it’s also about the voters. 

The truth of the matter is that either candidate is going to let us down in some way. None of their short-comings are going to be a surprise to God. In fact, it is God who allows them the authority they have. Early Christians had to wrestle over this while they were persecuted under a Roman authority that was far more irreligious than anything we’re seeing today. 

The conclusion that I come to is that God must think very little of earthy power! I think that God chooses a different form of influence in the world other than the power constructs that men erect to feel influential or in control. 

As Christians, I think we’re left with a choice: Do we put our faith, hope, and trust in the offices and kingdoms created by man? Or do we put our faith, hope, and trust in the Kingdom of God and its ways? 

Lets just say we choose the first one…

There are two possible outcomes: One is that our person wins and we feel like all is going to be right. We trust that this person will govern in a way that gives us the life we want. How does having this person in office point you to trust God and His Kingdom? Does it mask our yearning for God’s new Kingdom? I don’t believe that God’s top priorities are controlling the kingdoms of this earth. I believe that His top priorities are inviting people to live into His kingdom and it’s ways. So if we get everything that we think we want from an elected official in a kingdom of this earth, do we still pursue God’s Kingdom with the abandon that He calls us to? 

The second outcome is that the other person wins! The other group is rejoicing that they won…the other candidate is enacting policies that we don’t want. They are governing in a way that we think is wrong. And it frustrates us because we need the government and it’s policies to give us the life you want. The joys in our life depend on how man’s elected offices handle earthly matters. Maybe I’m just missing something…but how do man’s earthly policies and government control anything related with the God’s Kingdom, the one we as follower of Jesus have chosen allegiance to? If we believe the policies of man have power or influence over the Kingdom of God, then either we don’t understand God’s kingdom or we think way too highly of earthly government! 

If we are placing our faith in earthly government over the Kingdom followers of Jesus are called to, win or lose we have some issues to deal with. 

So, let’s say we choose the second option from above…

For me, choosing to put my faith in God’s kingdom allows me to be fruitful and joyful in any situation. Ultimately, my fate, the quality of my life, and my hope rest in what I find in the Kingdom of God…not in what I don’t find in the kingdoms of earth. 

As another imperfect person is elected into office, I am choosing not to trust in either of them to give me the life that I want. I choose to only trust in Jesus…I choose to trust that the Kingdom He initiated is where I’ll find the solutions my hearts deepest longings. I choose to believe that God’s Kingdom, truly lived out by those of us who acclaim to it, has more potential to impact this world that any kingdom that man could create. 

I will sleep well regardless of who becomes the next President of the United States.