Pondering

A question that I was thinking about today, to which I don't really have an answer: What is the point where our emotions go from just being humans that have feelings to being sin? I'm thinking specifically of sorrow and anger, but I think the question applies for other emotions too.

Sorrow: Sorrow is obviously a natural reaction to many things. I don't think that it is wrong at all to feel sorrow, in fact I think it is very healthy at times. But is there a point when sorrow becomes sin because it is being caused by worry and we are no longer trusting in God?

Anger: Anger seems a little trickier to me. I think that there is righteous anger clearly in the Bible. But is it even possible for humans to have righteous anger? Is is ok then to feel anger? Or is anger always a sin to feel?

Just some thoughts and questions. If you have insights, feel free to comment.

What a Warrior

Start the video at 4:21. Watch until 6:49. Josh Hamilton is a baseball player on the Texas Rangers. He has gone through so many battles with alcohol and drugs in his life, yet his desire to pursue the Lord is so admirable. I was so saddened hearing about his relapse during the winter, but this is a man that understands what God's grace looks like, as can be seen by his treatment of the fans. It would be so easy for him to run away from everything he has been given, but he keeps fighting. And because of that, he gets a platform on ESPN to show people how radical Jesus' love was. Wow. What a warrior.

God, You are faithful

Never once did You leave us on our own
You are faithful
God, You are faithful

Blind Spots

"We all have blind spots - areas of our lives that need to be uncovered so we can see correctly and adjust our lives accordingly. But they are hard to identify. Others can often see them in us, and we rely on friends to point them out. But the reality is, even then we have a hard time recognizing them. We don't want to admit they exist...often until it's too late. We discover them in hindsight, but we struggle to see them in the present."
-David Platt, Radical

Then The Change Occurs

"At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:3-7


The thing that came up the most frequently for me during the I Agree With Markwell outreach was that people were creating a good/bad divide between Christians and non-Christians. People would say that we are accusing them of being bad, while somehow being a Christian made us good, and thus better than them and going to heaven. It was frustrating for me because so many of the things that we put out there for people to see had to do with how being good isn't good enough. Christianity is not about being bad or good at all. You can be a non-Christian who is moral and be seen by most as "good." 


In this passage, I think it becomes crystal clear that it is not about being good. There was a time when believers were certainly choosing to rebel from God and living in our sin; we were "foolish, disobedient, deceived, and enslaved." But then the change occurs. And the change isn't that we become good. And the change doesn't happen because we are good: "not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy." The change that occurs is one from condemned to forgiven. We are still in a state where we sin and are broken, but we have experienced the salvation offered through Jesus and now we are forgiven! This salvation is not about anything we have done. This salvation is not about the the things that we do now that we are saved. This salvation is about a perfect God offering us grace that is deeper than the depths of the ocean.


This really is a beautiful thing. That we have been renewed by the Holy Spirit without any reason to deserve it.


But this isn't about us. God loves us and created us to spend eternity with Him. But ultimately, He saved us because it brings Him glory. But this is awesome! Because if God saved us to bring us glory, yet claimed to be deserving of all praise, I would be worried. I don't think I would want to serve that God. I'll close with a quote from David Platt in his book, Radical:


"The message of biblical Christianity is 'God loves me so that I might make him - his ways, his salvation, his glory, and his greatness - known among all nations.' Now God is the object of our faith, and Christianity centers around him. We are not the end of the gospel; God is.


"God centers on himself, even in our salvation. Remember his words in Ezekiel: he saves us, not for our sake, but for the sake of his holy name. We have received salvation so that his name will be proclaimed in all nations. God loves us for his sake in the world."

I keep part of myself closed in. I think we all do to some extent. Sometimes it may not even be intentional. Does anyone on this earth really know all of me? Will anyone on this earth ever know all of me? Like, really know me. I don't think so, but I think that building towards authentic fellowship means revealing who we really are. The ugliness of our innermost being. Because it is not from others that we are affirmed. We are not competent because of the few good things we do. Those don't make us competent because we all have an ugliness to our innermost being. Most of the good things, if not all, are probably done with selfish motivations anyway. That's why we are broken. We are literally sinful to the core. Yet as we grow with each other and reveal to each other our sinfulness, it feels more free to fight it back. I no longer feel entrenched in a battle of one-on-many, but I feel like I am fighting off sin with an army.

We all have an ugliness to our innermost being. We all want to keep it hidden. What would it look like if we stopped being ashamed and started being authentic?

"So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." 2 Timothy 1:8-10

Wow. What powerful words.