December 06, 2008
Identity Crisis?
Have you ever stopped and thought for a moment about how you define yourself? Each one of us, in one way or another, has sort of a default setting that we naturally revert back to in various situations. A good way to gauge this is by asking yourself, “how do I present myself when meeting someone new?”
Now, like I said, I think that we all have sort of a default that we naturally exude. For some people it’s wealth or privilege; for others it’s attractiveness. Others define themselves by their social status, their humor, past glories of high school sports, academic achievements, or family name. There is really a plethora of ways that we can try and define who we are.
For myself, I think that my basic tendency is to define myself with knowledge. I generally am content with trying to prove that I’m the smartest person in the room at any given time. It really doesn’t matter what the topic is; I feel like I can speak to just about anything. And it’s usually not enough to simply speak to anything; I have to present myself as an expert even if I know little to nothing about the actual topic.
I sound like an arrogant, self-satisfying jerk, don’t I? That doesn’t sound very nice, does it? Well it isn’t. And therein lies the problem. When we try to define ourselves we naturally turn to pride as a form of self-identity. Every thing that I listed above as ways that people define themselves stems from pride. Now part of this isn’t entirely our fault. Most of us have grown up in an environment that actually encourages being prideful and arrogant. How many times growing up in school were we taught about having “good self-esteem” or “taking pride in your work?” The natural outgrowth of teaching children to worry about their self-esteem at such a young age is a population of twenty-somethings that are absolutely obsessed with themselves.
Don’t think for a second that things like Facebook and MySpace aren’t directly related to how we identify ourselves. We are generally so captivated and interested in ourselves that we think that everyone around should feel the same way, hence websites devoted to allowing each and everyone of us to “express” ourselves because we’re that important.
At this point, if you’ve gotten this far, you might be asking yourself what my point is, other that trying to make you feel bad about having a MySpace account. Here’s my point: Mark 10:17-27. This exchange is generally referred to as Jesus and the Rich, Young Ruler. When Jesus tells the young ruler to sell all his possessions and give them to the poor, He isn’t speaking in terms of a salvific requirement; Jesus is taking a shot at the young man’s very identity. This rich, young ruler was being identified 2000 years ago the exact same way the we’re identifying him today, as a rich, young ruler. Jesus wanted to get beyond that.
Why, you might ask? After all, by our standards this man would have been a great convert. He was obviously wealthy, so he could have supported Jesus and the disciples financially. He was in some type of leadership role so maybe he could have made life a little easier for Jesus with either the Jewish or Roman rulers depending on his background. So why did Jesus put this stumbling block in his path? Because Jesus didn’t want to feed the man’s ego by making him feel important. You see, Jesus doesn’t look at us and see varying levels of important, good, or attractive people. Jesus looks at us, all of us, and sees INCOMPETENT. This is significant because someone who considers themselves to be of importance can come to Jesus and say, “Boy, you really sure could use me. Look at all the great things I could do for You and Your ministry.” Someone, however, who sees themselves correctly, as Jesus see them, can only come as a sinner, in need of grace, asking for mercy, and giving glory to the Lord for His work in their life.
So here’s the final question. Not, how do you define yourself. We’ve already looked at that. Instead, how should we define ourselves in light of what Jesus has done for us? The answer to this question changes every other question we will every have about ourselves.
December 05, 2008
Forgive me Father, for I have sinned...
Recently, God has been teaching me a lot about prayer. As bad as it may sound, I have never really been the hard core prayer that I wish I was. A couple years ago I really started to try and put the “Pray without Ceasing” verse into practice and it has become a pretty good habit. I do, unfortunately, cease at times but for the most part I have become pretty aware about praying little one liners throughout my day and it has been a great blessing.
However, I was recently convicted about not setting aside time to pray each day. I mean I pray every night before bed but I rarely pray “spirit led” prayer. Meaning, I don’t take time to listen and see what I need to pray. I also don’t repent as much as I should and the more I think about it, the more I realize that I don’t care about people as much as I think I do. This can be pretty hard to admit and is even a little embarrassing to be posting on the internet, but I do so, because I don’t think that I am the minority in this situation. I think that it would be fair to say that this is the majority of Christians. I don’t think that many people do set aside time to have meaningful conversation with God and I think that we suffer as a result.
I often find myself thinking why am I not closer with God right now? Why doesn’t God use me more? Why don’t I have opportunities to share my faith? Why don’t I see more people coming to faith? And when I honestly think about it, I know the answer, it’s because I don’t pray enough. I don’t consistently ask to be close to God, or ask Him to use me or to give me opportunities to share my faith nor do I ask on the regular basis for lost people I know to be saved. And because of that, I have sinned.
I have begun to try and pray more often with more purpose and it has dramatically affected my life. I eagerly wait to see the mighty things that my God will do if only I will ask. While I am a long way from being where I would like to be, God continues to teach me and bless me as I pray.
One of my favorite times this semester has been the BCM prayer times on Tuesday. Although we don’t have very many students that come, it has been a very refreshing time for me. I feel more energized after spending time in prayer and I love it. One thing however has greatly discouraged and troubled me and that is the lack of people at the prayer time. I don’t think that I would be as troubled by this if it were at any other time, but it’s Tuesdays from 11:30 to 12:30. This was formerly our Noonday time and we would have as many as 120 students for lunch and never less than 50 with an average attendance around 70. Students would come in and pay their dollar for lunch. And now that we have added, what I feel is a much more beneficial, a prayer time, we have a max attendance of 5 students and a minimum of 0 with an average of 2. I only wish that more Christians showed an interest in prayer and I ask the Lord that He would burden each of our hearts to know Him more and to spend more time in prayer.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the time of corporate prayer and feel that we as Christians willingly and even purposefully miss out on these times out of pure selfishness. I admit that I have been guilty of this before as well and have even caught myself thinking about all of the other things that I would rather do or that I think I “need” to do. I now realize that doing so would be like selling my blessing for a bowl of soup, I would be giving up something far greater for instantaneous pleasure, which in my case often ends up as nothing more than wasted time.
January 29, 2008
Vote or don't complain
Hey there everyone. As many of you know the presidential primaries are in full swing. I hope that you have been following it a least a little so that you know who you want to vote for...
You haven't been following it all you say? Well it's not too late. If your reading this before February 5th and you have already registered to vote, you can still research the candidates and let your voice be heard in the primaries. That's right, Tuesday February 5th is the day Oklahomans vote in the Republican and Democratic primaries. So even if you have to drive a ways, vote and help decide who will get the nominations for the general election late this year!...
You not registered to vote you say? Well it's not too late to do so for the general presidential election on November 4th of this year. The deadline to register for the general election is October 25th. So get the ball rolling and do so. There are many places to do so. In fact, every county has an election board that would love to help you do that. Just look 'em up!...
The point is that you have the privilege and obligation to help decide who will lead our country in the years to come. If you decide not step up to that, you miss one of the greatest opportunities you'll ever have. Just remember this, if you don't vote please try to refrain from complaining about the president because you did nothing to help someone else get into office.
August 27, 2007
New Lifehouse Album
Lifehouse has a new album out call Who We Are. I think it's their best album since No Name Face. It has a blend of styles with a couple of single-worthy tracks. My favorite song (though it might not achieve single status) is "Broken." Here is a sample of some of its lyrics:
"I'm falling apart, I'm barely breathing. With a broken heart that's still beating. In the pain, is there healing? In Your name I find meaning. So, I'm holdin' on, holdin' on. I'm barely holdin' on to You."
I added the capital "Y" for "Your" and "You". The lyrics I was reading was all in caps. The reason I capitalized them is because I think God is the One they are referring to. My favorite line is: "In Your name I find meaning." It is important for all people to find their identity in the One who created them and in the One who made it possible to find that identity (Jesus Christ). Overall, it is a very honest song. It reminds me of some of the Psalms when David was down and out...
So, I recommend that you check it out. The whole album is worth your while. Get some samples and find out more about the band at http://www.lifehousemusic.com/
January 26, 2007
iPods - iPeople or iPunks?
I recently entered the iEra buy purchasing an iPod. I did so hesitantly for one particular reason. Besides the high price of them, I have noticed that many people that own them use them as an excuse not to socialize with people. I have seen countless individuals who stroll down the sidewalk jamming to the latest song from P-diddy and practically ignoring everyone else around them. I call these people "iPunks." They totally punk you because their tunes are more important than making eye contact with you let alone giving a simple hello. If you do indeed have an iPod or something like it, make sure you do not use it at the expense of ignoring the people around you. Who knows what God could do with a genuine encounter with someone. You could very well miss it if you are too engrossed in your music. So the moral of this story is don't be an iPunk. Be an iPerson.
(on a side note - the reason I think many people are always listening to something on an MP3 player is because many of them can't stand the quietness in their heart. I would go as far as saying that a select few of those who constantly listen to music are probably discontent with who they are and that is why they must have constant "noise" to pacify the pain. Next time you pass one of these folks, why not pray that they can find peace in their heart through Christ.)
Hey if you would like to find some cool sermons to listen to on your iPod, you can find a boatload at www.discipleshiplibrary.com
November 29, 2006
Daddy Mac'll make ya...
JUMP! JUMP!
I was just seeing if anyone reads this thing. I know that Brent goes to great lengths to make sure that this deal has quality content. I was just hoping that it was being enjoyed by the masses. Make sure to leave some comments.
Here's a bonus video for ya...
October 02, 2006
Randy Jackson?
This is Brent pretending to be Randy Jackson on a spoof of American Idol (Preacher Edition) to advertise Fall Retreat. Enjoy....
August 24, 2006
New School Year
One thing that I love about the world of academia (college) is the general schedule of things. You know, every fall there is a new school year, and every spring there is a new semester. With the start of each one there is a sense of optimism, hope, and renewed energy to begin again. You have the opportunity to meet new people, make better grades, and get more involved in things. Essentially, you get the chance to start all over again and be who you want to be. What a great system in which to live and thrive! (No wonder some people stay in college for so long.)
One thing that I love about having a relationship with God is very similar. When you begin that awesome friendship with Him through faith in Christ, you get the biggest and best fresh start of all time! You are in every sense of the phrase "a new person." In 2 Corinthians 5:17, it is said that "... if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come!" And the cool thing is that those fresh starts do not stop coming. Living in the mercy and grace of God gives us the freedom to have fresh starts every day. God gives us the opportunity and privilege of starting over and being who He has created us to be all the time. Simply stated, that is freakin' incredible. Praise be to the One who invented fresh starts (both for the soul and for the college career)!
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