Unplugged

Something has been really eating at me lately. I am an addict. According to Psychology Today, Addiction is defined as, " A condition that results when a person ingests a substance (for example, alcohol, cocaine, nicotine) or engages in an activity (such as gambling, sex, shopping) that can be pleasurable but the continuation of which becomes compulsive and interferes with ordinary responsibilities and concerns, such as work, relationships, or health". While I am not addicted to drugs, I am addicted to something that is far more acceptable in our culture, Useless Information.

If you know me, you know that I love to learn, thus I love to read. I get excited at the thought of expanding my knowledge and being in the know of new discoveries. Unfortunatly, my phone and social media outlets have taken a front seat in my search for information. I have become more concerned with what others thoughts and opinions are instead of creating my own. I am more in-tune with what my friends are taking pictures of then the conversation that surrounds me at work and home. I spend more time snuggled up with my phone in bed instead of my wife. Enough is enough.

I want to return to a time when I was fine just enjoying sitting in the silence and resting. The idea of just sitting down with a book in my spare bedroom seems foreign to me. Is it Apple's fault for forcing a smartphone on me? Is it Zuckerburg's responsibility to patrol how long I spend on Facebook? No, the responsibility is mine. As painful as it is to say, my connection to my social media has become stronger than my connect with God. I have put up a golden iPhone in my heart. I look at my phone right when I wake up instead of thanking the One who allowed me to open my eyes that morning.

So do I delete my social media accounts? No, but I have deleted the apps for the time being from my phone. I must reset myself, get back to basics. Until the new year, I will keep this fast going. I am tired of the chains of society that I have placed on myself. It is time to learn to breathe again.

Again, for the very first time

So last night at youth group, I presented the story of Hosea. When I began to research this for the students, I went into it with my average amount of effort. Not that I don't use great effort when preparing, but Hosea wasn't something that I was particularly passionate about. As I began to read and dive into the story, it was as if I were reading it for the first time. I experienced many emotions that I had never had when reading this story. Anger, sorrow, joy, everything.  So at the beginning, God comes to His prophet Hosea and I imagine that conversation was troublesome for him. Maybe his thoughts went something like this, "I have committed my life to you, Lord. Why are you wanting to have me experience this? Why must I experience this emotional pain?" I feel that when we read stories from the Bible like this, we forget that these people were not only smart, but had emotions like us! Hosea was not dumb, he knew what a intimate relationship with a woman like Gomer would be like and would possibly end. So The Lord asked Hosea to go choose a prostitute for a wife. One thing that I never realized until I read our study guide for that night was that if you look at the language of Hosea when his children are being named. If you look closely, only one of the three children that Gomer has are said to have been born to Hosea. Gomer had two illegitimate children while with Hosea. I can't imagine the pain and devastation that Hosea felt when these two pregnancies. Not only did this happen, but he went on to raise these children.

So at this point Hosea must be wondering why God has put him in this position. He has married a prostitute, who has had two children that were not with him. Surely, this must be it? Not quite. After some time, Gomer falls back into the life of prostitution. Not only is she a prostitute, but the Bible says she is in slavery. In short, she is a sex slave. What must have Hosea been thinking when he realized one day that Gomer had left him? Maybe he felt relief. He could finally put this nightmare behind him, raise his children, and continue to reveal messages from God to the people. Once again, God steps in and tells him to go buy her back. He must now face a woman who has cheated on him, probably humiliated him in front of the community because of this, and has left him. Now he must spend his own income to buy her back from slavery. Before fingers are pointed (mine included) saying, "Wait, wait, wait, That isn't fair!" Neither is our salvation. Hosea goes and faces Gomer, buys her back, and brings her home.

At this point, I leaned back in my chair and felt this enormous weight on my chest, probably more on my heart to be exact. I am Gomer. Christ takes me in from the streets, feeds me, clothes me in His Grace and welcomes me. In exchange, I cheat on Him, humiliate him, and run back to my vices. Christ as every right to walk away and never look back, but he pays the price on my soul that the chains of my sin has set, and what a heavy price it is! Not only is the story of Hosea a vision of God's feelings towards Israel, but it is a vision of our relationship with Christ. I had to bow my head at the computer and thank God for his forgiveness mercy for my unfaithfulness. Today, go read this story and view it in the light of you being Gomer and Christ being Hosea. You will never view this story the same way again. Replace Gomer's struggles with your struggles. What do you run to?

I'm the villain, I deserve to be dead.

Sin is something that is constantly apart of my thought process. Thinking about my past sins, thinking about the current sins, sins I am about to commit, sins I committed yesterday. I feeling that as a Christ Follower that sometimes if tend to forget the real weight of my sin until The Lord lets me feel it for just a second. I think at some point in our lives we should be able to feel the true weight of our sins. It is only through this weight that we can feel the true freedom that Christ has to offer us.

Whenever I get caught in this vicious cycle of dwelling upon my sin or what a great debtor I am, there are a few songs that I turn to that I can either relate to or that can take my mind back to the place of dwelling on what a great savior that Christ is. One song I always love to listen to is "Revenge" By Jon Foreman. In this song, my interpretation is that it is a look into the journey of one who experiences the dead weight of sin. It is lines like, "I'm the villain, I deserve to be dead" and "I'm the failure, I'm everyone's fool" that I can say, "That is me!" Give it a listen, it is worth your time. Another song that seems to call to me is the old hymn Rock of Ages. Lyrics like "Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling" and "Wash me Savior or I die!" are lines that almost bring me to tears because of the truth that it rings.

Like I said before though, there are songs that bring me to place where I reconcile within The Lord. While it might seem typical for a Christian, Amazing Grace is one that I always go back to. Another Jon Foreman song is  "White as Snow". Foreman pretty much lifts the whole song from Psalm 51. This is a Psalm of repentance from David after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband. "Create in me a clean heart, O, God" "The sacrifices of our God are a broken and contrite heart."

One other thing that helped me realize the weight of sin was a movie that I saw at a film festival a while ago at Drury University. Jess and I went to see it because she is best friends with the sister of the wife of the couple that made the film (there was probably a easier way to say that). While I don't remember what the actual plot of the film was, there is one part that has been burned into my memory. At one point in the film, the main character must sacrifice a lamb on an alter (and yes, it was a real lamb). Yes, this was a religious film if I remember correctly. The film did not shy away from the gruesome scene. The whole sacrifice was made on the alter and the camera captured every drop of blood that came from the lamb. I am not sure about Jess but I forced myself to watch. It was one of the most difficult things to see, but not for the obvious reason. Yes, I am a HUGE animal lover and have played and worked with sheep before. Lambs are precious and cute animals, so innocent and gentle, so it was painful to see this beautiful animal cut. What was difficult was the thought that crushed my mind. That was me...

My sin did that. My horrible, ugly, selfish, boastful, egotistical, prideful, lustful sin is the reason that for thousands of years animals like that lamb were bled to death. It was that sin that caused Jesus to go to the cross. But that's the thing! It didn't make Him go to the cross or cause Him to, He chose to. As heavy of a burden that my sin was, His love for such a wretch as me was heavier. When I came to this realization, I wept. I wept for the rest of the film quietly to myself. That was me, that was my hand with the blade and blood. The crying girl in the film was me.

Praise be to Christ for His undeserving love! Praise be to God for letting go of Christ for us! Praise be to Christ for accepting us as we are. Empty handed, blood stained hands, blackened hearts, and ankles weighted down by the chains of our sins. Praise be to God for redemption!

"Alas, Did my Savior bleed and did my Savior?
 Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I"

-Isaac Watts

Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.

This has been a painful stretch of time for the world. In the last few weeks we have seen multiple hurricanes, nations testing nuclear power, governments plotting to commit mass genocide, and unreached tribes in Brazil massacred. In situations like these, it is easy to ask, "Where is God?"

Last night, I was listening to music (as I always do while getting ready for bed) and the song "Mountain" by Jon Foreman came on. I encourage you to listen to it, it's wonderful! Anyway, there is a lyric in the song that says, " Lord I believe, help my unbelief." To those that might not know, this is taken from a story told in the Gospel of Mark. Jesus is in a crowd of people when a man brings his demon possessed child to Him. The rest goes like this...

20So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

21Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”

“From childhood,” he answered. 22“It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

23“ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

24Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

                                                                                                         Mark 9:20-24

This is not the first time I have read this and thought about that last line before. How can one believe yet ask for help with his unbelief? If he believes, what is there not to believe in? There lies the answer! 

Many of us claim to believe in Christ and His power, but to what extent? So long as things are good? What about when things are bad? If you are like me, you have found yourself crying out to God for help with any number of things. You believe in the Almighty's power but yet we as humans still struggle to completely hand over our heavy yokes in return for his light one. "Lord, My soul knows you have the best in mind for me, help my heart and mind to believe." As we continue down this uncertain stream called life, let us all pray in tough times, "Lord I believe, help my unbelief!"

Refugees

Imagine one night you wake up with the barrel of a gun pointed at you. It is the government police. They give you the option to either give your house and everything you own to the government and leave the country, never to return, or you and your family will be shot on sight. So many questions would be running through your head, "why is this happening?" "What have I done?” You begin to walk, not knowing where you will go. All you have been allowed to bring with you is a few changes of clothes and just a few mementos from past generations that you grabbed quickly. All you have known is this land; the same land that many generations before you had called home, possibly even the same house. All this is gone.

This story is not something of fiction, though I wish it were. This is happening everyday in countries like Nepal, Burma, Myanmar, and many others. In 2011, there was a recorded 10,549,686 refugees in the world according to the United Nations High Commissions for Refugees (UNHCR). Wait, what is a refugee exactly? As defined by UNHCR, a refugee is someone who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country". We still live in a world where being a certain race, something that isn't your fault and you can't change, can potentially have you displaced or killed.

So what happens to these people once they leave their country? Well, They go to places called Refugee camps. These are places that are set up either by the UN or by the country that it is located that refugees can go to for safety. Even these camps aren't safe though. Robbery, rape, murder, Blackmail and other horrible things go on in these camps. This is where the refugee will stay until they can gain a way into one of the few countries that allow refugees. This wait could take up to 5 years and some never make it out of the camps due to waiting.

If you are selected, you are assigned a country to go to. Some countries that house refugees are America, Australia, New Zealand, and others. This is difficult for the refugees; they must learn the languages customs and practices, and other things in order to live in the country. Life is very different. All hope of returning home someday, most never will.

I write this not to depress you, but to encourage you to help these refugees. They are all around! There is a great deal of them here in Springfield actually. If you wish to get connected to help with teaching them English, about money, or just to be a friend, a wonderful place to look would be at a Chinese church! There are a few of them here in town. Rather you like it or not, they are coming and all they want in the world is a place to belong and be loved. A place to be safe. I leave with a part from the poem "The New Colossus" (which is on the inside of the Statue of Liberty) by Emma Lazarus, “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: 

I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

Work Cited:

-Sedghi, Ami, and Simon Rogers. "UNHCR 2011 Refugee Statistics: Full Data." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 20 June 2011. Web. 12 Sept. 2014.

-"Refugees." UNHCR News. Web. 12 Sept. 2014.

-Lazarus, Emma. "A Quote by Emma Lazarus." Goodreads. Web. 12 Sept. 2014.

Video Blog 3

Video Blog 2