Great Poem

When I Became a Christian – Adrian Plass

When I became a Christian I said, Lord, now fill me in,
Tell me what I'll suffer in this world of shame and sin.
He said, your body may be killed, and left to rot and stink,
Do you still want to follow me? I said Amen - I think.
I think Amen, Amen I think, I think I say Amen,
I'm not completely sure, can you just run through that again?
You say my body may be killed and left to rot and stink,
Well, yes, that sounds terrific, Lord, I say Amen - I think.
But, Lord, there must be other ways to follow you, I said,
I really would prefer to end up dying in my bed.
Well, yes, he said, you could put up with the sneers and scorn and spit,
Do you still want to follow me? I said Amen - a bit.
A bit Amen, Amen a bit, a bit I say Amen,
I'm not entirely sure, can we just run through that again?
You say I could put up with sneers and also scorn and spit,
Well, yes, I've made my mind up, and I say, Amen - a bit.
Well I sat back and thought a while, then tried a different ploy,
Now, Lord, I said, the Good book says that Christians live in joy.
That's true he said, you need the joy to bear the pain and sorrow,
So do you want to follow me, I said, Amen - tomorrow.
Tomorrow, Lord, I'll say it then, that's when I'll say Amen,
I need to get it clear, can I just run through that again?
You say that I will need to joy, to bear the pain and sorrow,
Well, yes, I think I've got it straight, I'll say Amen - tomorrow.
He said, Look, I'm not asking you to spend an hour with me
A quick salvation sandwich and a cup of sanctity,
The cost is you, not half of you, but every single bit,
Now tell me, will you follow me? I said Amen - I quit.
I'm very sorry Lord, I said, I'd like to follow you,
But I don't think religion is a manly thing to do.
He said forget religion then, and think about my Son,
And tell me if you're man enough to do what he has done.
Are you man enough to see the need, and man enough to go,
Man enough to care for those whom no one wants to know,
Man enough to say the thing that people hate to hear,
To battle through Gethsemane in loneliness and fear.
And listen! Are you man enough to stand it at the end,
The moment of betrayal by the kisses of a friend,
Are you man enough to hold your tongue, and man enough to cry?
When nails break your body-are you man enough to die?
Man enough to take the pain, and wear it like a crown,
Man enough to love the world and turn it upside down,
Are you man enough to follow me, I ask you once again?
I said, Oh Lord, I'm frightened, but I also said Amen.
Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen; Amen, Amen Amen,
I said, Oh Lord, I'm frightened, but I also said …

A Fable I remember hearing a couple times

It is said that many centuries ago the Devil called all the demons of Hell together. He asked for suggestions as to how to damn the souls of men. 

One demon gave one suggestion; another gave another; another gave another. Then a brilliant demon came forward and said, "I’ll tell you what let’s do. Let’s tell men there is a Bible; that the Bible is God’s Word. Let’s tell men that there are a real Hell and a real Heaven; that people who die without the Saviour go to Hell; and that those who believe in Christ, when they die, go to Heaven. Let’s tell men that God loves them and has provided a way whereby they can be saved. Let’s tell men they ought to be saved, but let’s tell them they don’t need to be saved now. Let’s tell them to wait awhile."

It is said that all the demons of Hell, and even Satan himself, applauded the brilliant demon and said, "That’s it! That’s what we will do! Men will fall for that! That’s the best way to damn the souls of men!"

Source:
(http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/BTP/Dr_Curtis_Hutson/danger_of_delay.htm)

When is a person truly “in” the Kingdom of God?

It is a valid question for anyone to ask, whether Christian or Atheist. When exactly is a person accepted into the Kingdom of God? Is it at baptism? Is it after one says some lines to heaven? Is is after we confess our sins to a priest? Or, instead, has it all been predetermined millenniums before anyone even asked such a question? When asking such theological questions, it only makes sense to turn to the book of God's word – the Bible.

A. Old Testament Theology

It seems that the old testament is rather blunt when answering who is and who isn't in the Kingdom of God. Throughout the testament, God holds up to a covenant he made with Abraham. (Genesis 15:8) The Israelites became God's chosen people, and the old testament follows their story.

God's Chosen

First of all, we can look at Deuteronomy 7:6-11. God is telling the Israelites that they are his “holy people,” and that out off all nations on earth they are “his treasured possession.” (verse 6) This appears to mean that God values the Israelite nation above all others. They have a special connection to Him. The passage further goes on to explain that God did not choose them because they were a great or mighty nation, but because they were the “fewest of all people.” (verse 7) Therefore, God does not select people based on how great their country or nation is. Such earthly signs of power and greatness mean nothing to God.

God continues to say in verse 8 that they were chosen because God loved them and made and oath with their forefathers. He also says in verse 9 that the “covenant of love” was to last for “a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.” This opens up all kinds of questions. First, does Gods love for the Israelites only last for 1,000 generations? Are these chosen people the only ones that will inherit the Kingdom? Or, is God's love more open to anyone willing to “love him and keep his commands?” This does not necessarily seem like an option if God is telling the Israelites to destroy the nations that oppose him earlier in chapter 7. God wants the people to follow his commands because he loves them, and has established laws that need to be followed in order to accept this love. (verse 11)

An Exception?

We often see God angry at the Israelites, causing them to die. Yet, in the old testament we see God saving¹ people for simply helping the Israelites. One such example is Rahab the prostitute. Her story begins in Joshua 2. In particular verse 11² shows Rahab recognizing God as the Lord of heaven. She asks to be spared, and is told that she will be. This is an interesting concept. Rahab, who was not an Israelite, was going to be the only one in Jericho to be saved, yet she was a prostitute, and had just lied to protect two Israelites. She simply protects the Lord's chosen, and is spared when the walls fall. In Joshua 2:15 the Bible says that Rahab's house was connected to the city walls. However, in Joshua 6:20, God causes the walls to fall, but in verse 23 the two Israelites go in and bring her and her family out unharmed. This seems to imply that God must have kept her part of the wall intact, otherwise she would have been crushed. Thus the Lord saved her, and in verse 25 she is brought to live with the Israelites.

But did this allow Rahab into the Kingdom of God? Was recognizing him an entry point to the Kingdom even though she was not Israeli? According to a study done by David Guzik on Joshua 2, a number of factors play into the salvation of Rahab. First, he claims that though she was a prostitute, she had faith. She recognized God as who he is and accepted Him. Guzik goes so far as to say that Rahab wanted to leave her life of sin and join God's people based on Joshua 2:12. (2001) He even claims that God went so far as to send the spies to save her, and that this was God's only reason for sending them. In fact, the fact that the spies went to Jericho did not affect God's strategy at all or help it in any way. (Guzik 2001) A final thing Guzik notes is the importance of the scarlet cord. He claims that theologians as far back as the first century recognized the cord as a symbol of Jesus' blood. (Guzik 2001) In James 2:25³ Rahab is even recognized as “righteous.” It would appear that God accepted her, and even placed her into the Israelite nation. Did God accept her because she accepted him? Or, did God accept her because she was willing to become Israeli and accept their ways because God had chosen them?

Still God's Choosing

Rahab, even according to Guzik, was chosen by God. It seemed that it was part of God's plan to find Rahab. She was already willing to accept the ways of the Lord, but she had no way to do it. Thus, God sent the spies to retrieve her. He chose to accept and save her. By herself, it appears Rahab had no hope of salvation, she was to be destroyed with the rest of the city. God extended his love to her so that she could receive it. She was chosen amongst the entire city to be spared. Not even the children were allowed to live. Therefore, it would seem, that Old Testament theology supports the idea of God choosing those that he wishes to save. This does not mean that a person had to be Israeli because it was possible for someone to join the Israelites and live amongst them.

A. New Testament Developments

It would seem that the New Testament views acceptance into the Kingdom differently. With things like “preaching to the ends of the earth,” and “first the Jew then the Gentile,” and John 3:16, it is hard to see God as only accepting his chosen Israelites into the Kingdom. So what caused this apparent change? Did the 1000 generations meet its end? Or was it something else?

Jesus Wins

First, it should be declared that the rejection of Jesus (as God's Son) is a rejection of God (Himself) as clearly stated in Luke 10:16⁴. Deuteronomy 7:10⁵ mentions that those who reject (hate) God will be met with destruction. Therefore, the rejection of Christ seems to guarantee that a person will not be accepted into the Kingdom. John 8:31-47 relates to the passage in Deuteronomy in a unique way. In John, the Jews are telling Jesus that they are Abraham's children. They are using this as a means of salvation. Jesus tells them they are not truly sons of Abraham because they are rejecting him and trying to kill him; something Abraham would never do. In fact, in verse 37, Jesus recognizes them as Abraham's descendants. Thus, it would seem that simply being part of Abraham's tribe, or Israeli was no longer enough to be accepted by God. Abraham's descendants were missing their promised savior.

Ask, and you are in

Later on in Luke we find another interesting story of Jesus accepting someone into the kingdom. This is found in Luke 23:32-43. Jesus is about to be crucified on the cross. However, he is not alone, but with two other men, criminals. One of them decides to mock Jesus, but the other recognizes his dire situation. He also she Jesus as innocent, and apparently believes that he is the King that he says he is. In particular, an exchange in made in verses 42-43, “then he said, 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.' Jesus answered him, 'Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.'” What did this man do to deserve such an honor? He was a criminal until his dying breath. He doesn't ask for forgiveness, there is nothing indicating that he is Abraham's descendant, and there is no sign of God accepting him first. Instead, the man cries out to Jesus with his dying breath. His simple request is to be remembered, and Jesus promises him that he will be in paradise that day. All this man had to do was ask Jesus before he died to be accepted into the Kingdom, and he was.

Baptism, and the Holy Spirit

In the book of Acts, Jesus has already gone from the earth. He has left his disciples in charge of carrying on the message of life. In Acts chapter 2 Peter is speaking to a crowd of people. After a while of listening to his message, they wanted to know how they could be accepted into the Kingdom. Peter tells them in verse 38 that they need to repent of their sins and be baptized. This will allow them to “receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (verse 38) However, it is interesting that Peter does not stop there. He makes a peculiar statement in verse 39 when he says “as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” (NASB) This returns to the idea in Deuteronomy that God is calling out and choosing people. In Acts this is not limited to Jews or Israelites, but to everyone. God was opening up the Kingdom to all who would receive His calling. Jesus told the disciples to go to everyone in the world and share what he had done.⁶ It would seem that Jesus was making his call to everyone, so when Peter mentions the statement in verse 39, he is likely referring to all people who will accept God's call.

Here we find two new requirements to entering the Kingdom. The first is repentance. In the Old Testament this meant that someone had to make an animal sacrifice, a blood sacrifice. However, Jesus was the eternal sacrifice, so repentance meant believing that Jesus shed his blood for forgiveness of sins. The second step was getting baptized. This is something that Jesus himself did while he was on earth. This is how Jesus received the Holy Spirit in a special way, and he was setting an example for future believers who wished to follow him.

Being an Israelite does NOT save a person

Paul takes things to a new level. In his letter to the Romans (in particular chapter 10), he explicitly states that the Israelites are not saved. Though the Israelites claim that they are seeking the righteousness of God, they are actually missing it because they have rejected the message of Christ. Pail then goes on to say in verse 9 that a person simply has to state that “Jesus is Lord,” and believe that “God raised him from the dead,” in order to be saved. He does not mention baptism. He explains himself a bit more in verse 10. Here he says that you believe to become justified, but you confess with your mouth to profess your faith. Thus, it seems that Paul is saying that professing faith is required in order to be saved.

Explaining how to become saved is not the end of Paul's message. He goes on to explain that “there is no difference between Jew and Gentile.” This would mean that God is not choosing a favored nation to save. Paul ends by saying in verse 13 that “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” There is no mention here of the Lord calling to people first or people answering God's call. People are the ones calling out to God to become saved.

C. The Trajectory of the Kingdom

It seems that there is not only significant difference in to the means of grace between the Old and New Testament, but also differences between books in the New Testament. So what is the final verdict? How exactly does a person truly become into the Kingdom of God? At what point is a person actually going to heaven? The Bible does not seem to have a completely clear answer, however, some conclusions can still be drawn.

For example, the concept of being a Christian requires the believe in Jesus as God's son. This could not have been the case for the people living in the Old Testament because Jesus had not yet come to the earth. However, today it seems to be clear throughout the New Testament that acceptance of Jesus as God's son, and his death and resurrection are indisputable facts required to be in the Kingdom. However, after this there seems to be some discrepancy as to the formal requirements for salvation. Perhaps this is all part of God's plan. There is no set way of attaining salvation. There is only the acceptance of the Christ story.

A man on his dying breath was saved by asking, a crowd of Jews were saved by baptism and the Holy Spirit, other Jews were pleaded with to accept the message of salvation, but what do these things have in common? All these people accepted or were told about the salvation through Jesus Christ. There is no earthly way to know if another person is actually saved. Only God knows a person's true heart. God may have left the perfect definition of salvation blurry on purpose. This allows him to judge as he will. So how does one answer the question, “When is a person truly 'in' the kingdom of God?” Perhaps the answer is simply, whenever God says so, and accepts a person's heart as genuine. It has been said⁷, there is only one way to salvation, but there are thousands of ways to Jesus. A number of ways are described throughout the scriptures, and each of these people were promised salvation, but it is likely that new ways to Jesus are discovered every day.

Resources

Guzik, D. (n.d.). Joshua 2 - The Salvation of Rahab. Enduring Word Media. 2001. Retrieved October 14, 2011, from http://www.enduringword.com/commentaries/0602.htm

1The term saving here is directly relating the idea of saving one's earthly life, not necessarily their eternal soul.

2“11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.” (NIV)

3“In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?” (NIV)

4“'Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.'” (NIV)

5“But those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.” (NIV)

6Acts 1:8

7This is a common quote used in sermons and conversation, thus there is no real way to target a source.

Revelations Through Ezekiel

A couple of months ago I became the leader of the young adult group at my local church. It wasn't really something that I expected to be leading, but instead something that I had planned on attending. However, the leadership that was doing it decided that it was too much for them to make the weekly commitment and the group would be disbanded if I did not step up and volunteer to take the position. I knew a couple that was currently not attending church or any kind of small group for growth. One of the couple was somewhat new to the faith and I knew that the group would be perfect for them, as I had enjoyed the time that I got to spend with other people my age. Thus, I saw the need for the group to continue.

I started the group by having a study on Dwight Robertson's book, You are God's Plan A. This seemed like the perfect fit for where everyone was in life. It went as well as any book study with a group of young adults goes. No one really had the book read so we struggled through the discussion. Not willing to try another book study yet, I moved to something different – the Bible. But, I couldn't get them to pick a book in the Bible to study. My goal for the group was not to have a teacher student relationship, but they kept turning to me to be a leader and pick a book. So I was at a loss.

However, then in one of our seminary assignments, I was struck by a couple of interesting verses in Ezekiel. I hadn't realized such interesting things were found in the book. On the other hand, I did remember a number of exceptionally awkward verses that would definitely lead to some rather unusual discussion. So I decided to lead the group through a study on Ezekiel . . . having no idea what was in store.

The first week went well as we had a blast observing the imagery used in Ezekiel's vision. Our first assignment was to draw our own rendition of the “creature” for the following week. This was a good time, but now we hit Ezekiel chapter 3, and we found our first bit of seriousness and profoundness. In particular we looked at the following verses:

Ezekiel’s Task as Watchman

16 At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me: 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 18 When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for[b] their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 19 But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.

20 “Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 21 But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.”

22 The hand of the LORD was on me there, and he said to me, “Get up and go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.” 23 So I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of the LORD was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown.

24 Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. He spoke to me and said: “Go, shut yourself inside your house. 25 And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes; you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people. 26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious people. 27 But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says.’ Whoever will listen let them listen, and whoever will refuse let them refuse; for they are a rebellious people.

We all sort of fell silent and didn't really know how to handle some of these verses. We were all kind of focusing and reflecting on the idea that we had perhaps missed a number of opportunities to share God's message . . . and would now be held responsible. What it means in the end to be held accountable for not warning people about sin we did not know, but we did know it could not be a good thing.

God was sharing with us the importance to not miss opportunities to share the gospel. We cannot let things like fear and worry hold us back. It is our responsibility as Christians to share God's message and work His Great Commission – regardless of whether or not people accept it.

I was reminded on a man I once knew and spent a weekend with. A man from Illinois by the name of John Kiley. In my mind he is a living here of Ezekiel's responsibility. From the day that John Kiley was saved, he has never missed an opportunity to share the message of Christ with someone. Literally ever single person we interacted with over that weekend he shared something about God or Jesus with. This was anyone from the waitress at a waffle house, to the cop that we stopped to talk to, the lady at the McDonald's Drive thru, and the man asking us for bus fare. Even the ones who rejected his message he managed to hand a book to even if they only accepted it to get him to go away. He was so committed to the people that we talked to that we ate at the waffle house the next day just to see how the waitress was doing and if we could pray for her or do anything more for her. This man was absolutely crazy, and was in his mid 40's I think. Surely there could be no one that would be left accountable for him. However, sadly, I am not sure I could say the same about myself. I have not lived a life of such boldness and passion for Christ. This passage in Ezekiel serves as a reminder and inspiration as to how we should be living out walk with Christ.

So my challenge for you this time is to consider the opportunities that you have missed.  Did you have the chance to make them different? Were you afraid of rejection or persecution?  What holds us back from living a life like John Kiley?

Your friend, brother, and companion in Christ,
-Zach Haas

The Shaping of Things to Come

I will be doing a lot of writing and researching the next three years that I am in seminary, so I will possibly be posting things periodically that I find neat or cool.

In Dr. J. Robert Clinton's book, The Making of a Leader, he describes different stages of development in a leader. The first stage he labels as “sovereign foundations.” These are times in our lives that were beyond our control, yet God used to shape us into the people we become. Three of the sovereign foundations in my personal life include: Family, Age of Understanding, and Church.  Below are three things that I came up with that we sovereign foundations.

Family:
I was the first child born to two very young, though married, parents. This caused me to be the experimental child. I was always the guinea pig that paved the way for my siblings. Everything I had they had at a younger age. Due to all this, I was the result of my parents inexperience – something I wouldn't trade for anything.

My family has gone through and is still going through all kinds of hardships. I have even seen my parents go through significant spiritual growth despite impossible amounts of misfortunes. As a matter of fact, my dad really accepted the reality of Christ after he should have died. When I was around 10 years old or so my dad literally blew himself up. While standing in a pool of water, he cut into a main, live, electrical wire after his foreman told him the power was shut off. His nomex suit was completely burned off, and as he crawled out of the hole all he heard was people saying “he's dead.” Then, people started beating him to the ground and when he asked why, they told him he was on fire. He left without wounds (beyond losing part of an eyebrow and some hair), and for the first time in my life I saw my dad crying as he told the story. . . in church.

Things were not easy from there either. I have seen financial struggle, family struggle, and physical struggle as I grew up. One of the things my parents taught me was that life is so much more than being book smart. Intelligence in my family was measured by common sense and the ability to survive and make wise decisions in any circumstance. I feel that I have gotten a firm understanding on many things in the world because of the struggles my family has gone through. God has shown me and taught me many things, not always good things, but useful things.

Age of Understanding: 
I can remember the specific moment in my life when Christianity all made sense to me. It was when I was in a Sunday School class at twelve years old. I was thinking about Hell and the eternal consequences of not following Jesus. Prior to that moment I had understood and knew who Jesus was, but it was never something that was personal or made a lot of sense to me. For some reason everything clicked. In my twelve year old mind I knew that “I did not want to burn and burn and burn for ever and ever and ever.” More interestingly, I also realized that I wouldn't wish that punishment on anyone, even the people I disliked most or the people that hurt me most. There was no single person I could think of that I wished to go to Hell. God gave me an understanding that the consequences of not following Him were severe, and that I should never wish anyone to an eternal damnation.
Church:
I first started going to me church when I was in first grade with my grandmother. This made me the first person in my house to start attending church regularly. I have gone to the same church ever since, and I have always called it home. All the programs at my small church helped to guide me spiritually. Furthermore, I have seen my church grow to over three times the size that it used to be. I've seen them purchase a new expansion, and develop ministries. Watching my church grow from something so small is something that I don't think many people get to experience at such a young age. I saw my pastor take over the church and use dynamic leadership to push it in a direction that God saw fit. More importantly, I have seen my pastor personally go through a number of high stress situations and handle them like a champion of God.

 Now, this same church is providing me with a place to exercise and develop my ministerial gifts. They have given me places of leadership that I once joked about having when I was much younger. I never told anyone that I someday thought it would be cool to come and take over the youth group. The only person that knew was God. Who could have guessed that I would go to school and get a degree in computer science just so that I could come back and actually take over a significant part of the youth ministry and young adult ministry? God used my church and my attendance there to direct me to the point that I am now attending a seminary in order to seek ordination and work full time in ministry.

So there you have it.  Three things that were beyond my control that shaped me into who I am.  This post is in some ways related to my post about scars and how each of us develops our own story.  Thus, the challenge this time is very predictable: What are your sovereign foundations?

Your friend, brother, and companion in Christ,
-Zach Haas

First ever video blog: Spiritual Formation

For one of my first online seminary classes we were told to make a video containing our definition of spiritual formation.  Here is my result:

A (very) Brief Study on Mother Teresa Part 2/2

“The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.”

This may be my favorite part of the quote. What more difficult challenge could Mother Teresa have given to us? Human nature and society does not live by this rule. We often want the things we do today to make a difference in the world tomorrow. We want to be recognized, praised, and thanked for the good things that we do. But what does the Bible say about this idea?

Matthew 6:1-5 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
 
That is a pretty difficult verse to live by. Something inside of us tells us that we deserve the attention from other people when we do something good. There is another way to take this quote. Perhaps you have done something good for someone, or have tried to help someone today, but what happens when there is little chance that our help and good does little for that person in the future? It might even seem that our efforts did nothing. The person has taken our help and thrown it away, not caring that we just took the time to think of them first. Or, perhaps they did not listen to our good, kind, helpful words of wisdom. We are called to do good, and to keep trying anyway. Even when nothing we seem to do makes a difference, our hearts are what matters. If we are trying to the best of our ability to do good in the eyes of the Lord, for the Lord's people, and to the Lord's people, then too will we be blameless before Him.
 
For a good biblical reflection on this part I would recommend the book of Jeremiah. Doing a quick search I couldn't find specific verses to back up the idea. However, I do know the idea behind the entire book. Countless times Jeremiah tried to help the people of Judah. He was following God's plan and was trying his hardest to help the people. In the end, despite his best efforts the people of Judah could not be saved. God was tired of tolerating their insolence, Jeremiah was their last chance. Jeremiah was never appreciated for his Good that he tried to do. He was hated an ran out of town. People instantly forgot his message of hope, and nothing he did seemed to matter.

“Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.”
 
Oh how true this can be. How often is our best just not good enough. People will want and expect more. Give a person an inch and they will take a yard is a common mentality, but what happens when there is only an inch to give? We are sometimes blames and called selfish. This is unfair even though we gave our best. The only time we should ever be able to regret is when we know we didn't give our best when we could have. An athlete is often asked if they did their best. Most of the time we would like to believe that they do, and many times their best was not as good as someone elses. Does this mean that we should stop trying to give our best because we are going to disappoint anyway? Not according to Mother Teresa.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.”

 
“For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.”
 
I could not think of a better way for her to end her quote. When it is all said and done nothing matters between us and the world. Everything we say, everything we think, and everything we do is to God, for God, and about God. He is the overall judge. He is the one that we are affecting overall. Nothing and no one matters outside of the Lord. In the beginning God made us, in the end He will decide whether we deserve to be kept, or if we deserve to be separated from the creator forever. We can serve only one master, God, or mankind. I pray that the choice is obvious.

Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

In the end it seems that Mother Teresa is trying to describe a model for living. She is likely hinting at a way that we can live like Christ. Everyone knows who Mother Teresa is, and most everyone knows her for her kindness and goodness to the world and mankind. There are some people who question Mother Teresa's dedication to Jesus Christ. It seems that some would even claim that she was very wrapped up in Catholicism and claimed she was an idolater. Such statements are touch to swallow, and I leave them in God's hands to be the judge or her soul, for it is far beyond me to say who is and who is not saved. Still many others would claim that there is not way she is not in heaven, but, these people are also often ones that believe that a 'good person' gets to heaven and that works are important. I think I found after brief study that Catholicism has a heavy belief that both works and faith get you to heaven. I personally believe that faith alone even without works will allow you to heaven, but this is not the life we are called to, and God may not be pleased. (See blog on being Luke Warm) However, there is not way that Mother Teresa was completely crazy, as I managed to find a Bible verse that very closely resembles her quotation.

Luke 6:37-38 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

So I end with this. Examine how you are living. Which master are you serving? And how will you serve the Master? It may be by faith that we are saved, but do not forget, a majority of the Bible is about how we are to live based on faith. How we live our lives now is not to be taken lightly.

Your friend, brother, and companion in Christ,
-Zach Haas

A (very) Brief Study on Mother Teresa Part 1/2

"People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.

If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.

For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."

— Mother Teresa

I recently re-found this quote by dear Mother Teresa on a good friend facebook. It was actually not all that long ago that I saw this quote somewhere else. The first time I thought it was good, this time, I thought it would make for a very good study/discussion. Think, this quote could easily be something that Jesus himself would say if he were to describe Christianity. If you were to live like this everyday at all times, you would live a perfect life. Granted, it is likely not possible to live this lifestyle everyday and at all times. We live in a fallen broken world, and we are likewise fallen broken people. Nevertheless, I believe this quote describes exactly what we as Christians are called to be. The quote is rather long, so let's break it down a little bit and see what happens.

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.”

Oh how simple this one is to succumb to. If we all stop and think I am sure we can think of something that we do that is unreasonable. Many times it may be something that we do when we are stressed, or depressed or hurt. Unfortunately, it seems that many times these unreasonable and selfish acts actually hurt other people. Even worse, sometimes we are so blind to out unreasonable selfishness that we intentionally hurt people – thereby doing something even more unreasonable and selfish. I believe a selfish attitude is something that we run the risk of having, and thus, learning to forgive people that act this way is something we should all learn to do.

Matthew 18: 21-22 “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 'Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?' 22 Jesus answered, 'I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.'”

“If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.”

This may very well be one of the most painful things to endure emotionally as humans. Imagine, you are just trying to be a good person and do the right thing. You are honestly trying to help someone who is struggling, or just be their friend, when someone claims you are doing it to get into a better position somehow. I know this has happened to me and it hurts. This seems to happen a lot when trying to do things for someone of the opposite gender. Think about it. One of your guy friends is seen taking a girl out to coffee or hanging out with her because she needs a friend and someone to talk to. Then, someone accuses the guy of trying to hit on the girl or worse, another guy makes a despicable comment like “Dude, you trying to get into her pants, huh?” This phrase itself has caused me to almost punch people in the face. How hurtful, how sick, how absolutely vile.

Job was accused by Satan himself for worshiping God because he lived a life of prosperity. The rest of the story shows that Job was always an upright, God fearing man.

Job 1:8-10 “Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” 9 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.”

“If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.”

It is sad that an honest person may become the victim of evil. It is hard to be honest when we know that people are going to take advantage of us. An example might be when we seek forgiveness for an accident we made and the victim overcharges replacements or sues us rather than forgiving us. We were honest and told them we had caused a problem, and they in turn rip us off. The cheater is being unbiblical and hurtful.

I couldn't biblically describe honesty better than this site without much effort: http://www.christinyou.net/pages/honesty.html

“If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.”

Ah, jealousy, now there is a big topic that is being thrown into a small section of a blog. I have a tough time with this one because if a person is genuinely happy and not gloating or rubbing their happiness in, I find it hard to not be happy with them. If someone is boastful of their happiness, I am angry at them, not jealous. I personally try to spread my happiness to other people. What is the sense in being happy alone? I suppose in attempts to spread happiness we may accidentally cause people to be jealous, or to be envious, but that is, as the quote implies, their problem. Don't worry, be happy.

Matthew 25:21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”

In an effort to make shorter blogs, I am going to stop the analysis of the quote now. I will finish it in the next post. Instead, I would like to focus a few more words on jealousy. The Bible speaks clearly on the topic numerous places throughout. The verse I am going to use now is :

Galatians 5:26 “Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

I think this verse best captures what I am trying to say. It also relates to the idea of your happiness causing jealousy. You can take happiness and joy and use it in the wrong way – provoking one another. Jealousy also leads to pride. People have committed probably every single sin imaginable with jealousy in their heart. Murder, adultery, theft, lying, and gossip to name a few. Being the root of many sins, it's no surprise the Bible talks about it so much. As a matter of fact, God Himself is a jealous God, and demands that we have no other gods or idols. This is why it is important that we are always humble in our happiness and joy. To do otherwise may cause our fellow Christians to stumble in many unforeseen ways.

Consider how Mother Teresa's quote applies to your life. And check back soon for part 2.

Your friend, brother, and companion in Christ,
-Zach Haas

New idea that will make for at least something for a weekly post

Hey guys! So as some of you know, I have been chosen to work with my local youth group on Wednesday nights.  I will be leading the devotionals for the summer at the very least.  Well, I decided that it would be a cool idea to post a synopsis for them so that they could look back at it later in the week and be able to reflect on the devotional.  I then thought, hey, why not also post the synopsis to my blog?  So here you go.  My first attempt at a devo synopsis.


Hello HLWC Teens,

I had this idea that it might be neat and useful if I posted some of the things that we talked about or discuss on Wednesday nights.  One of the things in particular that I would like to start posting is the Bible verses discussed during the devotional.  The thing is, we often hear and understand the verses, but quickly forget them.  Posting them here will give you a place to look back on and remember what was discussed in case you missed something or wanted to remember something.

We started off by reading four verses, two from the old testament, and two from the new.

Verse 1 : Leviticus 20:13
"If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads."

Verse 2 : 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
"Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

Verse 3 : Ecclesiastes 3 1-8
"A Time for Everything
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace."

Verse 4 : Romans 12:15
 "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn."

At this point I introduced to you Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka Kansas.  Their website is : http://www.godhatesfags.com/index.html .

I can't remember where I found the videos, but here are links to ones that are exactly the same:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0meqcKTAcMU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVAb9LYT0hg&feature=related

Afterwards we read three more verses.

Verse 5 : Joel 2:13
"Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the LORD your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity."

Verse 6 : James 4:12
"There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?"

Verse 7 : 1 John 4:1
On Denying the Incarnation
1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

We then had some brief discussion and reflection on the church.

My overall conclusion for Westboro is that their main argument is that they should only love those who are part of the kingdom.  But shouldn't we be trying to bring people into the kingdom?  If we are supposed to be like Jesus by showing the love of Christ, then how can we save anyone by preaching hate?

Leave your thoughts and discussions or questions below if you wish.

PS. I hope to do this most weeks for the devotional section, seems like a cool/neat idea to me.

God bless, and have a good week.

Behind Every Man is a Woman

DISCLAIMER: I am not saying or supporting the idea that everything is a woman's fault, responsibility and problem. Nor am I saying that women are bad or any such matter. The topic just happens to focus on girls and their power.

This blog is actually based of a devotional that I gave to my youth group a couple of weeks ago. It was my second attempt at giving a devotional and it went well enough had some discussion questions that I and the other leaders tried to answer. I wanted to make this blog before the devo, as it would have allowed me to put more study and focus into the idea before presenting it. That obviously didn't happen as I am writing this as an after thought.

I started thinking about this topic a couple of months ago. We all know the old adage “Behind every great man there is a great woman.” This phrase is thought to have been coined during the feminist movement during the 1960s and 70s where similar slogans such as “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle” also started. This of course is a very literal interpretation of the quote. I have slightly changed the original quote and came up with a new one. “Every great man can fall to the power of women.” My first thoughts on the topic immediately went to three famous great men: Samson, Samuel, and David.

1 Kings 11 tells the story of Solomon's fall. Earlier on God had told the people to refrain from marrying women from foreign nations. He knew that they worships false gods and idols and He wanted to protect His people from such evils. The Bible tells us that Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines that led him astray. This passage also repeats that God had told the people not to intermarry women from certain tribes “because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods” (verse 2). So what? Some guy fails because he has a bunch of wives, whats the big deal? Well, Solomon wasn't just some guy. First of all, he was the son of the great King David, a man who God said was after His own heart. David had served the Lord faithfully and diligently . . . though not perfectly as I shall mention later. Secondly, Solomon was given the chance to ask God for anything he wanted. His choice, was wisdom. Solomon was the wisest person who had ever lived. If the wisest person to ever live was influenced and lost his way to women, how much more so can the every day guy of the 21^st century? Knowing God and the Bible more than any other person does not make you invisible.

The story of Samson's fall can be found in Judges 16. Samson was given physical strength from God. The only catch was that Samson could not cut his hair. (Sound a little like the modern day Rapunzel story eh?) If his hair was cut, he would lose his strength and be like a normal man. After a while of ruling the people and killing hundreds of evil Philistines, Samson meets a girl by the name of Delilah. It should be noted now that Samson is quite possibly one of the least wise people of all time. He quickly fell in love with Delilah, but she was evil and bribed by the Philistines. She told Samson that if he loved her then he would tell her the secret to his strength . . . because apparently there had to be a secret to his strength? Ever wonder where authors and producers get all their ideas – the Bible. Anyway, Samson lied to her three times telling her different ways to remove his strength. Each time Delilah tried it and found out it didn't work. Samson, being the idiot that he was, knowing that she had already tried his other three lies, eventually tells her the truth on the fourth round. She again tests his word and this time Samson loses his strength. He thought that he was in love and gave her everything, including his sacred gift from God. Great physical strength was taken by a seductive woman.

I already mentioned that God considered David as a man after His own heart. In 2 Samuel 11 we can find David's downfall. Prior to this David had become the second Kind to God's people. He slew a giant named Goliath, and married a princess. He was famous and successful. Unlike the other two stories, it can be argued that David's downfall was all his fault and the woman was more innocent. David had actually been setting himself up to fail. His men were out fighting while he stayed back. I found out that David had actually done a number of things prior to his fall that he should not have done. Anyway, the Bible does not provide with a lot of details of how it happened, but David saw Bathsheba bathing from his roof. He asked about her and discovered she was married to a man in David's army – Uriah. This did not stop him and David summoned her, slept with her, and got her pregnant. Some Bible scholars say that Bathsheba did not have a choice in the matter. David was king, and what a king wanted a king got. Could Bathsheba have done something different? Perhaps. Was it her fault this all happened? Perhaps not. Regardless, it was a woman that took a mighty God loving king and made him an adulterer and a murder (he later killed Uriah to hid his sin). Even the most God loving man fell to the beauty of a woman. How can a normal man be expected to act any differently?

Matthew 5:27-28 essentially tells us that looking is lust. This is where the devotional got a little shaky. Teenage girls have a hard time understanding why guys act the way they do. Men are very visually stimulated. It's why the porn industry is so big. I wrote a satirical paper about how women often dress too immodestly even if they are being unintentional. It is hard to explain to a teenage girl that the way she dresses is not helping her Christian brothers. Try getting around the idea that bikinis are probably never a good idea and strapless or low cut dresses and shirts perhaps equally as much. I have heard people say to guys use your imagination in an innocent way. However, it is my belief that probably all guys have an incredible and evil imagination.

The purpose behind all this is to try and let girls know that they have power. Power that they can easily abuse. Obviously, encouraging females to abuse their power over a man is not the purpose of this topic. Instead, it is to make girls wary of what they might be doing to their Christian brothers. It was also difficult to explain that yes, men do need to step up and be men and control themselves. Men should not be looking in the wrong places or setting themselves up to fail. But I just mentioned three gifted extra special men selected by God who all fell to a woman and/or her influence. Is it fair to women who are trying to innocently dress in something they find comfortable or something they think they look good in? No. But a fair is simply a place where pigs go to get ribbons. Being unfair does not change the reality of the situation. Women need to be conscious of what they can do to men, no matter how smart, strong, attractive, or “perfect” a man (or boy) is.

My challenge this time is simple. Are you living in a way that is uplifting and encouraging to your peers and brothers and sisters in Christ? Though it is less common, the opposite is possible and a man could be the one influencing a girl.

Your friend, brother, and companion in Christ,
-Zach Haas

Christians get bogged down, tired, and unmotivated

Well, it is not hard to see that it has been quite a while since the last time that I wrote a post. There are a number of reasons for this. Partially I have been “busy”, or rather, spending my time doing things that take lots of time without realizing it. (A nice way to say I have been playing a lot of video games and have not been utilizing time in a more beneficial manner) Partially I have not known what to write about. And finally, I have just found a complete lack of motivation and will to do … well … anything. It is for this very reason that I write this post; I should have written it weeks ago in all reality.

I would be lying if I said I wrote this post in an appropriate time fashion, but the truth is, I started it a number of weeks ago and have been working on it ever since. Waiting (procrastinating) on this post has actually led to a number of things. First of all, I have oddly discovered that I am not the only one feeling this way. I can think of two others off the top of my head that have been feeling, down, or demotivated, or just plain complacent about life and God. This is interesting because some of the people feeling like this (myself included) were feeling nearly the opposite last summer. God was working in our lives and we could see it an feel it. So what happened in the course of three seasons that could cause such a change in attitude? What kinds of things would cause an attitude like this in the first place? I am not sure I can even guess at the answer, but in the following paragraphs I shall pose some speculation.

Before I start on what I think may be the problem in some of this area, I would like to mention a verse that I found while procrastinating this post, as well as a verse that I knew about that may also be related.

Revelation 3:15-16 “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

I believe this is how God views us complacent Christians. We claim to have found the greatest joy given to mankind through Christ Jesus, yet we do nothing about it. Day after day we complain, we pity ourselves, we live a get up – do work – eat – sleep – repeat lifestyle. It quickly becomes easy to lose the flame of salvation, the vigor of forgiveness, and the passion of Jesus. This is a very serious problem, especially if you take the passage literally. God says that he would rather us be one or the other. Wait a second . . . better to be cold? God would rather us be not Christians at all than unmotivated, dead ones? Yikes! If you stop and think about it for a moment it makes sense.

When I was in high school I was on the cross country running team. I was very good at it and I didn't even have to try. The thing with cross country was that only the top 5 finishers mattered. Therefore, you could have as many people on the team as you wanted to without consequence. It didn't matter if you had the 10 worst runners at the meet, as long as you also had a solid top 5. We would accept anyone no matter how good they were. Many times we would have people that really didn't care about the sport, they just wanted to be on a team. God's team does not work like this at all. Instead God only wants the people that are good. He wants his team to look as good as it can be. Many times the kids that didn't care on my cross country team were jokers that made the rest of us look bad. This is exactly what lukewarm Christians are like. They make real impassioned Christians look bad or get a bad name.

Anyway, the second verse I want to share is Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” This means anything. Homework, shopping, working, cleaning, cooking, playing, swimming, laughing, crying, are all parts of “whatever you do.” How is it that we are supposed to be doing everything for God no matter what that we still find time to be unmotivated and tired?

An age old cliché states “practice makes perfect.” How many of us live our daily lives without practice? This kids seem to have it down http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfScu505a2o. Unlike cross country, I have to “practice God.” This is because there is a source working tirelessly against us and God. Everyday we forget to practice God's law we feed the demons in the world around us. You have heard that the Angels rejoice when a new believer accepts Christ, well I think the demons rejoice when we live a normal day. The more we forget the more we stop caring. We may never lose our salvation, we may never stop going to church, but at the same time we will never again light on fire and be useful to God. We become lukewarm water, useless for everything save a few science experiments. In this case, Satan is the evil scientist.

I think that the opposite can also be a cause for becoming unmotivated. Some people spend all their time filling themselves up. It sounds a little weird to think that you can grow fat on God. It is not that we should spend less time with God; it is that we should spend more time doing God's will. Sometimes we think we have a better idea of what God wants us to do that what He actually wants us to do. For example, we have all heard someone say “That's it, I am staying in my room forever, all I am going to do is read the Bible and pray.” This is not only foolish, it is selfish and a sin. “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15). I once read a story of a man, possibly a monk, possibly a saint, I cannot remember and I tried looking it up without success. The man decided that he was going to dedicate his life to God. So he lived on a mountain all alone, he had people bring him food. He did nothing but pray and meditate on scripture. At some point he realized what he was doing was wrong and began to serve the Lord appropriately. I think that there comes a point when we have the best intentions by filling ourselves up. We consume, consume, consume, God in every way. We go to camps, meetings, groups, events, and whatever else we can find, but we forget that once we are full we are full. All those things are good and should be done, however, eventually we need to serve. We need to go out and do Christ's Great Commission. A common trait associated with fat people is laziness. When we are fat on God we become selfish, always trying to find out how we can get more God. Ironically, our desire to consume more God can actually prevent us from getting there. We need to share what God is doing for us. (I realize some of those things I mentioned provide for sharing God's work, and that is good, but I don't think people always have it work like that.) It is good to fellowship and be surrounded by Christians, but only for a time. If we stay in the safe area too long never risking ourselves for God we become stagnant – lukewarm.

Believe it or not there is another opposite side. I don't really know how that is possible, but work with me. Some people are servants, slaves even, to God. This is GREAT! The world needs more people like you. These people are known as people pleasers, I am one as well I think, though not as much as some. Christians like this become empty and tired. They have the right heart for sure, and most the time the right attitude, they love serving and they love putting themselves out. The problem is, they often forget about themselves. This can eventually lead to a crash, and then being tired. It can also lead to being bogged down and too busy. We often forget ourselves when trying to serve others and God. This even happens to God's shepherds, Pastors. It is for this reason that pastors are given sabbaticals in order to rest and fill themselves back up. We are only human, and while God can give miracles that can allow us to go days without sleep, food, and water constantly serving, we need to remember these are miracles. Sometimes we need to stop, maybe not even for a whole day and just takes some time to be with God. It is kind of like a marriage (hey look, we are the Bride of Christ?). A married couple often gets so tied up with life and work and responsibilities they start to grow absent in their marriage. This is why it is often recommended that you never stop going on dates with your spouse. Time alone to stop and focus on one another and renew your good ol' puppy love days. We need to never stop dating God either. While he never leaves us, it is sometimes good to just stop and spend a time with Him where we are quiet, listening and feeding ourselves.

So I now look at myself. What is my problem? I think perhaps a little bit of everything, however, the practicing daily one is regrettably my biggest issue. Last summer I was writing a blog entry every day for a while. I can remember that being one of my biggest times of growth with God. It's because I would take time to reflect on Him and just let my thoughts come out. Interestingly enough, some of my favorite times this summer have been serving at my church. I have been blessed with the opportunity to work with my old youth group in what seems like any capacity I want. The biggest part of course leading the devotionals. It seems that I am having a lot of support from both my church family and the teens. I cannot afford to be an unmotivated Christian with such an opportunity at stake. This valley that I am in is seemingly a hard one to shake. I need to get back into practice, I need to feed myself, and I need to serve and follow God's plan.

I recently got some praise for my blogging, and that is a really cool thing to receive. Nothing is more filling than hearing someone say they have gotten something, or learned something from my mostly self reflections and thoughts. I am writing to myself (and God I suppose) just as much if not more than I am to other people. One of the things someone commented on in particular was the fact that I have ended a number of blog posts with a challenge. I started it thinking no one is going to really pay a whole lot of attention to it but I was pleasantly surprised. So here is one for this one. How are you feeling right now? Are you feeling bogged down, tired, or unmotivated with either life or God? Try to find the source and fix it. If you cannot pray about it, or talk to someone, and definitely stay practicing. Perhaps you are not feeling down and instead are feeling more on fire, then what is it that is making you feel that way? Are you doing things right? How can you keep the fire burning?

Your friend, brother, and companion in Christ,

-Zach Haas

PS: Here's to hoping for some more frequent updates . . . its good practice.  

Mother's Day

Last year when I started my blog it was after Mother's Day hod come and past.  Those of you who have followed me or read up will possibly remember that I made a post about Father's Day and my dad.  Therefore, it only seems fair for me to write a post about Mother's Day and my mom.

Theoretically, it is possibly for a person to not have a father, or at least not have a father they can find physically.  Science can do some crazy things, and let's not forget the virgin birth.  However, as far as I know, it is not possible to not have a mother.  Some of us have less than average mothers, others have great ones.  I have been blessed to have a great mother who is still married to my father after something like 24 years.

For the most part my mom has been a stay at home mom.  She was able to spend lots of time with me and my two siblings.  I could not be more thankful for the things that I was able to learn from her and her experience.  Despite being a very young mother who probably had a ton of things to learn herself, she was able to pass on numerous teachings that I may not have ever learned elsewhere.  I learned to cook, clean, wash dishes, do laundry, vacuum, and generally take care of myself from my mother.  Not only did I learn how to take care of myself, but I learned how to take care of a family and other people as many of the things I just mentioned I had to do for 5 people.

It's funny how much wisdom you really do gain with age.  When I was growing up I hated chores as most children do.  I would put up a fuss and try to get my siblings to do my work or blame them for household uncleanliness (though, I once proved they they were the cause of most of the mess, and if you look at my room now it is still the cleanest of the three).   However, around the time I turned 19 or 20 I was struck with a funny realization.  All those things my mom forced me to do when I was growing up shaped me into the person I had become.  Amazingly, I was able to look back at the things I often hated and be thankful.  I was so glad my mom had made me do all those things because I was then able to do them on my own.  I have seen a number of people who lack these skills I learned from my mom.  As a young adult, I am able to look back on the things my mom taught me and fully appreciate them.  Even now, I write this from my parents basement.  However, I believe that for right now I am here by choice.  I'll admit that I am sure there is still a ton for me to learn, but I feel fully equipped by my mother's teach to live on my own.  I feel more equipped growing up with her than I ever could have felt after 4 years of college.

Though our family has a strange way of showing love perhaps, and our social interactions with each other possible abnormal from the traditional "good" family, I am thankful for it all.  Somehow things work out for us and we generally get along.  I have no regrets with how I grew up, and honestly cannot think of many ways that I would have changed things.  Everything that I learned and went through has built me to be the person I am now.

Mother's Day was now a couple of days ago, but I had been too busy or distracted to make a post then.  I still learn new things from my mom.  Still learn new things to cook, and still learn new ways to do things.  And I am still thankful for her and what she does.  The last 5 or 7 years have been particularly rough on our family and probably especially on her.  I cannot imagine what it would be like to watch your husband go through the things my dad has gone through, but somehow my mom manages to stay strong and trust God even when she wonders what on earth God is doing.  I am glad my parents are Christians and that they have raised me to be so too (even if I started going to church before they did).

Mother's Day is certainly a time to remember and reflect on the things your mom has done for you.  If you do not have a mother or something like that, make sure you are learning to become a better mother, or make sure you are learning to respect your future wife as the mother she may one day become.  God bless mothers, and God bless mine.

Your friend, brother, and companion in Christ,
-Zach Haas

Scars – A Gift From God?

"Hey, yea, I got this one when I fell off my bike at age seven.  Oh, and this one I got at age 17 when I jumped off a bridge.  Pretty sweet huh?"

"Yea man, this scar from getting my appendix taken out is totally cool."

Even one from my own father, "Hey Zachary, check out the scar from my back surgery!" (This was pretty gross, and was not fun too look at by any means.)

For some reason it seems that scars always produce some kind of story.  Everyone has seen or heard of a man telling adventurous stories while pointing to a scar somewhere on their body.  They are used to brag, show off, sound impressive, or look tough.  Some guys even use scar stories to try and pick up girls.  Either way, these scars likely came from a painful or tragic experience.  The time they were received likely caused tremendous pain or worry.  It is likely that during the time the scar was formed, bragging and showing it off was the last thing on our minds.  All we could think of was the pain surrounding the incident.

Interestingly enough and more on topic with this post, scars are not always referred to as a physical blemish.  The phrase emotional scarring is all too common in our lives.  Most people have been through some kind of emotional trauma that they would refer to as a "scarring experience."  Some examples might be a divorce, public failure or embarrassment, or being emotionally, physically, mentally, etc., abused.

I am a proponent of individual life stories.  By this I mean we are all shaped differently through life.  We are all given a story to live by God.  With our input and influence, each chapter is given and written by Him.  He chooses when the story starts and ends, and guides us through the middle.  I personally believe that we actively help Him to write the middle of the story.  We make decisions that either please Him, or sadden Him.  Either way, God loves us, and it is always a love story.  This is where things get interesting, and I have recently (in the past few months) realized another way to see how God loves us, and let me tell you, it's a big one.

Before I get to God's love, I would like to revert back to the idea of scars.  As I mentioned before, I believe that we are all living and writing our life stories.  Every person has a different story; it's what gives us individuality.  However, we are all humans and will live similar parts of life.  Everything we do, every decision we make, every success and failure we acquire is written into our life story.  Some parts of our story very few people know, and very few will ever know.  Other parts of our stories, generally the best most glorifying, will be displayed for the world to see.

I want to take a look at those dark parts of our stories.  The "forgotten" chapters, or at least the ones we wish we could forget.  The chapters that were written about our worst times.  These are the ones we hide under our mattress or bury in the back yard and hope no one ever finds – or worse, asks about. For many of us these are the parts of our lives we are least proud of.  The parts that come to mind when asked the question: "If you could go back in time and change one thing, what would it be?"  These are our scars in our life story.  The funny thing about these scars is that they may be the most important parts of our lives.  These are the recurring nightmares, and the things that haunt us when we are at our worst.

What are your life story scars?  One big one for many people is abuse.  Sexual, physical, emotional, and other types of abuse scar people as easily as a sharp blade.  After running a quick search I found that about one out of three women in the world will be abused in some way in their lifetime.  Another source claimed that 46% of women are abused.  I would call this a scar in someone’s life.  What about some other bad decision or experience? How about a person who gets their heart broken after having sex with someone they thought they loved? A scar.  Or what about when your parents lose their job and have to move to some kind of low income family? A scar. Or when a child is taken away from their parents and put into foster care? A scar.  A scarring experience for one person may differ from that of another, but we all have scars.

 Not a very pleasant topic to talk or think about huh?  Scars are not always a source of pride or self-glorification.  They are instead a constant reminder of some failure or misfortune.  Funny thing about scars, they are permanent.  We can ask for forgiveness from friends and God, people can apologize, but scars cannot be removed.  We can even choose to ignore them, forget them, or cover them up.  Here is where things get fun.  I think we are actually called to use these scars to our advantage.  Scars also represent healing, or healed wounds.  Technically speaking scars are no longer harming us; they are things of the past.  At some point we can rise above the marks.  After we have risen we can help people with similar scars that are yet to make it to our level.  These scars are our stories that we can share with people in similar situations.

Furthermore, God actually shows his love through these scars.  God hurts with us when we accumulate these scars and wounds.  However, God also allowed us to get them.  This leads to the difficult question as to why God allowed these bad things to happen, not something that I am going to attempt to tackle right now.  Scars can even be from things that we have deliberately chosen or allowed to happened, even if we knew they were wrong.  Scars may be things that we ask and receive forgiveness for.  But God does not stop there.  God, in his infinite love and forgiveness can actually transform and use these very scars that caused so much pain.  We can rise up with God and share the things we have learned through the pain.  These are our stories, and they are personal to us.  Our scar stories may be exactly what other people need to hear to make it through what they are dealing with.  I think that only God can love us so much that He actually takes the very things we did that hurt Him to glorify Him.

I stop and think sometimes about some of the scars or mistakes in my life.  These things have shaped me into becoming who I am today.  Many things I could not have learned any other way.  I believe I could have lived a normal life serving God without the scars, but it is no longer possible – scars cannot be erased.  I have now learned that these scars can be used as incredible tools.  Talk about victory over sin!  Not only victory, but Love? Love through sin!?  Why would God take my sin and use it as a tool to bring people closer to Him?  I think, this is a large part of what unconditional love is.  I wonder if this is King David was referencing when he wrote:

Psalm 30:5
For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.

So here is my challenge for readers this time.  Consider your past, the things you are least proud of.  What things have shaped you into the person you are? What scars do you carry that can actually be turned into a story? A story that will help others deal with the things you have dealt with.  How can God use the scars of your past to create joy in other people's future?

Your friend, brother, and companion in Christ,
-Zach Haas

Light Up the Sky. So I can Find You.

I really want to write a post about dating and my thoughts/experiences with the entire subject.  I want to because it has been an interesting topic surrounding me and the people I am closest to on campus.  However, when I started to write about it I did not feel spirit led at the time and decided to stop.  I do feel like writing something tonight, but I guess that was not the topic I was suppose to write about yet.  Something I will get to in the future I suppose.  So what should be the topic today?  Well, I once made a list, so I'll check that now.  Hm... I kind of want a shorter topic than anything on my list . . . Okay God now what.

Well, all I can think of right now is a song that I have been singing and listening to a lot lately.  I first heard it at God's House almost two weeks ago. It's called "Light up the Sky" by The Afters.  I posted the lyrics below:

When I’m feeling all alone and so far to go

The signs are nowhere on this road guiding me home

When the night is closing in
It’s falling on my skin
Oh God will You come close

Light, light, light up the sky
Light up the sky to show me You are with me
I, I, I can’t deny
Oh I can’t deny that You are right here with me
You’ve opened my eyes so I can see You all around me
Light, light, light up the sky
Light up the sky to show me You are with me

When stars are hiding in the clouds
I don’t feel them shining
When I can’t see beyond my doubt
The silver lining
When I’ve almost reached the end
Like a flood You’re rushing in
Love is rushing in

Light, light, light up the sky
Light up the sky to show me You are with me
I, I, I can’t deny
Oh I can’t deny that You are right here with me
You’ve opened my eyes so I can see You all around me
Light, light, light up the sky
Light up the sky to show me You are with me

So I run straight to Your arms
You’re the bright and morning Sun
To show Your love, there’s nothing You won’t do

Light, light, light up the sky
You light up the sky to show me You are with me
I, I, I can’t deny
Oh I can’t deny that You are right here with me
You’ve opened my eyes so I can see You all around me
Light, light, light up the sky
Light up the sky to show me You are with me
 

When I first hear this song I really liked it.  I mean really, who hasn't felt like they were completely lost?  This semester has especially been difficult on me.  I am approaching an intersection with an infinite number of junctions in my life.  My choices will dramatically shape the rest of my life.  I could certainly use a light to show me the way.  Amidst all my future decisions there is my current life that I have to deal with.  There is stress from every angle and relationships to deal with.  This is potentially the last time that I will be around so many people so often.  Then of course there is homework and one of my worst class schedules ever.  I miss my 3 night classes a week semester.  Sometimes we really just want to call out to God and say "God, please just light up the sky, let me see you for just a moment.  I know that I cannot deny your presence and you love, but I could really use a sign.  I could really use a God hug right now."  It is a really cool feeling when God allows us to see him a little bit brighter for just a moment.  No other feeling like it.  Actually, (though this is sort of off topic and unrelated) I kind of believe in a God "high," exactly like how drugs work.  At least in my life I have experienced states of near euphoria (probably actually euphoria) from being in close proximity with God.  I really like the idea of not being able to see past our doubt.  I don't think that we are actually doubting God or his power in these cases, we just get so hung up on ourselves and our own problems that we block our own vision.  We never doubt that God is there and that he's with us perhaps, but we can't see him because we don't really want to and would rather be self-pitying.  Of course, it is somewhere in there that we realize how dumb we are being and God can consume us like a flood.  Cue flooding eyes.  I also really like the idea of running to God.  When I am feeling really really stressed sometimes I actually want to just run away.  Run away and find God and just let Him catch me -- kind of like in the movies when a girl runs to a guy.  Maybe I am extra sensitive to the idea of runnign because I used to be a runner, but I think it's more the idea of running away from my problems and finding God.  I have rarely actually physically ran.  However, I have done a mental equivalent frequently enough.  I have actually imagined myself running through a jungle seeking Jesus.  It's like He's on the other side calling out my name.  With every step I get closer and closer.  I throw branches and vines out of my way getting closer.  Then finally I break through the trees and see Him standing there smiling with wide open arms.  This is one of my favorite things to day dream about when I am stressed.  That is when I see that God is right there with me, and I am with Him.  It's quite the rush.

My challenge now is to just stop and think.  Where is God for you?  Is it walking on a beach holding His hand like in the footprints posters?  Is it in the passengers seat on a long drive through the country?  Is it on top of a mountain after a long hike?  Either way, stop and think about fighting through your struggles, problems, and worries to get to Jesus.  He is right there waiting on the other side.  You just have to make it to Him and then let Him take them all away.  Throw your arms around Him and whisper "I love you."  To which He will embrace you full force and reply,"I have always loved you, I made you perfectly, I will always love you, and I will never leave you."

Your friend, brother, and companion in Christ,

-Zach Haas