A Cross

A few days ago I went to a worship service called Blaze. I've only gone twice but it is one of the greatest things I have ever been to. They have this strong nit community where even those that aren't apart of it are welcome. It is such an inviting and peaceful place to be. Everyone there is so open and honest with each other.

That night two things struck me the most. The first was when one of the guys told us of this one thing that had been on his mind all day. He gave us this image of us being alone standing on a hill. In front of us is a cross and a man on that cross. That man is there to save us and yet every time we sin we spit right at his face. We disgrace the one person is this life that will always love us no matter how many times we walk past the cross and spit at his face.

Yet even though we disgrace him as much as we do, He has placed his life all around us. He reaches out to us and wants us to come back to him. His love runs deeper than anything we could ever imagine. Its even built into our own bodies. We are held together by Christ through laminin. Its a small structure and without it our bodies would just fall apart. The most amazing part is the shape of the structure. Its a cross!

Christ holds us together and gives us the strength we need to move on.

So today a friend asked me why I had stopped blogging and I said cause it took much time and well to be honest I'm not really sure what I would write about but than something hit me. I'd write about what I need most, life.

Life seems to be everywhere around us but what makes a life and how does it matter to me. I could go around and live how everyone else wants me to. Fitting into this prenotion of what life is to be according to this world. Especially now in college there seems to be this way of life that we have to fit into perfectly or otherwise something is not right with you and people begin to worry. I believe is something different though and finally we are at an age where we can decide what that is!

My most interesting class this semester has to be Theology. My prof has studied the Bible forwards and backwards and he has studied the history with it. He brings out all these things I have never even thought of and begins to tie things together. The most interesting part is how you can tell that he believes every part of it but he teaches it to us in a manner that makes us think about it but we don't necessarily have to believe it. It's all facts and than left for our interpretations. His favortie passage of the entire Bible though is the woman at the well. (Yes this whole little blurb actually has something to do with life.) The story of the woman at the well has Jesus asking this woman at the well for water. (The most interesting part of the story but save that for later.) She responds by asking why a Jew would ask a woman who was a Samaritan for water. Jesus repsonds by saying if you knew two things; first if you knew the gift of God and second if she knew who was asking her for a drink than she would have asked him for living water. The story goes on but the woman at the well seems to think that Jesus is talking about some type of water that will quench her thirst. Jesus is really talking about this living water which has a different meaning and this water gives eternal life. This life is supposed to be overflowing. It's supposed to be different and break cultural normalcy. It's supposed to be radical and different. Jesus was pointing to the fact of two things that he is enough for life and because of that we are supposed to have a radical overflowing life!

That life is something I will always strive for. I don't think that we will ever make it there in this life time but we can always strive for it our entire life and always keep learning new ways of how to do it. Trying to be radical is difficult but I think you know that you're in the right spot when everyone is questioning what you are doing. Then you know that you are outside the bubble of normalcy and going against the world. Its an adventure worth living and you begin to understand what life is. The things that are important come into focus and life is worth living.

Live a radical life for him who is enough.

I Shall Always Know Peace But Never Have Rest

Ever since I made that decision peace has surrounded me but the work hasn't stopped. Everyday there is something new and challenging that comes into my life. It has never seemed to stop and I always forget that peace is there. Stress just begins to take over my life and it seems like nothing can calm it down. There is something going on with a friend, I've got a lot of homework to do, or just something happens that aggravates me. There is also a call, like something that I am supposed to do and it is constantly changing. There are always new people in my life, more friends to love, more time needed but less time to give. There never seems to be a break from what is going on and all I want is a break. The one thing I have learned though is that there are no breaks in life, only peace. It is something hard to come by and even harder to except. It isn't something tangible and it certainly doesn't come from this world. It cannot be found either only given. The Giver gives his peace more often than we take. We are constantly looking for peace and yet all we have to do is take it. I shall always have peace and know what its like but life shall never give me rest, there is always something that must be done but I do it with a joyful heart!

PAIN

Everywhere I go there seems to be pain. Whether it be the person next to me or the person inside of me. No matter what anyone can say or do it always seems to be present. It always seems to strike at the wrong time. Like just when you think nothing else can wrong, it does. This pain lingers to anything, but where does it come from and how can it just go away?

I think pain is something we created. Something that we can't just make go away. It is something we must endure. There is nothing glamorous about it and yet it is something that everyone endures everyday. Most of the time I just ignore it and hope it will go away. Yet it never does. The pain comes from me and my over exaggeration of life. Its really just myself causing my own problems.

Maybe its important though that we learn to endure the things we create because we learn from them, it builds character. Without pain I'm pretty sure I would be someone different. I wouldn't have learned from terrible experiences that gave me so much insight into what life can hold. The pain may hurt and be depressing but pain can cause great things. It causes character and endurance.

Pain may be the worst thing in the world but it can give you a real life if you learn to endure.

A New Book or a New Chapter....

The greatest thing I thought about college was a time to start a new life. Just think of all the freedom and the great new experiences that were going to start. I wanted a new life and new friends, a way to start over, but than it hit me, I had way too much I would have to let go.
I began to think to myself how ever person says you are beginning a new chapter in your life. Then it hit me. I was starting a new chapter. Nothing too new but just another chapter in my book. I wasn't creating a trilogy or a series of books for my life, I was just adding on to what was already written. That means no new stories, and nothing forgotten. I wasn't going to split my life in two and say now that I've started something new I have to forget my past.
I had so much that I couldn't forget. Everything that was in my life was there for a reason and this new chapter didn't mean that everything was solved or that everything was done. It means that its time to create an even greater depth of what was already there and add on some new things.
There is going to be twists and turns throughout all of this new chapter but those are what add the depth. A good book has depth of character and extensive detail of whats going on. Too much though can turn a reader off. A bad book is one that just goes on and on without detail leaving the reader with just more books that tell a bland story. One of the best books though has great chapters. Each one more enticing than the next. Leaving you want to read more. They create great characters that a person can connect with and makes you feel like the book was written for you.
I want to create a book with enticing chapters that make me want to keep living. I want those deep and great relationships. I want to lose nothing but make the book even better.
So what are you a chapter or a book?