he breaks chains

all of us are not thirsting enough, not hoping enough, and not letting God be everything.

that is something that we as humans tend to do. we have short attention spans and forget that God is our freedom.

we do things forgetting who gave us legs - it wasn't our parents.

when jesus came the israelites had been in chains for centuries at the hands of countless leaders. he was the messiah - the one coming to set them free, to save them. when he entered the gates of jerusalem on a colt they shouted "hosanna! hosanna in the highest!". 'hosanna' meaning "he saves". 

he doesn't want us in chains

do you get that?

he doesn't want you hurting

you digging?

this crap about living "half for him", praying when you need to isn't freedom. freedom comes with a commitment and obedience.

i love abandoned, free worship of the one who made me, and died for me. what i do comes from what he did. 

i've got a new family in my life that i love so much, i'm so blessed to have them, and i'm going to a new church this year where i've found i can get lost in his presence, and thank him. he continually renews me and revives me and i love the light so much. i cannot imagine what my life would be like without him showing up every day with signs and miracles.

hosanna

lover of light

this is one of my older posts that i really like, so i thought i'd repost it:


so lately i've been realizing something. mainly through a book i'm reading by thomas merton.

through this book, and through another book by a woman named doreen irvine, i've come to realize that most of humanity has a preoccupation with darkness, and all things negative. if i'm talking with someone, i've realized, i'm generally more interested in what's wrong, and what's frustrating than with what's good with their life. if i talk with someone more than likely, we talk about problems with the world, problems with our lives, sin, struggles, not what we're good at, and what God's blessed us with.

"those who live by the spirit have their minds set on what the spirit desires"

that's a quote from romans 8, one of my favourite chapters of the bible. what does the spirit desire? purity? love? grace, peace, light, joy? how often do we say "wow, God has blessed me with _____, ______, and ____"? not often do we have whole conversations about what our gifts are, and what God has given us. although, i think that would be more in line with what God asks of us.

"whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things"

when i started aspiring to be a lover of the light, i realized how interested i was in the bad, the shortcomings, the sins of others and of myself. but i've realized to look at the light isn't naiive, it's a virtue of God.

he has decided to look at the good in us, the praiseworthy things, and yet i still look at the darkness and sin.

i want to love light. and that is my prayer, that i might call myself a lover of the light, and set my mind on such things.

hmmmmmmmm

a few things i found interesting:

 - i just watched a guy park at the opposite end of an almost empty parking lot and walk 3 minutes to the variety store to get ice, and walk 3 minutes back. why didn't he park at the spot in front of the variety store? i thought it was silly.

maybe he's a secret agent

 - yesterday at blockbuster i saw an AMAZING father in action. he had two younger daughters, and a son and his friend. the son and friend were about 8 and the two younger ones, maybe 5 and 3? the father wanted the son to rent a movie for his friend, and the daughters to watch a movie together. the reason i thought he was awesome, was because he expressed a genuine concern about the content of each film his kids looked at. he was willing to have his son rent one movie and his daughters another just so that he could make sure they weren't desensitized at too young an age. the son instead picked out a g rated movie so that they could ALL watch a movie together, incredible.

 - and on another note, i think jesus is amazing. nothing new on that front, just felt like throwing that out there. i can't get the words "taste and see that the Lord is good" out of my head, i'm trying to figure out what God wants me to learn from that verse out of psalm 34.

fire in my bones

but if i say "i will not mention him

or speak any more in his name", 

his word is in my heart like a fire

a fire shut up in my bones.

i am weary of holding it in;

indeed, i cannot

i have this stuck in my head, it's jer 20:9, and i saw it first on my friend's shoulder, he has it tattooed there. 

i realized, i don't have much else to talk about than jesus, and when i'm not talking about him, i wish i was. we can "preach the gospel at all times; and if necessary use words" but when you are a very verbal person like me, the words come first. i'm a teacher, and a speaker, and i don't have too much else in my life. without him, i'm nothing, and so what else will i talk about? 

right now i haven't been teaching much in jr high, and i'm missing that, it was such a blessing, and i feel like i have so many words, and i might explode at some point. i need to be more at peace right now.

later gangsters

a few things

- i went to the ancaster fair this weekend, i've decided i don't want to grow old, cause then i won't be invincible anymore (that's sarcasm of course)
- people have wierd ways of relating to each other, they talk about all the bad in a funny way...why not laugh about and celebrate the good? that's more christ-like, lets not give evil any face time.
- we all enjoy bad things in some way, think about notes from underground "i enjoy my toothache, it gives me something to complain about", sadistic pleasure in a toothache...even though it's painful, and bad he enjoys it, similarly we get excited about sickness, and things we complain about, something to do to break the boredom - which is in some way sin because we are dissatisfied with what God gave us. if we are filled with the spirit things of the spirit (love, peace, grace, joy....you get it) follow. are you filled with the spirit, fully living in His love? think about what you enjoy and talk about, see if it is really that way.

trinity

in my car today, i was prayin' and chillin' as i do after work, and i got to thinkin'.

we all know that God is a three in one god. He is the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Son (Jesus...just in case you're wondering).

now each part of God has a role, and each works together, and they are all equally God...now this is trippy and stuff, so don't worry too much about that. He is God and that is what's important.

the Father is our father, He is a judge, a mentor, He is wrathful...you get the idea

the Son laid down His life out of love for us, He serves us and offers us forgiveness

and the Holy Spirit...is trippy, the Spirit convicts us, lives in us, and is a gift - who gives gifts


and remember, as it says in 1 John "God is Love", so all these characteristics are bound within the boundless love of God, being enacted within Love Himself.


don't worry too much about that, this is all leading somewhere.

the other day, i was at subway, and there you can now get either orange, american, or swiss cheese, all of which i like, and would gladly get at different times...but you see, i usually get orange cheddar...in fact i almost always get orange cheddar. not because i don't like swiss or american, but i just like what the orange cheddar does to the flavour of my sub more than the others.

in june i bought "viva la vida" by coldplay, and it's an awesome cd. i really like all the songs, and i listened to them all, but now i only really listen to 'lost!', 'death and all his friends', and 'cemeteries in london', a third of the whole album. not that i don't like the album, or occasionally listen to the other songs...i just prefer what a third of the album is offering...so i listen to that part of the album more often...

if you don't see where i'm going...i hope you're alright.


as humans, we always like some things, and some people more than we like other things, and other people. similarly with the trinity, we can sometimes get stuck - even though we might not notice it, preferring certain characteristics of God, and certain persons of God more than others.

some churches spend so much time talking about how God judges sin so harshly, and is a God of wrath (bound in boundless Love), that we need to avoid sin...and then they almost forget the forgiveness, gifts, and spiritual blessings of God.
that is preferring the Father.

then other churches spend all their time teaching: 'God is Love', He loves, forgives, and lays down His life for us...and we ought to do the same for Him, and for others! then we ignore His judgement, wrath, conviction, and gifts...we forget to be shaped by His rebukes - which are love as well.
this is preferring the Son.

and i'm sure we're all familiar with churches that teach about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. God wants to heal you now, when you know God many miracles will follow, we follow a God of visions, signs and miracles, receive the blessing of the Holy Spirit now! and then we end up neglecting His rebukes, and forgiveness, and obsessing on spiritual gifts.
that is preferring the Holy Spirit

all of these teachings are right, and parts of God, but we need to accept all three. our God is our judge, and mentor, He does lay down His life, serve, and forgive us, and He has many blessings and gifts to give to us...but we can't pick and choose.

whether we like it or not, our God is three persons in one God. it's a mysterious thing, and almost impossible as a human to have a full view of God. but i challenge you spend your time meditating on each person of God, and let Him challenge you, rebuke you, bless you, and always let Him forgive you.

do not ever get comfortable in your perception of God, i guarantee you, He is infinitely bigger than you and your mind. you can always learn more about Him. it is dangerous to be stuck in one of these patterns. we are called to live a new life, following Jesus, a miracle worker, and we are always sinning, needing a rebuke. God fills all these needs, but when we ignore one of these, we are no longer fully following Him.

foot washing

during the last session of opc jesus challenged me in a new way.

He blessed me with a chalet of guys i am honoured to know. He gave me an immense overflow of energy daily, and daily revealed Himself in incredible ways, through conversation, and joy. He overwhelmed me completely when i asked for revival. He breathed a great life in to me...and i can't get over that grace.

in john 13 we read about jesus washing his disciples' feet.

as Jesus enters the room he removes His clothing, wrapping a towel around His waist. He moves around the room washing each of our feet, and drying them with the same towel that covers Him. eventually He comes to us. surprised we say "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?!"

we don't know how to receive that service. it feels embarassing. it feels almost awkward, or like we are dependent?

why would i let Him who created the world wash my feet? He is far better than me, He is Holy and Pure. Perfect, unlike me.

"You shall never wash my feet!" i shout. my pride holding me back.

maybe i don't want to rely on Him, maybe i don't want to receive, it's easier to give, easier to serve. maybe even, i don't like thinking about how i hurt Him. maybe i just can't reconcile.

"if I don't wash you, you have no part of me"


i always want to help people, and if you ask me why, i will say "because i love Jesus".
and if you ask why i love Him
i say "because He loved me first"

He showed me this by serving me, by extending grace.

if i don't let Him serve me, and wash my feet, how could i ever let him die for me?

asking forgiveness means receiving grace, and receiving grace means letting jesus break down our pride and wash our feet.


during my last session at opc, i was overwhelmed by the grace He extended to me. i already consider myself blessed, but He extended an extra measure of grace wherein i felt so served it humbled me. i couldn't believe what was before me, and didn't even think it was real sometimes.

the creator of the universe wants to serve us that we might be forgiven and join Him for all eternity.

are you ready for that?