Introduction (The Struggle)...

I guess I'll start out by explaining why I jumped into the blogosphere; a mission statement of sorts. Essentially I am writing to allow you, the reader, a look into the life of a man (more specifically a young, single seminarian) struggling with God. When I say 'struggling' I do not mean that my faith is constantly dancing on the edge of flatlining or that at a moment's notice I may walk away from my Creator. Rest assured, God has taken a firm hold of me and I believe He will not soon give me up. Rather, when I say struggling I mean that as I follow God challenges, complications, and roadblocks arise. Most if not all of these are caused by my sinfulness, by everything inside of me that wants to oppose God and set myself up as the ultimate authority in my own life. I am naturally selfish, and it is not easy to submit to an outside authority, no matter how compelling, beautiful, just, and good that authority may be. And I do not think I am speaking in shades of self-deprecation but rather am being very real about the universal state of man. We are all naturally self-serving, self-centered, self-worshiping idolaters. It takes none other than the Holy Spirit to change that, and it is with the Holy Spirit that my sinful self wars. This is the struggle. I understand that you may question why I, and countless other Christians, even enter the struggle at all. Why fight to sit under the subjection of an outside authority? Why not be your own boss? To anyone who scoffs at the idea of submission to the God revealed in the Bible, I would humbly ask; "Who rules your life, and how has that worked out so far?". Or better yet, "How will that work out in the end?". I fight pride and seek humility because, though hard (impossible by my own power), to let anything other than God rule over my life is to sit under the authority of a fallen, broken, and wicked master. This is by no means a comprehensive validation of the Christian life, but it's a start. So I invite you to join me in the struggle. And don't worry, it won't be all Eeyore-esque. What I've found is the struggle with God is life's ultimate source of joy.