Don't Go Cheap...

I'm kinda kickin myself for promising a post yesterday. I've got a somewhat busy day tomorrow and have been spending the last few hours sentence diagramming Colossians 2:6-15 (thanks for the assist Greg, I may have to call you again). I was a Bio major, and trying to wax grammatical acumen with training on the subject tantamount to a middle-schooler's is a little challenging, especially considering Paul's writing style. Anyway, I read a blog post today from Michael Patton, a man for whom I have much respect, at least in matters theological. He posted his thoughts on Christianity and Halloween, which you can read by clicking this little guy; http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2009/10/jesus-with-his-lights-turned-off-on-halloween/. It's not the meat of the post, but the last line strikes me. He writes (referring to treatment of trick-or-treaters), "Oh, and one more thing. Don’t just give out tracts…Shame, shame. Give out the best candy in the neighborhood. Let people know that you are the house that is not cheap." I love this thought. It may have been inserted for comedic flavoring, but I think he means it, and I think the thought is right on. If we are going to be Christians in this world, then we should do things right. Don't go cheap, don't go half-hearted. As Christians, we should go to our jobs and work our butts off, raise our children with the greatest of love and care, love and serve our spouses until it kills us, make art and music with fierce passion, encourage each other with every breath, crash extra hard when we rest, and celebrate holidays like nobody else. A Christian wedding should be an event to remember. Why? Because whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, we do all for the glory of God. We do not ultimately serve earthly masters, but the Creator of all things. Our lives are a constant act of worship. It is a difficult task, and I am convicted as I write. But I think we can start by doing the little things well, like making sure we're dishing out the goods on Halloween, or working a little harder to get that sentence diagram just right.

Hockey Talk...

Here's a quick, useless thought. I have no clue how my Colorado Avs got to the top of the NHL's Western Conference, but they did and I'm pleased. They were predicted to be one of the worst teams in the league this year (and who knows, they may yet be, it's early in the season), but they've impressed thus far. Here's hoping they keep it up. If you don't like hockey, you have no idea what I'm talking about. So anyway.... I promise I'll put some substantial thoughts up here tomorrow.

Rockin...

Do you ever experience times where music just plain sounds good? I am of the belief that almost everything is better with some tunes jammin' in the background, but what I am talking about are those rare times when songs one after another get your head noddin' and your spirits lifted in a manner dissimilar to homeostatic norms. I've been sitting here studying for my Biblical Interpretation midterm with the headphones on and the volume up, and I've been loving it. In this moment every song seems expertly crafted, every beat right on time, every string picked with intent, and every vocal chord under control. I wish this happened more often.

And in case you were wondering, below are a few of the songs that popped up in the random playlist and have been ticklin' the ears.

Chevelle- Dos
10 Years- Paralyzing Kings
Metallica- The Unvorgiven II
Tedashii- No More
Sevendust- Fear
MGMT- Of Birds, Moons, And Monsters
Modest Mouse- Education
Hurt- Shallow
Evans Blue- Eclipsed
Weezer- Holiday
Green Day- Viva La Gloria (Little Girl)
Days Of The New- Weapon And The Wound
The Nixons- Sister
Chevelle- Mexican Sun
Temple Of The Dog- Call Me A Dog
Alanis Morissette- Uninvited
Aaron Lewis- In Your Eyes (acoustic cover of the Peter Gabriel original)
32 Leaves- Blood On My Hands
Radiohead- Black Star

Nothin...

I sat down to write something insightful and thought-provoking... but I've got nothing. I was kicking around writing on the morality of Rahab's lie, the nature of Balaam and his prophecies, or maybe God's sovereignty over evil, but apparently I don't have any blogger juice right now. Any thoughts? Anything y'all want to read about? Anything you want to know about me or my life (not that this is an interesting topic, I'm just well informed on all matters Aaron). Let me know, I need inspiration! Maybe I'll write about some of the books I've been reading, or music I've been jammin' on...

P.S. I just heard The RZA quote the Bible on The Colbert Report; should give me something to blog about, just gotta' process that one.

Sitting At The Table...

Howdy y'all! I should just say hi to Everett; pretty sure he's the only sucker that reads this thing. But if this does meet your eyes, you should go read Luke 17:7-10. Seriously, go do that now, then come back....... done? Now, you're most likely feeling a little uneasy. This passage doesn't portray Jesus as the big softie we've made Him out to be, does it? In fact, Jesus seems a little callous, a little cold, a little unloving. What He essentially tells His disciples is that if they perfectly execute on every command given to them, then they should still have no expectancy of special reward or thanks for their actions, but should have an attitude of humility. Why? Because they have only done what they were asked to do. In his book Holiness By Grace, Bryan Chapell uses the analogy of a good waiter to make Jesus' illustration understandable to the modern reader. If you had a superb, flawless waiter who was attentive to every need and served cheerfully with a seemingly effortless poise, as good as that waiter may be, would you not still be a little vexed if he sat down and asked you to pass the rolls and butter? And why is that? Because as perfect as said waiter may be, he is always just that; a waiter. He is not a member of the dinner party, and would be overstepping his bounds expecting to be treated as such. Jesus says the same of His disciples, no matter how well they execute on His commands, they are still servants, and He is still God. They cannot change that relationship, no matter how righteous their deeds. And it's not like the commands that Jesus lays out for His disciples are even easily attainable. Check out the preceding verses. Jesus essentially teaches them to not tempt others to sin, to watch (not allow) the sin in their own life, rebuke others for their sin, and endlessly forgive the repentant sinner. And it would help to have the kind of faith that uproots trees with a word. This is no easy checklist (may I posit impossible?), and yet adherence to it will not seat them at Jesus' table. Now here's where the love comes in. Since you have your Bible by you, read Matthew 7:11, and John 1:12, and Hebrews 2:11-13, and especially Galatians 4:4-7. Are you getting the picture? For us who love Jesus, who put our faith and trust in Him, we are fallen servants sitting at the table of the King. In fact, one of the last scenes of the Bible is that of the marriage supper of the Lamb (Jesus) and His Bride (the church), in which the reigning King Jesus is perfectly united with His people. We are invited to this not because we have perfectly fulfilled the tasks given to us, in fact we don't even come close, and even if we were perfect, we are still servants. But we sit at the table because Jesus chooses to love the ill-deserving; it is a free gift to those who could never earn it. He makes slaves family. That's grace.

Wise Career Move?...

This is not important at all, but to me hilarious; Cleveland traded Braylon Edwards to the Jets. Here's why this is funny. A couple of days ago Edwards was accused of punching one of LeBron James' buddies outside of a nightclub, obviously not a good move if you make your living in Cleveland. Edwards was already rumored to be on the way out, but this was apparently enough to book his ticket. So by clocking some dude in the face, Edwards gets traded from the 0-4 Browns to the 3-1 Jets. If he had known that this was all it took to get shipped out of Cleveland and onto a playoff contender, he probably would have suplexed Drew Carey months ago.

A Good Day...

As I was wrapping up my night I thought to myself, 'I've had a pretty darn good day' (maybe not my verbatim thought, but a decent approximation). Then I took some time to analyze that thought, which is almost never a good idea. What lead me to the conclusion that today was a good day? What is my definition of a good day? I took stock of today's events- a trip to monergism.com's warehouse, a little time spent reading for class, watching the Caps/Flyers game, making some chicken curry with my roomie, and watching today's World Series of Poker episode. It occured to me that the majority of the day was spent entertaining myself. Apparently my working definition of a good day is a day of fun. I don't think I'm the only one who thinks this way. Take a brief survey of your friends' facebook updates. What you'll probably find is that their level of contentment is almost solely determined by whether they had fun or were upset. Rarely are we basing our joy on the only unfailing good, God Himself. Most of the time we are seeking joy in temporal, fleeting pleasures, and when these fail us we're not happy with the state of things. We look to God and wonder where He is, presuming He exists to make us happy as we have defined it. Thinking about all this lead me to the question 'how should a 'good' day be defined?' What truly makes a 'good' day?

Replacement Theology...

For the more theologically minded; don't worry, I'm not hitting up that topic right now. What I am talking about is a replacement of affections. To live a Christian life is to be constantly swapping false affections for right affections, or rather to be replacing false idols in our lives with the only One truly worthy of worship- God. Idols come in many forms. Self image, relationships, jobs, friends, ministry, spouses, children, sex, comfort, entertainment, money, and food can all become idols to us, and often do. Many of these can be good things, but every single one of them can be mercilessly ripped from us at a moment's notice. None of these things are stable, none of them are permanent, and none of them can be completely and fully trusted. In the end, outside of the context of God and His love, they are all worthless and even worse, destructive. That is because only God is without fault, and only God is worthy of all of our faith and trust. Repeatedly we elevate life's good things and make them the most important things, and expect them to fulfill us in a way they were never ever meant to. And like Indiana Jones we repeatedly swap what is valuable for bags of sand. That is not to say that we shouldn't love our spouses with all our might, or that we shouldn't work hard at our jobs, or even that we shouldn't try and make a good living. But what happens when the spouse dies, we get laid off, and the stock market crashes? If our existence is wrapped up in these things, we're in for a world of hurt. The center of our lives should be God; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. When He is sitting on the throne of our hearts, then we are free to enjoy His blessings in a way that is healthy and satisfying, because instead of replacing Him, life's pleasures lead us to Him, and He is the very source of all that is good.